Is “WASP” culture still a thing?

[Anonymous]

Yep. Just go up to Baltimore if you have any doubts. Very strong WASP culture. Or Annapolis. Most American cities will have their WASP subcultural groups.

It's not as monolithic or exclusive as it was in the past. Like all cultural groups there were good and bad things about it and I think the bad things are fading out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It’s true that almost all US presidents have been White Protestants, but that doesn’t mean they were WASPs. Carter, Clinton, Johnson, Nixon—definitely not WASPs.

The only true WASPy presidents in this century were the two Bushes, the two Roosevelts, and Taft.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yep. Just go up to Baltimore if you have any doubts. Very strong WASP culture. Or Annapolis. Most American cities will have their WASP subcultural groups.

It's not as monolithic or exclusive as it was in the past. Like all cultural groups there were good and bad things about it and I think the bad things are fading out.

Very true about the bad things fading. My extended family has for many years belonged to a club that traditionally only let in WASPs. That is no longer the case and we are seeing much more diversity - of colors, faith and sexual orientation - and no one cares. I think the old snobby generation has pretty much died off and those in charge of these types of clubs have grown up in a much more multicultural world. We are not as afraid to mix with “others.”

And no, the club isn’t in the dc area

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richmond has a huge contingent. They belong to the Country Club of Virginia (CCV) and send their children k-12 to St. Catherine’s/St. Christopher’s.

Also, Myers Park area of Charlotte.

And these are just the towns I know personally.

Sending kids to catholic school is not a thing that WASPs do.

what are you talking about? St. Catherine's and St. Christopher's are Episcopalian schools.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure if I qualify as a WASP and I don't really care whether I do or not.

I'm white, some of my heritage is Anglo-Saxon but not the majority of it, and I went to a Protestant church when I was a kid but haven't been in over 20 years. I never belonged to a Country Club and I'm not rich. My family is from Ohio, not New England. Are Midwestern, Scandinavian-desent, agnostics "WASP"s?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richmond has a huge contingent. They belong to the Country Club of Virginia (CCV) and send their children k-12 to St. Catherine’s/St. Christopher’s.

Also, Myers Park area of Charlotte.

And these are just the towns I know personally.

Sending kids to catholic school is not a thing that WASPs do.

St. Catherine's/St. Christopher's are Episcopal schools. Can I get a you a G&T while you tamp down your embarrassment?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure if I qualify as a WASP and I don't really care whether I do or not.

I'm white, some of my heritage is Anglo-Saxon but not the majority of it, and I went to a Protestant church when I was a kid but haven't been in over 20 years. I never belonged to a Country Club and I'm not rich. My family is from Ohio, not New England. Are Midwestern, Scandinavian-desent, agnostics "WASP"s?

Not as the term is being used here. Context is everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure if I qualify as a WASP and I don't really care whether I do or not.

I'm white, some of my heritage is Anglo-Saxon but not the majority of it, and I went to a Protestant church when I was a kid but haven't been in over 20 years. I never belonged to a Country Club and I'm not rich. My family is from Ohio, not New England. Are Midwestern, Scandinavian-desent, agnostics "WASP"s?

No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see it at country clubs and church.

Yessss, though some of that is just UMC aspirational conventions facilitated by retail and pop culture -- e.g., Ralph Lauren, Vineyard Vines, Gossip Girl, etc.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure if I qualify as a WASP and I don't really care whether I do or not.

I'm white, some of my heritage is Anglo-Saxon but not the majority of it, and I went to a Protestant church when I was a kid but haven't been in over 20 years. I never belonged to a Country Club and I'm not rich. My family is from Ohio, not New England. Are Midwestern, Scandinavian-desent, agnostics "WASP"s?

No.

I digress.

It's always mistaken to think that WASPs must only be of Anglo-Saxon heritage. That specific heritage is less important than adhering to the set of cultural values espoused by the WASPs. The country clubs, private schools, social registers have always had plenty of non-Anglo-Saxon names, especially in the Midwestern cities. But even on the East Coast. Some of the "oldest" New York families are Dutch, for example. And WASP Baltimore and Philadelphia have plenty of German heritage families.

Just as being of a white Anglo-Saxon and Protestant background doesn't automatically make you a WASP as the term is understood, being a WASP doesn't necessarily mean you're of Anglo-Saxon heritage, or even strictly Protestant heritage.

[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.

No, it’s much more than that. No new money. Your family has to have been WASP’s for generations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

No, it’s much more than that. No new money. Your family has to have been WASP’s for generations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

No, it’s much more than that. No new money. Your family has to have been WASP’s for generations.

Yep, hence the comment above about the Bushes, Roosevelts, and Tafts being the only 20th century WASP presidents. Particularly the Bushes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

No, it’s much more than that. No new money. Your family has to have been WASP’s for generations.

+1

The old WASP families still live on (heck, the Roosevelt descendants alone probably number in the hundreds at this point), but I'm not sure if they're still "into" the whole WASP thing. Many work everyday jobs, some struggle to make rent, and a more than a few have different last names than their ancestors' grand ones. Quite a few are living the hippy lifestyle, doing yoga retreats and all that, vs the country club -> cushy job -> G&T and martinis in the evening one. Some even send their kids to -- gasp -- public school, and some certainly don't live in the "best enclave."

I think what the first PP described above, the "UMC success," is based on old, outdated books and movies about WASPs/generally "rich" / "old money" folks that people use as "guides" for aspirational purposes.