Is “WASP” culture still a thing?

[Anonymous]

Hard work? House at the Jersey Shore? Military service? I don’t think a lot of you understand what WASP culture is at all.

[Anonymous]

Yes, think George Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight
Eisenhower, U. S. Grant, Andrew Jackson, and George Bush.
Kennedy would not count as he was Catholic.

A military appointment at West Point would be preferred
but a Naval Academy appointment would also suffice for
a son of a WASP family.

Many many WASP families have a tradition of service to our country.

Philadelphia Wasp families have had family summer homes
at the Jersey shore for over 100 years. Think Cape May,
Beach Haven (the oldest part)--this area is very
similar to the oldest part of Rehoboth. Typically the
family maid would come with the family for the summer.

WASP families built New York City...again....hard work.
A prior poster mentioned the Dutch families that
were prominent in building New York City.
German families were prominent in settling the Pennsylvania/Maryland corridor. All were hard working
WASP families. I agree with the prior poster on this.

I think you are confusing WASP culture that is heavily
linked to the protestant work ethic that founded this
country with the marketing of a preppy culture.
They can be the same but not necessarily.

Not all those who are of white Anglo Saxon Protestant backgrounds are preppy in fact most are not.

[Anonymous]

The preppy look is more of a fashion statement that
is not necessarily linked to those of white Anglo
Saxon Protestant backgrounds.

In fact, the original WASP's in the US would have worn
very, very, plain practical clothing.

[Anonymous]

I think OP meant to ask if preppy culture is a thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think OP meant to ask if preppy culture is a thing?

Yes, this sounds correct. I think OP is thinking Preppy, not WASP. There is some obvious overlap, but the WASP distinction goes a lot further than clothing and country clubs.

[Anonymous]

The new wasps are the ‘aspirational class’
Pilates/yoga/spinning
Organic food
Breastfeeding
Listening to npr

Thinking we are not flashing wealth but instead saving the world when really we are just Like every other clueless upper class in history who at least were more honest about it. Enter Donald trump.

Great hidden brain episode on this (whoops just outed myself). My dad calls us yuppies who pretend to be hippies.

[Anonymous]

As a southerner, I've never been exactly sure what WASP culture is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It exists in small pockets, mostly in New England but eminates out to some cities throughout the US where the NE WASPs have spread - obviously NYC, Philly, DC but also pockets in WASP-acceptable cities like SF.

Characteristics include private schools, country and yacht clubs, lots and lots of cocktail parties. Being social is very much part of WASP culture. Other markers include having a second home at a NE enclave, having a mean backhand, a good golf game, knowing your way around a boat and good skiing ability. Kids play lax and hockey (but this has spread to the Catholics and Jews so no longer exclusively WASP). Having a messed up kid or two, or at least one who works at a sailing shop rather than Wall St. is pretty par for the course.

And, of course, not being showy with one’s money is the number one characteristic.

This sounds like a huge portion of the posters on the private school and college boards. There seems to be a huge obsession about working on Wall Street there. Where I grew up, working on Wall Street wasn't something that anyone talked about or even probably gave any thought to I find it fascinating, that it seems to be an aspiration for many north eastern parents to want their kids to work on Wall Street.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's see....all of our presidents except two have been WASPs...check. Virtually all presidential candidates are WASPS. Yeah, I think it still exists.

Being white and even being Protestant isn't the same as being a WASP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Wasp culture has become synonymous with UMC success.
Can join a country club?
Send kids to elite private?
Do you “summer”?
Live in the best enclave, with appropriate zoning? ( obviously this means no multi family dwellings ( exception: NYC)
That’s wasp culture.
Simply shorthand for making it.

I've never met anyone who uses the phrase "summer". Technically I would qualify as a WASP. I'm white, Anglo-Saxon, not technically Protestant, being that I'm agnostic, but when my parents went to church it was Methodist. But I grew up middle class in the south, and can't identify with most of these stereotypes. Yes, some wealthier people had vacation homes, but they weren't in Nantucket, and no one referred to it as "summering".

[Anonymous]

Can a Seventh Day Adventist be considered a WASP? This WASP description sounds much like my neighbor, who is originally from New York. She's a Seventh Day Adventist though, which doesn't seem like would be a WASP denomination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WASP culture always makes me think of 90s movies like Home Alone. My family was very UMC (modest vacation home, four cars, nice home), but the thought of taking a family trip to Paris for Christmas?! That was UNHEARD OF! And living in that beautiful mansion with crystal chandeliers?! And a mom who needlessly wore heavily shoulder padded blazers outside an office setting?! I grew up surrounded by UMC Catholics and could count the protestants I knew on one hand. I only had one friend whose family took a trip Europe before college.

That's WASP? How was it any different than any other white middle class family? And the mom wore shoulder pads, because it was a remnant of 80's fashion that was still popular at the time. All moms were wearing shoulder pads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You mean "rich, white people" culture? Why yes, it's alive and well. They wear Patagonia now, but the newest iteration of the Preppy Handbook says that artificial fibers are now acceptable in prep communities.

No, true wasps are not showy at all, other than their zip codes, club memberships and school magnets. They drive 10+ year old Suburbans and Mercedes and wouldn’t be caught dead in a late model Escalade.

It sounds to me like being new money would be a lot more fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely. Especially in the south.

.
???


WASP culture isn't a thing at all in the south. Yes there are wealthy southerners, but it's not his same WASP culture that people here are describing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WASP culture is less of a money thing and more of a mindset.

The clothing marketed to WASPs is more of a marketing thing.
Real WASP's will wear the same blazer and shoes for 20 years.

Many WASP kids go to public schools. If they are good public schools then they offer value to the family. WASP families have
discreet old money because they never buy anything new.

A WASP woman would never be caught wearing a Kardashian
style purse.

WASPs typically don't travel on European vacations.
They will vacation at Grandma's summer house in
Rehoboth or at the Jersey shore that has been in the family for generations. Or....like the Bushes....vacation in the
northeast.

WASPS vacation on the Jersey Shore? And here I thought I was starting to figure out what this WASP thing was.