I'm routinely mistaken for being either very middle class or Southern. In a lot of areas this doesn't matter, but if I'm on a council estate then it can cause problems. The reason is that my voice has associations for some people with wealth and therefore power
In my case, I
am middle class and southern; sorry, but I can't help it. Either I have been lucky, or perhaps I have by chance successfully avoided the possibility of conflict, but speaking perfect RP* has caused no problems in my life; but neither does it represent my having either wealth or power - I have neither, and it shows. Rather, it has led to the occasional friendship, e.g. from people (OK, Americans
) coming up to me in an aeroplane simply to listen to me speak. To round off the stereotype, I even worked at the BBC for a time!
Paul
* RP = Received Pronounciation, aka BBC English or Oxford English**.
** There is another place*** near the Fens that might object to this, of course.
*** There really are some Oxford academics who will refer to "The Other Place" rather than using its name; maybe that happens in the other place, too.