Yuppies, brats and the class war

[BrandNewGuy]

I smiled when I saw the headline "Residents furious after South London cemetery ?taken over by IPA drinking yuppies?" for various reasons: in local journalism, most residents are "furious"; the exaggeration of "taken over"; but mainly the use of the word "yuppie" with its telltale epithet "IPA drinking".

I might be wrong, but it seems that "yuppie" has undergone a resurgence in the last five years or so. Used all the time in the late 80s and 90s, it then fell out of favour, even though London continued to gentrify like mad. I wonder why it's back?

And I'm confused by the mention of these "yuppies" having "brats", as I thought one mark of the yuppies was that they were mainly single and certainly yet to have children. Perhaps it's a reluctance to use the obvious term - "middle-class" - but talking of "middle-class" and "working-class" has fallen out of favour, as if all of our social characteristics are picked off the shelf consumer-style and not largely "inherited".

Anyway, some class war musings to chew on.

Finally, as a wordy person, I'd have hyphenated "IPA drinking" in that headline, although seeing a rampaging mini-tin of high-strength hipster IPA literally swallowing yuppies would be great fun.

https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/residents-furious-after-south-london-19909985?IYA-mail=2101fe4f-baec-4d08-bd6b-6d573cd30a3a

[Loutwo]

The modern ?yuppy? everyone from trendy young upstart hipster living in Peckham, to Home Counties style middle classes with kids in private schools living around ED. They can be any age group, but tend to be younger than 50, and almost always from outside London. I saw a Twitter post of a panettone scattered for the birds in a local park recently, this sums up the modern ?yuppy? (tongue in cheek). There?s almost always a organic food shop involved or Waitrose somewhere along the line.

Louisa.

[SpringTime]

Does anyone consider themself a good yuppy contender? Originally from outside London, drive a BMW, shop on Bellenden Road and Lordship Lane, avoid supermarkets, like organic food and better quality beer. In my forties and enjoy going to France. I also have a job. Am I am yuppy?

[JohnL]

Commin Over here with their north american craft ales and picnic hampers

[KidKruger]

I always took 'Yuppie' to be a resentful kind of term, telling more about the person/group using it than of the target person.

To me it smarts of jealousy of others trying to make a career, 'a success' (whatever that may mean), broadly some kind of professional betterment, often in the finance industry. Typical British effort-bashing BS !

[JohnL]

Do millennials see themselves as yuppy - I thought it was a GenX thing.

[diable rouge]

I didn't realise Yuppies had made a come back, picked the wrong time! :)

Yuppie didn't start out as a catch-all put down, but over time it became one like Millennials, Woke etc, mainly because like a lot of style tribes they eventually end up becoming a caricature of themselves, e.g. the Hipster/Urban Woodsman. The tell tale sign is when estate agents pick up on a look, then it's time to bail out...

[SpringTime]

Bit nervous now. I don't own my BMW. I just drive it. Also my offspring aren't in private school. Though I was...

PS I only own one property, with a mortgage.

PPS we've enough excellent beer without needing US imports.

[DuncanW]

Serious conflation of terms here, I think. Yuppie is short for Young Urban Professional. So if you are middle-aged, have kids, drink IPA - you are almost certainly not a yuppie.

Have some sympathy though with the lady quoted in the article. I go the Cemetery often and though it's widely accepted that the old part especially is also a recreational space, visitors should treat the surrounds with the respect they deserve. On my visits, I rarely see people doing otherwise to be fair, but she obviously has. And I would imagine that she is talking about the newer part of the cemetery which is worse as the plots there are more recent and clearly having living relatives who would visit.

My only concern is that it's also yet another case of othering a group of people due to the perceived behaviour of some individuals.

[diable rouge]

I'll try and break this gently to you ST, are you familiar with the term Centrist Dad?

Some people think that once we get back to some kind of normality there will be a new Roaring Twenties, a decade of fun, frolics, and Flappers...

Cocks out for the lasses!

[malumbu]

Yuppies refers to the mid to late 80s onwards - Thatcher generation when it was seen to be good to be selfish, earn lots of dosh in the city, credit card behind the bar following an early end to work day, walk around with a brik mobile talking loudly to your financial dealer etc etc. I expect that Yuppies were similarly superficial slaves to fashion, then it may have been a Mexican style beer with a lime in the top, now an artisan formulaic IPA made at a beer factory in East London I expect many Yuppies took early retirement and moved to SE22. My early memories of working in London in the late 90s was people going on about how they wouldn't need to work as their flat was making more money in appreciation than they earned. The we had Black Friday, house price collapse etc.

Just saying this to be provocative and get some banter going.

[legalalien]

I always think of the show "Capital City" when I think of yuppies.

Just googled and found/ read this - suggests that whereas 80s yuppies were about conspicuous consumption, it's now all about "inconspicuous" consumption...

https://newrepublic.com/article/143609/new-yuppies-how-aspirational-class-expresses-status-age-inequality

[Seabag]

SpringTime Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Does anyone consider themself a good yuppy

> contender? Originally from outside London, drive

> a BMW, shop on Bellenden Road and Lordship Lane,

> avoid supermarkets, like organic food and better

> quality beer. In my forties and enjoy going to

> France. I also have a job. Am I am yuppy?

The Y in yuppie is for young

So that?s you outta the contention

Next?

[JohnL]

malumbu Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Then we had Black Friday, house

> price collapse etc.

Damn - the US stock market just had a big fall as you posted this.

[SpringTime]

Seabag Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> SpringTime Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Does anyone consider themself a good yuppy

> > contender? Originally from outside London, drive

>

> > a BMW, shop on Bellenden Road and Lordship

> Lane,

> > avoid supermarkets, like organic food and

> better

> > quality beer. In my forties and enjoy going to

> > France. I also have a job. Am I am yuppy?

>

> The Y in yuppie is for young

>

> So that?s you outta the contention

>

> Next?

Ooh, that's a relief. Although it all sounds rather ageist.

I think I saw some yuppies by Goose Green the other day. They'd arrived in 4x4 Volvos (because Goose Green is on a mountain) and were head to toe in Belstaff, all with takeaway coffees. Do they sound like yuppies to you?

Despite their silly uniforms what struck me was how miserable they looked. Processed humans with everything and in a dead-end club.

The kids looked happy enough but I hope they hear

The Logical Song soon.

[Loutwo]

The term yuppies is outdated in it?s literal sense, as quoted. But let?s all be honest for a moment here, we all know what the term roughly summarises. You only need to pop to PR park cafe and you?ll get a good case study of what a ED 21st century ?yuppy? is.

Sometimes, you just know.

Louisa.

[TheCat]

Young Urban Professional.

its pretty clear.

[DuncanW]

>

> I think I saw some yuppies by Goose Green the

> other day. They'd arrived in 4x4 Volvos (because

> Goose Green is on a mountain) and were head to toe

> in Belstaff, all with takeaway coffees. Do they

> sound like yuppies to you?

>

No, they just sound like middle-aged people in a park - also that you imagined most likely

[SpringTime]

DuncanW Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> >

> > I think I saw some yuppies by Goose Green the

> > other day. They'd arrived in 4x4 Volvos

> (because

> > Goose Green is on a mountain) and were head to

> toe

> > in Belstaff, all with takeaway coffees. Do they

> > sound like yuppies to you?

> >

> No, they just sound like middle-aged people in a

> park - also that you imagined most likely

Soz, Duncan they were early 30s.

[Whoeveritis]

Almost 4 pounds for a dry tasteless cheese roll in PR park cafe , need we say more

[Seabag]

Class war is furking tedious, over and over. Served with extra chips.

Do you think the Volvo driving , waxed cotton wearing ?yuppies? in question are writing threads on some forum somewhere telling of ?chavs? tutting at the price of cheese rolls?

No, they?re getting on with life as it goes, way to wrapped up in the minutiae to be bothered by those ?class warriors? looking on. You?re invisible, or at best ignored.

In a world of injustice and billionaires, they?re is a grey area. Most of us live in it.

Try and be nice, it?s free.

[JohnL]

I have a horrible feeling that Original Yuppies mutated into Trumpists and EU Leavers. There is a similarity if you consider the original Yuppies being the loud traders of the 1980s.

[????]

I think that's fairly unlikely given that Trump and Brexit supporters over index among white working class and blue collars worker and non-metropolitan areas

[alex_b]

???? Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I think that's fairly unlikely given that Trump

> and Brexit supporters over index among white

> working class and blue collars worker and

> non-metropolitan areas

My understanding is that this is a bit of a misreading of the data. The majority of Brexit votes came from the South of England, including asset rich retirees in the Home Counties who may well have been yuppies in the 80s. The majorities for Brexit were higher in the white working class areas of the North, but by numbers of voters Brexit was won in Southern England.

As for Trump you?re right that his support is strongly in rural areas and he suffered a strong shift away from him in the suburbs and exurbs. It?s also distorted by the electoral college system that inflates rural states vs more urban states.

[fishbiscuits]

I imagine a lot of the fast-cash yuppies of the 80s (i.e. former bankers/traders who are now mainly retired) would be living in large houses in Essex/Kent/Herts.. polishing their BMW on the driveway, and fit the Telegraph-reading, Brexit-voting clich? fairly neatly.

Most young professionals of today are used to working in a more globalised, cosmopolitan, politically correct environment and possibly have a rather different outlook (and less money). Whether they're drinking IPA in Nunhead cemetery is another matter, of course.