ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the difficulty of reconciling socialization into academic culture with a subjectivity that still draws powerfully on working-class identity. It looks at the ways in which the influences of the past and the present are interwoven but also the myriad ways in which they clash and collide. The article goes on to explore the paradox of a contemporary female identity which is rooted in working-class class consciousness. This historical class consciousness conflicts powerfully with a contemporary identity which consequently often feels both fictional and fraudulent. By drawing on autobiographical material, I illustrate the problems of authenticity which beset working-class women who have become middle-class through education. I also discuss the difficult issues of difference feminism needs to address, and the important contribution workingclass perspectives can offer to feminist thinking.
