What? Why would you want to position yourself into a lower class? Is this a game of sorts or a fad like saying 'blah, blah, NOT" to mean the opposite?
No, it's not a game and it's not ironic. It's intended to be for real.
I think it's a defensive mechanism. Lower classes are considered dangerous. Higher class implies soft and weak. Lower class implies tougher and more streetwise.
If someone is a dead-ender with no good career or life prospects, it's basically what's left to give them a feeling of strength.
Look at the popularity of ghetto and thug culture. Surely sociologists have written about this extensively.
I think this analysis hits the mark. Mangling the language (if "ain't" wasn't invented for this purpose, it just as well might have been) is a way to say "I don't care if you are more respected than me, I can still thumb my nose at
your language". Similar sentiments have been leveled against "the King's English". Note that "class" sometimes has nothing to do with how financially secure someone is. I had an uncle who owned a diesel engine repair shop, lived in an expensive house and was famous for buying a new Cadillac every year. "Ain't" and the N-word (he lived in Savannah, and this was the 50's and 60's) were staples in his vocabulary.
Although I understand the attitude, it's not how I would express a desire to improve my self-respect.
