Slumming is the act of visiting an area or establishment occupied by people of a lower socio-economic class for amusement or adventure. It has been around for over 100 years and is gaining momentum today through slum tourism. While some see it as a way to bring awareness and money to impoverished areas, others find it distasteful. Slumming can also refer to an establishment that is not up to the standard of the person referring to it. It involves risk and danger and is done for entertainment or street cred.
Slumming is slang for patronizing an institution or place primarily occupied by people well below one’s socio-economic class, usually for the sake of amusement or adventure. Illicit dealings or stinginess could also be reasons for slums. The term is often associated with bars or restaurants (e.g., “Let’s go slums to The Red Canteen”) or notorious neighborhoods that have earned an undesirable reputation.
While slumming is used in modern parlance, the idea of slumming for entertainment has been around for over 100 years. In the 1840s, tours through notorious slums such as “Five Points” New York mark a time when slum was in vogue. (This venue was featured in Martin Scorsese’s 2002 film, Gangs of New York.)
London’s most notorious serial killer, Jack the Ripper, murdered several prostitutes in the autumn of 1888, many from a poor area of London known as Whitechapel. The tours were soon taking middle-class Victorians through the impoverished area to see firsthand where so many of the shocking murders took place.
While it may seem absurd and even voyeuristic to pay for tours through the slums, the practice is gaining momentum today. Some call it “reality touring”, “slum touring” or instead of tourism, “poorism”. The idea is to get away from the whitewashed tourist areas for a real taste of life as it really is for millions of people every day.
The current slum tourism trend is largely attributed to Marcelo Armstrong of Brazil, who in 1992 began taking tourists to Rochina, a large slum or favela in Rio de Janeiro. Slum tourism continues to grow in Brazil, India, Mexico, Africa and other countries. According to some reports, operators are hoping to bring awareness (and in some cases money) to the areas, while critics find the ‘poorism’ distasteful. According to a New York Times article published in March 2008, at least some of the tourists who have toured the slums have said that the experience has changed their lives.
While slum tours might be infused with an altruistic purpose for some, this is not the case with ‘slumming’. The pejorative word can be used humorously, however, to refer to an establishment or establishment that is middle or upper class but not up to the standard of whoever is referring to it. For example, a celebrity who regularly shops on Rodeo Drive might joke about slums at the Beverly Center; or a soccer mom might joke that she shops at a supermarket chain rather than shop at the mall.
In general, however, “slumming” is a foolhardy act that involves a certain amount of risk and danger. It is an anticipated colorful experience that takes people out of their comfort zones and drops them into another environment for pure entertainment, for “street cred” (street cred) or other similar reasons.
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