Proud to be a Pleb!

Many of us have come across the Vagina Monologues, in which there is a whole section about a four letter word beginning with C. In the play it asks women to reclaim the C word to take it's power away from men (and sometimes women) who use this term as an insult, and to give it's power back to women.

So after the brew-ha-ha that is going on in the media about the Conservative Party Whip allegedly called the Downing Street police 'plebs' I decided to look into the word to find out if it is such a BAD word that the British media is stirring it up to be.

I knew the word was a shortened version of plebeian, but will admit to not knowing it's true meaning, so I looked it up.

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plebeian |pliˈbēən|
noun(in ancient Rome) a commoner.• a member of the lower social classes.adjectiveof or belonging to the commoners of ancient Rome.• of or belonging to the lower social classes.• lacking in refinement: he is a man of plebeian tastes.ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from Latin plebeius (from plebs,pleb- ‘the common people’) + -an.

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Well after reading this I am surprised that all this furore has occurred. Although it is currently being bandied about as an insult, I feel that, as a member of the 'lower social classes' (unfortunately I haven't yet reached the high society invite circuit just yet, or married a Lord), and as someone who probably 'lacks refinement' (if you compare me to nobility............. or even the butler in Downton Abbey) I should proudly reclaim plebeian.
We should all be proud of our heritage, whichever so-called class we are tagged with. I am proud to be a 3rd generation shop keeper, therefore working class, and I have no problem with anyone who is born or rises to the upper classes, we all have our part to play. If many of us stand up and proudly proclaim ourselves to be plebeians then the power of  this word as a term of abuse is removed, so here goes 

"I'm proud to be a pleb"

.......now someone hand the police a dictionary.