I have thoroughly enjoyed this blog, a travelogue and guide of yuppie culture:

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/

Interesting Reading, thanks...

So true, Teacake! Good one, it is so funny to realize how conformist " progressive white people " are, LOL!

Teacake, Thanks for the enlightening read. I can't wait to show this to my husband, he'll love it. I had no idea how white I really was. Jon Stewart has always been on "my list". Lol!

-Noelle

Thanks for posting, teacake! Great satire and partially true critique. Always good to have somewhere to learn further after watching History of White People in America.
http://www.amazon.com/History-People-Ameri...n/dp/630018479X

Teacake, I love you to pieces, so the following is not a commentary on you personally. But I for one find this site pretty offensive. Despite the fact that the site appears to have its tongue in its cheek, frankly, I think it's not as tee-hee-ha-ha as they would have us believe. I mean, insert the word "black" or "Asian" for "white," and see what you think then.

Or maybe I'm just crabby today.

That's what I was thinking.

I love it. This guy is hilarious.
The fact that these observant jibes won't impact the earning power, prospects. material wellbeing or social acceptance of the subjects like racism against people presumed to be in the "minority" or "poor" do.

Another form of 'us vs them' and that equals racism. As a person of black heritage I find it offensive.

I think it's a travelogue playing with the dissonance found in a liberal upwardly mobile culture. This just would not work if you called this blog:

stuffliberalpeoplelike

stuffyuppiepeoplelike

No, you have to get attention with calling it something that makes people go "wha..?"

The blog reduces people's behaviors and interests to their bare bones and turns them over like a new discovery. Classic example is the Marathons post.

"Running for a certain length of time on a specific day is a very important thing to a white person and should not be demeaned."

Or the post about Asian Fusion food, how now you can eat expensive Asian food without having to look at flattened ducks, condemned lobsters crammed into tanks and dining off plastic tablecloths. The yuppification of one cultural food group.

Speculation in some of the comments is that the writer is Asian. I didn't follow it all but there are some lively posts doing detective work as to what the race is of the writer.

As to the "insert black, asian," comments.. well I have seen similar. Black comedians are quite good at taking off their own culture and there is a first generation of Asians who put their heritage and upbringing to the grindstone of humour to great effect. And why not? People groups and subcultures develop their own entrenched ways and pointing these things out humorously is to my mind quite endearing.

And for goodness sake, isn't it time that the status quo in many cities is seen as the subculture it really is rather than the way everyone should strive to be?

Hmm, perhaps it is not PC to laugh at blacks or Asians, but I'm yet to find a "white person" who will think twice before laughing at Jews or catholics or the Irish , Italians or Poles. Double standard anybody?

Seriously? I'm white, living in one of the whitest states in the land, and not only do I not make ethnic jokes, but they are not acceptable in the groups of which I am a part. People making jokes about Jews, Catholics, Irish, Italians, and Poles get labeled bigots. The only exception is if a person is making fun of their own ethnic group--a Jew making a Jewish joke, for example.

I have lived many places in the U.S., and this has been true for all of them.

Agree absolutely, as I've pointed in my post to AltoDiva, that perhaps it is not PC to laugh at blacks, but I'm yet to meet a "white person' who will think twice before laughing at Jews, catholics, Italians... double standart? And another thing , you 'v mentioned black comedians laughing at themselves, Jews are also good at it, and so I can't see anything wrong from laughing at white yuppies, and their patronizing attitudes (knowing what's best for poor people ) . It was also hilarious
how we are supposed to thank a white person riding a $5000 bycicle for saving the Earth.LOL!

Really? I had compleeeeeeeetely different experience, and I lived in four countries, traveled widely, visited US on a number of times as well, and in those few weeks that I've stayed there must have met all those bigots that you've missed.

Tell that to the Ethiopians who keep winning marathons all around the world! LOL

My own feeling is if they mean yuppies they should say yuppies. There are soooooo many different kinds of white people, same for any race.

I guess. The only place I've encountered bigotry that was openly acceptable has been in the South.

Nevertheless, my point stands: you (and the owner of that blog) are painting "white people" with an awfully broad brush.

5-O is right. He should have just said "yuppies."

It is indeed a double standart. Very interesting post, Smelka!

I'm white. I'm a Yuppie I guess. I don't however drive a Toyota. I'm not a "granola" though. I'm not exceptionally "green."

I'm also sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo proud to be white and an American.

I DO believe this thread was meant to be controversial. Anything to get things started.

It is not a double standard. It is unacceptable in polite society to demean, debase, mock, or otherwise devalue a member of an ethnic group to which one does not belong. Period.

I do not believe for a moment the original poster started this thread as an instigation, I am guessing she found the things yuppies like funny , I do , and no offense , if a list called "whatportuguesepeoplelike" emerged I would feel the same way.

I can laugh at the quirks of my own race or ethnicity.

O.K. Now here's an example of a FUNNY thing............it has to do with Floridians. It's just an example of something written in a funny way that we ALL understand down here. We don't take offense.


You know you're a Floridian if....




.. Socks are only for bowling.


..You never use an umbrella because you know the rain will be over in
five minutes.


..A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store,
but everything to do with shade.


..Your winter coat is made of denim.


..You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito
bites.


..You're younger than thirty but some of your friends are over 65.


..Anything under 70 is chilly.


..You've driven through Yeehaw Junction.


..You could swim before you could read.


..You have to drive north to get to The South.


..You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix.


..Every other house in your neighborhood had blue roofs in 2004-2005.


..You've gotten out of school early on Halloween to trick or treat
before it got dark


..You know that anything under a Category 3 just isn't worth waking up
for.


..You dread love bug season.


..You are on a first name basis with the Hurricane list. They aren't

Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Frances..but Charley , Frances , Iv an and

Jeanne.


..You know what a snowbird is and when they'll leave.


..You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average.


..You were twelve before you ever saw snow, or you still haven't.


..'Down South' means Key West


..You think New York drivers licenses should only be valid in New York ..


..Flip-flops are everyday wear
..Shoes are for business meetings and church,
..but you HAVE worn flip fl ops to church before.


..Sweet tea can be served at any meal.


..An alligator once walked through your neighborhood.


..You smirk when a game show's 'Grand Prize' is a trip or cruise to
Florida


..You measure distance in minutes.


..You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt.


..You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls.


..A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level.


..You think everyone from a bigger city has a northern accent.


..You know the four seasons really are: hurricane season, love bug
season, tourist season and summer


..It's not soda, cola, or pop. it's coke, regardless of brand or
flavor, 'What kinda coke you want?'


..Anything under 95 is just warm.


..You've hosted a hurricane party.


..You go to a theme park for an afternoon, and know when to get on the
best rides. ( Space Mountain during the Electric Light Parade!)


..You understand the futility of exterminating cockroaches.

..You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee , Ichnatucknee ,
Withlacoochee and Micanopy


..You understand why it's better to have a friend with a boat, than
have a boat yourself.


..Bumper stickers on the pickup in front of you include:
various fish, NRA, NASCAR, Go Gators, and a confederate flag.


..You were 5 before you realized they made houses without pools.


..You were 25 when you first met someone who couldn't swim.


..You've worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas.


..You recognize Miami-Dade as ' Northern Cuba '.

Oh yeah, I'm such a troublemaker.. LOL

It was the funniest blog I've read in a long time and IMHO it's a rare eye that casts itself on that subculture/lifestyle with such disarming wit. So I shared it.

Omigosh!! Here I was thinking I was unique in my eclectic and alternative-type choices, only to find out that I am simply a cookie-cutter product of growing up in a middle class white family in Manhattan in the 60's, watching Sesame Street as a child, going to liberal arts college in Mass., having a mom who worked in a health food store and who was a member of an organic food co-op and who practiced yoga. I met my husband in an Asian import/metaphysical book store - our first purchase together was a Japanese futon, our favorite Saturday morning breakfast is bagels, cream cheese and lox -a big indulgence was to read the Sunday NY Times in bed, then go to the park to play frisbee with our dog. Our favorite lunch is a warm panini sandwich accompanied by a goat cheese salad. A late night treat is watching the Colbert Report. Our dream was to run a marathon and renovate an 1870's farmhouse, purchase a hybrid Prius and go to Japan one day. We thought we were unique and special - but now we find out it's because we're just white - aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! (I think it's more a function of growing up in NYC in the 60's in an upwardly mobile family in addition to being of Western European descent)

Can't we laugh at such conformity?

There are MANY MANY FORMS of yuppies. Demetrue .....you and I are very different forms. There are tons of them.. That's why you can't put them into catagories. Too many differences. Too many cultural and regional differences. California is very different from N.Y. or the northeast. Very different in the traditional South from the Midwest and South Florida. I'm not typical South Florida by the way.

Teacake...you're not a trouble-maker!
If I had thought you posted this thread for that reason I would have jumped right in.
I think that with satirical stuff...on message boards...it can be...not so good.
Once saw a whole board almost go down because of a site about bonzai kitties...

Jeez, at first I thought the title read StuffedWhitePeople.


Defining the word Yuppie...... Well take a look at all the different interpretations here:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=yuppies

Agree wholeheartedly.

[quote name='dawnkana' date='Feb 18 2008, 03:53 PM' post='342793']
Jeez, at first I thought the title read StuffedWhitePeople.
Defining the word Yuppie...... Well take a look at all the different interpretations here:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=yuppies
[/q uote


LOL!

I'm like...the anti-yuppie, when it comes to the snobbish part.
I guess if that's the main part of being one...I should take offense at the blog...since I'm white.
But...I won't.
I reckon I have, and will be called far worse than..."yuppie".
Still...it smarts!!! ;-)



Don't y'all just hate when anyone is trying to prove they're not a bigot...and they say something stupid like, "Well, I have ________ ______ friends, and they come over to my house to eat and we go out and do things together all the time!"
Fill in the blank with whatever race, nationality, whatever...
That kind of stuff just...makes me...wonder about people.

I am heartened to see how much of this blog you have read!

LOL, my mom worked in a health food store and did yoga too! But I have no idea what a panini is, perhaps we don't have them in Aus. We have foccacias which can be quite appalling. Perhaps they are the same thing.

The wierd thing is that I was doing all this stuff with my family when almost no one else was doing it yet, we thought we were very alternative (like Dharma's family in Dharma and Greg). And yes, of course I am laughing - it's a satire - but I am also trying to analyze why we made certain choices that now seem conformist rather than individually unique. I think that being part of the majority ethnicity MAY make one look for ways to differentiate from the mainstream culture in order to feel separate and unique (this very need may be the direct outcome of being part of the majority group - the majority culture is put forth as the norm and therefore the actual quirks become invisible because they are so common, so elements from other ethnicities appear exciting and interesting and deep and rich). Also, someone of Western European descent living in the US will often start to look towards their country of ethnic origin for some sort of foundational roots - hence the interest in agriculture and European produce - since most of our Western European ancestors came from agragrian societies, that would explain the desire to go to fresh farmer's markets, etc. And then there is often a subconcious guilt about feeling more privileged than others, so yes, seeing other ethnicities doing well and being successful and becoming a part of a more diverse society definitely appeals to one's innate sense of fairness. Anyway, the satire is certainly an eye-opener, but I would love to see some scientific, anthropological research on the effects of being a majority and a minority in a particular culture/society. I have read a lot in women's studies about being a subordinate in the culture and how that affects behavior and how the majority views you, but have never found much about the majority, probably because the majority usually does not analyze itself because they don't have the objectivity of being the "other", the outsider, etc.

This white, middle class, '60s generation liberal chuckled a lot. I'm a pretty consistently PC person, because I believe the issues are "usually" born out of a genuine compassion for diversity. But I also believe that we'd better be able to look at the foibles of our shared humanity with gentle good humor.

The differences between us are what makes life and this planet so rich (sounds simplistically idealistic and naive, perhaps--I am idealistic, but I haven't been naive for a very long time). All cultural groups have rich gifts and unique quirks. I was not offended by this. I laughed, then I shared it with my whole whitebread family and they laughed, too.

No judgements here. Just contributing to the discussion.

Well............................maybe I'm not a yuppie but I have SOME of those characteristics which don't necessarily apply to that.

I sure DOOOOOOOOOOOOOO wear make up! HAHAHA! I work for Estee Lauder at the moment. NOt that I like that cosmetic company that much.......just because that's where there was an opening.

I am so NOT a "tree huggin granola" and would never order anything from L.L. Bean.

I have taken pilates and yoga at the gym. I exercise............I'm not a huge Starbucks fan. See.......you can't put people into those catagories.

I do have some yuppie traits. I'll bet a LOT of people on POL do.

On second thought...........I'm NOT a yuppie. I used to be. I'm now too old to be one.

I think that the website is racist.

Why is it ok to be black and racist?????

Demetrue what a fascinating post. I quote you:



I've thought about this a lot as it is common for my peers to have near fetishes over other cultures. Compared to, say, India white european background folks in Australia or America have little overt culture. Your average person that fits this blog profile often feels bankrupt as far as their own culture goes.. add to that the guilt some feel, the alienation we are bred to embrace and it's an easy step to look towards other ethnicities for the rich and interesting stuff we can't really think of in our own background.



Exactly. That's what I found so refreshing about the blog. Though you will find such commentary here and there the focus has honed it IMHO. Things like "going outdoors is good for you" is not something people normally see as culturally distinct but it is true that not everyone has this built into their DNA from infancy.

This didn't offend me, as it seems to be produced within the subculture that it pokes fun at. Jokes within a subculture seem to be a little less painful than those told about others. As my dear Great Aunt Florence used to preface her Jewish jokes, "If you're a Jew, and you tell this joke to another Jew, it's hilarious. If you're a Jew, and you're telling this joke to a Goyim, it's kinda funny. If you're not a Jew, and you're telling this joke, you bastard!"

Also, I'm guilty of about 90% of the stuff on the list.

I just had another idea about the kitchen gadget and organic food observation - I think that because we are so surrounded by technology, which can be soul-less and robotic, there is an attempt to balance this out by using the technology to nurture - as in my Holy Grail appliance - the KitchenAid stand mixer - ah the gleaming stainless steel looks so precise and scientific (I think the desire to be scientific is something we inherited from the 1940's and 50's when we saw the future as something miraculous and limitless which would be saved by science and technology) - but the gleaming robotic appliance is being used to make nourishing bread for our families. It is the synthesis of technology and soul. The interest in organic food could also be seen as an attempt to balance out the cold steel techno-world that has sprung up around us. The community garden in the middle of the electric, bustling city reminds us, in a good way, that we came from "the dust of the earth and to dust we will return". I find it interesting and heartening that we have found ways to use technology to connect to others and carry on relationships in the midst of all the separation and alienation of our mobile culture.

Only whites are racist and only men are sexist, dontcha know?

Next time you feel guilty for mistaking one Asian for another:

Asian woman's experience

This site was done by an Asian guy:

http://www.alllooksame.com/

Yes, that kind if stuff makes me cringe.

First of all I wouldn't call everyone who tells ethnic jokes a bigot , there are offensive jokes and there are

funny jokes. Granted, that blog is about yuppies, but considering that yuppies are mostly white I don't

have a problem with it. What I personally find very ironic, it is their (Yuppies) conformity and

predictability, since the one thing they don't want to be - is to be mainstream.

Yuppies may be mostly white, but most white people are not Yuppies.

Maybe I find this so annoying because I live in a state with a LOT of poor white people, as well as a lot of right-leaning middle-class white people who do not meet the definition of "yuppie." It just seems flat-out ignorant to me to equate the two.

And whether you want to call it bigotry or not, I found it jaw-droppingly unbelievable that you have never met a white person who would have a problem with telling Pollack jokes, Jewish jokes, etc. Let me assure you, you have met one now--and there are a lot of us in the U.S. Though most of us probably fall under the heading of "annoying yuppies."

I think you and Demetrue have made excellent points here. It seems as though there are some folks so desperate to have a culture about which they can be proud that they adopt another apart from their own. That's the source of a great deal of cringe-worthy moments. I remember on the show Goodness Gracious Me (a British TV show that was a hilarious take on Asian/Indian culture, written and acted by Indians), there was a sketch about an Indian who had married a white woman. She completely immersed herself in Indian culture, wearing a sari, greeting people saying, "Namaste," and speaking with an Indian accent--to the utter embarrassment of her husband. It was funny because it was so painful to watch. It also reminds me of the dentist on Seinfeld who converts to Judaism and then proceeds to make Jewish jokes nonstop. (Seinfeld's take: "It doesn't offend me as a Jew. It offends me as a comedian.")

Deweyed also made an excellent point: If you belong to the culture, you can poke all the fun you want at yourself. But you just can't if it's not yours.

[And for the record, you are NOT a big troublemaker!]

But it is acceptable in polite society to demean and mock and devalue a member of another SOCIAL group to which one doesn't belong ?

I didn't say that. That's not okay either. Please don't put words in my mouth.

It was a rhetorical question, I upset you I'm sorry. My observation was that some yuppies show disdain to the people from the "wrong" suburb and even the " wrong " state.


It was a rhetorical question, I upset you I'm sorry. My observation was that some yuppies show disdain to the people from the "wrong" suburb and even the " wrong " state.

I don't feel demeaned by that blog. I feel gently poked in a way that makes me laugh at myself.

I know LOTS of Jewish people who fall into the Yuppie catagory. What do they call them? Oh yeah.......JAPS. Please.

Like I said. How can you start a thread like this and think that it isn't controversial? That's why you start it.

And I don't understand the statement........

Don't y'all just hate when anyone is trying to prove they're not a bigot...and they say something stupid like, "Well, I have ________ ______ friends, and they come over to my house to eat and we go out and do things together all the time!"


Well..............what the heck do you want people to do? If you were a true bigot you probably wouldn't have those friends no? I'm not sure I understand.