What is a Yuppie?
One of My Dear Readers wrote me this email saying, "I think you have a very sharp view of a certain Manhattan lifestyle (upper-middle class young white manhattan). Based on what i've read, you aren't quite a yuppie." (Yes, if you write to me, I might use your email as inspiration for a Post Topic - now how'z about it?)
Which got me thinking, what is a yuppie? Audience participation would be generously appreciated on this post.
It's not so clear-cut anymore, is it? Yuppiedom is no longer exclusively populated by Ivy-leagued white folk with one or two-syllabled, Presidential-sounding last names, as it was in the days of Patrick Bateman and Sherman McCoy. Of course, there are still parallels between the 2006 Yuppie and The 1986 Yuppie. 23-year-old analysts roll up to Cain for a night of "models and bottles" (his words, not mine) much like they did at Tunnel during the Reagan era.
Need one be white, Anglo-saxon, Protestant, straight and male? Not anymore, thankfully. Maybe in St. Louis, Cleveland, Des Moines or other such cities (for lack of a better term), but not in New York. Here, it's probably easier to find Billyburg hipster Jews and gay Indian hip-hop fans at Skadden Arps or Morgan Stanley than it is to find Union Clubbers.
Need one's job entail making rich people richer? One would think this is an obvious "yes", but what about the teacher who was a Darien debutante and dates Ivy-league hedge funders? Is membership in the Junior League, DAR or Colonial Dames enough to confer one with Yuppie status even if one's job does not require ownership of a Blackberry and at least one Italian suit? Or does simply sleeping with enough yuppies make one a yuppie (see, e.g. the fictional Maria Ruskin)?
What about recruiters? Ad execs? Chefs? Software programmers? Young, blonde, attractive marketing assistants at Ann Taylor who get regular manicures and do Pilates? Is Eliot Spitzer a Yuppie? Is Martha Stewart, post-jailtime, a yuppie? What about Donald Trump? Joe Torre? Natalie Portman? Manohla Dargis? Katie Couric? President Bush?
Need one have a plasma TV, a set of golf clubs, a viszla or at least 2 pairs of Nantucket reds? Need one at least know what Nantucket reds are, or the significance of the letters "ACK"? Need one know what time of the year the Harvard-Yale polo match takes place? Or, is Ivy League (or "Ivy-Plus") Affiliation no longer necessary to achieve yuppie status in 2006?
Are there any Yuppie Disqualifications? If one attended a state school in the Midwest or South, can one still be a yuppie, at least in New York? Can Staten Island Guidos be yuppies, or must they at least move to Murray Hill before they can attain such a moniker?
Does a lack of international travel experience disqualify you?
What about affiliation with an evangelical protestant church?
If you take your kids to Disneyland for vacation, instead of, say, bicycling through Tuscany, and if you can have an enjoyable experience at "restaurants" like Chili's, Applebee's, or Bennigans without a touch of irony, were you ever a Yuppie, or are you just a Middle American With A Decent Job?
Is ownership of items featuring the Burberry plaid or the Louis Vuitton or YSL logos proof of yuppie status, or negation thereof?
I have no fucking clue. Audience, please weigh in.
posted by Plain Jane Jones @ 3:09 PM
14 Comments:
It makes little sense to ask who is categorically a "yuppie." The term is derived from "Young Urban Professional." So who is categorically a yuppie is fairly cut and dried, except that "young" and "urban" are relative terms, and the list of jobs that are referred to as "professions" is ever-expanding. (No one wants to be told their job is not a profession). Categorically, you are a yuppie. It is not a very exclusive club.
you are smart!
USC Sucks.
So, is it easier to ask "who is not a yuppie"?
Also, I know that the origin of the term "yuppie" originated from the phrase "young, urban professional", but do most people view it as that inclusive?
Is there an implicit "attitude" component, i.e. is the young professional who is married and spends his Saturday nights volunteering for a church group in the suburbs any less (or more) of a yuppie than the young professional who spends his Saturday nights at 10th Avenue clubs?
God, you sound like such a bitch. I don't think there is anything ironic about someone enjoying a meal at Chili's. I do find something ironic about how your worldly, sophisticated ass is unable to respect other people's choices in dining.
I am a "young urban professional" and I can tell you that I'd much rather spend a quiet evening at home in the suburbs than go out and try to impress people like you at whatever overpriced Manhattan club you're at this evening. Does that make me less of a yuppie? Does that make me a worse person than you? Because the tone of your blog indicates that you think it probably does.
God people like you make me sick.
"I am a "young urban professional" and I can tell you that I'd much rather spend a quiet evening at home in the suburbs than go out and try to impress people like you at whatever overpriced Manhattan club you're at this evening."
That makes two of us. My mention of the 10th Avenue Clubber was a reference to Mr. "Models and Bottles", not myself. I'm not really a fan of those clubs; I'd rather curl up with a good book than spend the night pretending to have a good time at, say, Aer.
But that doesn't make me any less of a bitch, I'm sure.
To be fair, I don't know if you are a bitch. Your blog just makes you sound like one.
You just strike me as someone that looks down on people from Iowa or Nebraska that enjoys their SUV and big house and occasionally grabs a burger at Chili's. Chances are those folks wouldn't trade their lifestyle for yours yet I suspect they don't think less of your for your choice.
OK, Therapist Joe. I'll bite.
1) I don't dislike all chains, I enjoy Cosi's BMTs, the sandwiches at Pax, and Jamba Juice. Chain restaurants like Chili's and Olive Garden, however, serve grotesquely large portions, thus contributing to the Fattening of America. And they're not even that good. In a city with so many dining options in all price ranges, why eat at the lard tubs?
2) It's utterly useless to own an SUV if you don't off-road on a usual basis. And don't even get me started on the safety issues.
3) I'm sure that Iowa and Nebraska are perfectly fine places to live, if you are white, straight, attractive, and believe in the Christian God. If you say "no" to any of these, then I'm sure the residents of such places will find many, many facets of your lifestyle to look down upon. New York may be partly populated with self-righteous bitches like me, but it's got a lot of other types of people so everyone can find their niche.
Have you ever lived in, or even been to, Iowa, Nebraska, or anywhere in the midwest? I ask b/c you paint the midwest as a place with only white, straight and attractive (that comment alone tells me you've never been either place.) people who worship Christ. That's about as accurate as John Rocker's view of New York City.
SUVs aren't built just for offroading. People actually use them to transport things. I'm sorry but my two dogs weighing 165 lbs total won't fit in a civic or a mini cooper.
"2) It's utterly useless to own an SUV if you don't off-road on a usual basis. And don't even get me started on the safety issues. "
I agree with a lot of what you say except this. I live in San Francisco, just moved from New York, and would probably be classified as a yuppie. I also drive a huge SUV because they are much much safer and I am not going to be a martyr for energy conservation
Your assumptions about the kinds of folks that live in the midwest--and the attitudes that these people have--is extremely intolerant. Just because someone is from a midwestern suburb does not mean that they fit into your strange little mold that seems to embody all of them as unsophisticated bigoted hicks.
Oh, and the fattening of america is a problem with Americans and their ability to engage in self-restraint (and perhaps exercise). It is not the fault of restaurants who are simply catering to market demand to make money--which is why they exist in the first place.
I have family in the Midwest from Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa. I have also been to Michigan plenty of times. The majority of the people I have met do fit the mold that I described, but I, by far, have not met every resident of every state in the Great Plains and Rust Belt regions. I'm sure that it's better in the college towns (e.g. Ames, Madison, Lincoln, Ann Arbor) but the majority of the people I do happen to know who live in these regions have traits consistent with "ignorant, bigoted hicks", and while I want to believe you that they are not a representative sample, it's hard not to wonder if they are.
As for the SUV safety issue, while they are tippy on the highways, in a large city where you're not going on the highway often, it is arguably safer to be driving a big behemoth of an automobile than, say, a Vespa.
I also agree with the "catering to market demand" issue w/r/t why chain restaurants are so popular. I just have to shake my head when marketing gimmicks like "Never Ending Pasta Bowl" and "Bottomless Breadsticks" actually work. Other than that, the chain restaurants have one thing going for them. I never go to an airport without making my regular stop at Friday's for a large goblet of their Long Island Iced Tea...but that's gluttony of another type...
What constitutes a 'yuppie'? I marked it as a derogatory term for rich, arrogant people.
But, is there really a specific dennotation, and if so, what purpose does it serve? I mean would it help you identify people for marketing, social-networking, or just general name calling?
In other words, I think the whole question itself is misguided-- people are not so shallow. Hopefully it is not a limited intellect that restricts you from understanding the depth to the human personae.
But your caricatures do speak volumes about you. After all, we can only understand others in terms of ourselves.
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