I guess they did at one time cuz the stereotype came from somewhere, but I have never encountered them.
This might sound bad but if you asked me to think of a stereotype of conservative, rich, image and status conscious families I think of asian immigrants :p(grew up in Houston).
Are there actually WASPs as parodied on shows like Family Guy anywhere in the USA?
We’re a bit of a hothouse variant, but come on over to South Carolina and I’ll introduce you to a shitload of them.
According to my sister-in-law in Maine, there’s no shortage up there either, and I think those are more the classic northeastern stereotype versions.
Cheerful Money** by Tad Friend is an autobiography about being a contemporary WASP and goes into detail about his WASP background. I read it because my mom’s family is relatively WASPy (not status conscious though) and I thought perhaps I could relate to the New England background, but I came away thinking the guy’s a huge whiny jerk.
An ex-girlfriend explained to me that old money WASPs are all over the Northeast, but the 1920s-style “Harvard Yard” stereotype is totally out of date. These days, an outsider will probably never encounter their communities unless one of them invites you (or you take a wrong turn somewhere in upstate Vermont.) Their kids exist in a low profile world of tiny, liberal arts colleges that you’ve never heard of but cost insane amounts of money.
Being that the Griffins on Famiky Guy are Catholic, they’re not really an example of WASPs. American Dad might be a better example.
Grude, meet Connecticut. Connecticut, Grude.
They’re mostly in hiding because of all Those People they see on the news, but they tend to come out of hibernation for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.
I think the OP is referring to Lois’s parents, Carter and Barbara Pewterschmidt. They’re as WASPy as you can get.
The Bundt cake scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding helps capture WASPs IMHO. That family is my wife’s - classic, upper middle class suburban mainline protestant Americans with two kids.
They are out there, but because they are fairly reserved - you never hear about them.
Are you another Alief boy? I grew up in SW Houston- smack dab in the middle of the new “Chinatown” (although it’s mostly Vietnamese) just south of Wilcrest @ Bellaire.
I think “WASP” as a term just means total whitebread people. Originally, when the term was coined, it referred to a specific northeastern group of people, which was the non-Italian, non-Greek, non-Jewish set of white people in places like New York, Massachusetts, etc… who basically ran things. Even though that group as a whole has dwindled, you still see something very similar around the country where the white population basically runs things, even though it’s probably more “white” than 'WASP" with less emphasis put on being non-Catholic or non-Italian, Jew, Greek, etc…
The Bush family (originally from Connecticut) is pretty WASP’y. Jeb married a Mexican lady & converted to Roman Catholicism; they have three children. Neil’s second wife is of Mexican extraction.
But the rest of the family remains as WASPish as you can get…
First, there are many White Protestants of English or German descent who are NOT “WASPS” by any traditional definition. A lot of people you’d consider “white trash” or “rednecks” are, strictly speaking, “WASPs.”
Rich white “old money” families still exist- they just aren’t as prominent or all-powerful as they once were.
A century ago, anyone asked to picture a titan of banking or industry would have poictured somebody like Randolph or Mortimer Duke from Trading Places- an old white male whose ancestors had been in America for centuries, who attended an elite prep school like Choate or Exeter, and who spent their spare time at ritzy private clubs. But nowadays, the WASP old-boy network isn’t what it once was.
I am a WASP - my English component got here in the 1630s, the Dutch component got here in the 1640s when it was still called New Amsterdam, and my mom’s side got here in the 1720s from the bunch running from Altenkirchen. [properly Anabaptists]
I am so Caucasian I more or less glow in the dark, and am definitely Protestant on both sides of my family. I suppose if there were any surprise black genes in the DNA it would be from imported Roman Legion Auxilliaries.
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The WASP species exists, but you have to know where to look to find them. First understand they are clannish, and have a tendency to stick to their own. However, you can use this to your advantage to find them.
I am in New England so here you will find large colonies in New England along the coasts. If you look in the Cape Cod and the islands you will find large numbers. Smaller colonies along the coast of Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. and another large colony is rumored along the outer spaces of Long island in the Hampton region.
Outside of their native habitat they camouflage well with the local population both in dress and vocal patterns so they are hard to spot. Within their native habitat they are easier to spot but they do not like to be approached and will flee easily. It is very difficult to learn their plumage, vocal and gesture patterns and they spot at 100 years those who do not conform to their norms.
They are also very temperature sensitive. Most of the New England sub-species will depart en mass to Florida when the temperature drops in October and November to return again in April and May. I do not spend time in Florida so I not know when they concentrate there, but again I would look to the coasts.
A small sub species has learned to adapt to the cold weather but have a tendency to migrate in the winter to the mountains areas of northern New England and also Colorado and Utah. Here you would look for bright plumage and they also have made clever use of sticks and boards for use in the snow.
Good luck in your hunting.
Except Lois’s Mom is <gasp> Jewish!
I worked with a charming young woman from Connecticut who kept a family portrait on her desk. Her father was in a sweater and twill pants, her mother, sister, and her in sweaters with tweed skirts. They were seated in front of the fireplace and had a pair of golden retrievers at their feet. All of them had blond hair and flawless skin.
My co-worker said one of the reasons she chose her college was because of their sailing program. She told me once her mother had resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution because it was boring.
A WÅSP once bit my sister…
Wait, how could I have forgotten?
Rich WASPs commit almost all the rapes and murders in New York City. Just watch any episode of*** Law and Order***, if you don’t believe me.
Yup, guilty as charged.
What makes you think they WANT you to encounter them? 