Southeast prep/WASP culture

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. They are just very "bro-y" and insular, it's hard to explain. They say extremely un-PC stuff and think it's genuinely funny. But they're not BAD guys, just bizarre and clueless.

I guess I want to know what their lives are like a little bit more, so that I get some context to understand their behavior? Like do they just come from a world where they don't socialize with minorities or anyone who doesn't own a yacht/belong to a country club, and they aren't used to women who think career is more important than getting married?

I'm not trying to be accusatory at all btw, I'm genuinely curious to know what their upbringings are like - at home, at church, at school, among their friends, etc.

It's a bunch of guys who have never HAD to step outside their comfort zone. They grow up in private schools and maybe churches seeing the same folks day in and day out; all their bros are from their high school sports teams and look exactly like them and have the same upbringing. Outside of that they socialize at their parents' country clubs -- again lots of the same guys from high school and their parents to go yachting with or play tennis with. And no -- generally the women raised this way are more worried about their debutante ball and how soon after age 22 they'll marry than about careers or going to another part of the country for college. Then they hit college and their network grows but only due to the frat they join -- again only picking the frat reflecting the world they're comfortable in. When it's time for an internship or a job, they can typically turn back to their fathers' network at the country club and parents of their frat friends to land them that job at a finance company or law firm where they're automatically partner track as they are socializing with the named partner's family. At the end of the day, they are so privileged that they don't have to interact with anyone else. They're raised so conservative that they don't WANT to interact with anyone at all different -- so at UVa they could totally befriend kids in class/dorms, but they largely ignore everyone but their bros. Then they marry someone exactly of the same upbringing and try to raise their kids the same way.

Are you really seeing a lot of this in DC? I saw a LOT when I lived in Richmond but less so in DC though maybe it's because I'm not around those groups.

[Anonymous]

to be fair, Georgetown IS a school dominated by prep school culture, it's just not a school dominated by New England prep school culture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Watch "Southern Charm' on Bravo....ohmigosh....crash course. I caught an episode of this show on the treadmill at my gym last week.

Based on some wealthy post-college kids in Charleston, SC. My best friend moved to Charleston post-college and these are the type of people I met. Some are very similar to the Richmond crowd I see when I visit my nephews.

I am from a Northeast prep culture which is very different. The clothes may be a bit similar---but the attitudes are opposite. The women are more Jackie Kennedy preppy--not tons of make-up, etc. but maybe same Lily dress.

I LOVE Cameron on SC. She is absolutely adorable. The drinking on this show is SPOT-ON. Southern frat/aristocrat culture. The southern eccentricities fascinate me.

No, they are not post college kids. They are actually quite old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up among the southern prep culture and i find it very similar to the northeast prep culture. i went to gtown, so i feel qualified to discuss the northeast prep culture. both are just different sides of the same coin. i think a lot of it has to do with insecurity and trying to fit it, but a lot of it is stupidity and ignorance.

honestly, i wouldn't think about it too much -- most of the people aren't worth it. if they are worth knowing, they're going to want to get to know you. and i'm not saying all of these types are stupid, but generally speaking, they're insecure and unsophisticated.

your post reminded me of a stupid girl i knew (northeastern prep) who would tell everyone her family was "italian by way of mexico." yeah, whatever, you're mexican. own it and be proud.

Wow you're dumb. Neither Mexican nor Italian can be Northeastern prep. Maybe you're confusing prep clothing with the lifestyle?

[Anonymous]

12:46 - I am at a law firm, a first year associate. Don't want to be specific about anything to protect my anonymity. We have people from other parts of the country and other subcultures, but this is just what I see in my practice group and many of the partners.

[Anonymous]

Some of this is similar to the Catholic good ol' boy culture you get with boys who went to all-boy Catholic high schools. I went to Notre Dame and then these guys were housed in all-guy dorms and their social skills with girls/women were SADLY LACKING.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Watch "Southern Charm' on Bravo....ohmigosh....crash course. I caught an episode of this show on the treadmill at my gym last week.

Based on some wealthy post-college kids in Charleston, SC. My best friend moved to Charleston post-college and these are the type of people I met. Some are very similar to the Richmond crowd I see when I visit my nephews.

I am from a Northeast prep culture which is very different. The clothes may be a bit similar---but the attitudes are opposite. The women are more Jackie Kennedy preppy--not tons of make-up, etc. but maybe same Lily dress.

I LOVE Cameron on SC. She is absolutely adorable. The drinking on this show is SPOT-ON. Southern frat/aristocrat culture. The southern eccentricities fascinate me.

No, they are not post college kids. They are actually quite old.

You are right!!! They are just stunted...some of the guys are as old as me. I think of them as post-college because they behave that way.

[Anonymous]

Southeast preps are all about being "American". It's a pretty narrow idea of what being American means. Love (the Christian) God and your country, have the right to defend yourself with arms, and live the life of an American gentleman - hunting, sailing, smoking cigars and drinking bourbon. Eat down home food and buy American products, and serve in the army.

That's pretty much how they think OP. It's not really a bad ethos, just very exclusionary and limited.

[Anonymous]

The eccentricities of Southern aristocrat culture really fascinate me too. I feel like we know less about them because they don't get represented in the media as much. Usually the mainstream representation of Southern culture is of racist rednecks and stuff. While the mainstream representation of New England is of Yankee blue bloods, even though the northeast has its rougher inhabitants too. Pity - I want to learn more about Southern aristocrats too.

[Anonymous]

Seriously, OP, watch your back. This type -- male or female -- may be provincial, but they're not stupid. They realize that times have changed and they no longer have a golden ticket provided at birth. They may very well see you as a threat. I know this sounds a little over the top, but I've seen this first-hand. Underneath the retro, country-club exterior, they're back-stabbers par excellence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up among the southern prep culture and i find it very similar to the northeast prep culture. i went to gtown, so i feel qualified to discuss the northeast prep culture. both are just different sides of the same coin. i think a lot of it has to do with insecurity and trying to fit it, but a lot of it is stupidity and ignorance.

honestly, i wouldn't think about it too much -- most of the people aren't worth it. if they are worth knowing, they're going to want to get to know you. and i'm not saying all of these types are stupid, but generally speaking, they're insecure and unsophisticated.

your post reminded me of a stupid girl i knew (northeastern prep) who would tell everyone her family was "italian by way of mexico." yeah, whatever, you're mexican. own it and be proud.

NOPE!! If you went to Middlebury or Amherst you might be qualified. Georgetown? While it's a great school is nowhere near Northeast Prep. Take a ride up to Hamilton college.

No lie. The northeast is swarming with outstanding boarding schools. They are not just schools for social status. I find people in the south ignorant of what "preppy" really is, yet dying to be part of it. Hilarious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seriously, OP, watch your back. This type -- male or female -- may be provincial, but they're not stupid. They realize that times have changed and they no longer have a golden ticket provided at birth. They may very well see you as a threat. I know this sounds a little over the top, but I've seen this first-hand. Underneath the retro, country-club exterior, they're back-stabbers par excellence.

I believe this. If you don't march to their rather arbitrary drum, they try to make it difficult for you. But they are not very smart, is the good news. They definitely all look alike. Hilarious!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seriously, OP, watch your back. This type -- male or female -- may be provincial, but they're not stupid. They realize that times have changed and they no longer have a golden ticket provided at birth. They may very well see you as a threat. I know this sounds a little over the top, but I've seen this first-hand. Underneath the retro, country-club exterior, they're back-stabbers par excellence.

Paranoid generalizations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up among the southern prep culture and i find it very similar to the northeast prep culture. i went to gtown, so i feel qualified to discuss the northeast prep culture. both are just different sides of the same coin. i think a lot of it has to do with insecurity and trying to fit it, but a lot of it is stupidity and ignorance.

honestly, i wouldn't think about it too much -- most of the people aren't worth it. if they are worth knowing, they're going to want to get to know you. and i'm not saying all of these types are stupid, but generally speaking, they're insecure and unsophisticated.

your post reminded me of a stupid girl i knew (northeastern prep) who would tell everyone her family was "italian by way of mexico." yeah, whatever, you're mexican. own it and be proud.

NOPE!! If you went to Middlebury or Amherst you might be qualified. Georgetown? While it's a great school is nowhere near Northeast Prep. Take a ride up to Hamilton college.

Hamilton? You have no idea what your talking about. I went to Gtown as well. My first week I overheard my roommate asking if he "could borrow the yacht" for spring break and asked his dad to buy him a vintage 1985 Range Rover. This kid threw away his dress shirts instead of cleaning them. He was a supreme douche bag with a tiny penis and more money than sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up among the southern prep culture and i find it very similar to the northeast prep culture. i went to gtown, so i feel qualified to discuss the northeast prep culture. both are just different sides of the same coin. i think a lot of it has to do with insecurity and trying to fit it, but a lot of it is stupidity and ignorance.

honestly, i wouldn't think about it too much -- most of the people aren't worth it. if they are worth knowing, they're going to want to get to know you. and i'm not saying all of these types are stupid, but generally speaking, they're insecure and unsophisticated.

your post reminded me of a stupid girl i knew (northeastern prep) who would tell everyone her family was "italian by way of mexico." yeah, whatever, you're mexican. own it and be proud.

Well... actually, in most Latin countries unlike in the US "where you are from" CAN be about where your family is from, originally- so she's probably giving you an explanation tat makes sense to her.