What Actually Makes Someone A Bogan?
This is where things get complicated. The classic visual stereotype is: Mullet + flanno + singlet + black jeans/shorts + boots/thongs + tattoos + beer + ute + loud music.
The stereotype is so powerful that even people who don’t identify as bogans know exactly what the image means. But researchers increasingly point out that the real definition isn’t socioeconomic status.
A wealthy person can be a bogan.
An educated person can be a bogan.
A professional can be a bogan.
A person with a university degree and a six-figure salary can apparently be a CUB — “cashed-up bogan.”
The rise of the CUB was particularly important because it broke the connection between being poor and being bogan. The more accurate distinction is often cultural capital rather than financial capital. In plain English: You can have money without having taste.
And Australia has enormous fun with that idea.
