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''[[White people|'''W'''hite]] [[Anglo-Saxons|'''A'''nglo-'''S'''axon]] [[Protestantism|'''P'''rotestant]]'', commonly abbreviated to the [[acronym]] '''''WASP''''', is a term which originated in the [[United States of America|United States]].
'''WASP''' refers to '''White Anglo-Saxon Protestants''' in the United States or Canada, usually in a disparaging reference to their elite status. The "Anglo-Saxon" part means of English descent, though in common usage people from elsewhere in western and northern Europre are includes. By contrast [[Yankee]] refers to New Englanders of English descent, regardless of social status, while WASP includes high status white Southerners.


The term does not have a precise definition and can be used to describe greatly differing sociological and cultural groups.<ref name="Society in Focus">{{cite book | last = Thompson | first = William | authorlink = | coauthors = Joseph Hickey | year = 2005 | title = Society in Focus | publisher = Pearson | location = Boston, MA | id = 0-205-41365-X}}</ref> The WASP acronym originated in reference to [[White American]]s with a history in the [[upper class]] establishment, who are alleged to form a powerful elite. [[Working class]] whites in the U.S. are not necessarily referred to as WASPs, even if they are Protestants of [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] descent. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0018-2680(198722)27%3A2%3C275%3ATACATC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R] The word ''white'' is [[redundant]], since Anglo-Saxons &mdash; whether in the strict or popular sense of the term &mdash; are always white. "WASP" is used in [[Canada]] in much the same way as it is used in the U.S.A.
A class factor is implicit, so that working class whites are not usually called WASPs.  By the 21st century, less than 25% of the American population is of English descent, yet they continue to have disproportionate influence over American institutions, especially cultural, eduicational and financial.  


''WASP'' is gradually being replaced in the U.S. by ''[[white Christian male]]'' as a result of diminished discrimination against [[Catholic]]s and other non-WASP white males.
<ref name="Society in Focus">{{cite book | last = Thompson | first = William | authorlink = | coauthors = Joseph Hickey | year = 2005 | title = Society in Focus | publisher = Pearson | location = Boston, MA|id = 0-205-41365-X}}</ref>
For similar reasons, the acronym is sometimes interpreted as the more [[derogatory]] '''''White Anglo-Saxon [[Pig]]'''''.  The term ''WASP'' also includes women, who regardless of ethnic heritage may face some extent of gender-based discrimination.
Strictly speaking, many people now referred to as "WASPs" are not Anglo-Saxon, that is the descendants of some [[Germanic peoples]], who settled in [[Britain in the Middle Ages|Britain]] between the [[5th century]] and the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman Conquest]]. According to some sources, Anglo-Saxon ancestry is not even dominant in [[England]]. Even though they are genetically inseparable from the Danish and north Germans [Saxons] , which is generally regarded as the Anglo-Saxon heartland.<ref name="Celtic ancestry dominant in Briton">{{cite web|url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1393742006|title=Celtic ancestry dominant in Briton|accessdate=2006-11-29}}</ref> However, in modern North American usage, WASPs may include Protestants, from [[Dutch people|Dutch]], [[German people|German]], [[Huguenot]] (French Protestant), [[Scandinavian people|Scandinavian]], [[Scottish people|Scottish]], [[Ulster-Scots|Scots-Irish]] and [[Welsh people|Welsh]] backgrounds. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-8762(197812)83%3A5%3C1155%3ARAEIA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0] Therefore, the term "WASP" is sometimes applied to individuals who are technically non-Anglo-Saxons, including people with:
* Dutch origins, such as the [[Vanderbilt family|Vanderbilt]] and [[Roosevelt|Roosevelt families]]
* German descent, such as the [[Rockefeller family|Rockefeller]] and  [[Astor family|Astor families]].<ref name="Astor family referred to as WASP">{{cite web|url=http://www.irows.ucr.edu/papers/irows27/irows27.htm|title=Astor family referred to as WASP|accessdate=2006-11-28}}</ref>
* French descent, such as the [[Du Pont family]]
* Scots-Irish origins, such as the [[Mellon]] family
{{cquote| 
The term WASP has many meanings. In sociology it reflects that segment of the U.S. population that founded the nation and traced their heritages to ... Western Europe... The term has largely negative connotations... Today... less than 25 percent of the U.S. population [is WASP]. Nevertheless they continue to... have disproportionate influence over... American institutions. The term... has become more inclusive. To many people, WASP now include most 'white' people who are not... members of any minority group (William Thompson & Joseph Hickey, 2005, ''Society in Focus'').<ref name="Society in Focus">{{cite book | last = Thompson | first = William | authorlink = | coauthors = Joseph Hickey | year = 2005 | title = Society in Focus | publisher = Pearson | location = Boston, MA | id = 0-205-41365-X}}</ref> }}
The above quote while not true speaks to the diminishing numbers and influence.  As it is 45% of Americans claim to be White Protestants (including Mormons) while another 11% have become secular in religious affiliation.[http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?PageID=116] Usage of the term WASP has grown in other [[English language|English]]-speaking countries, such as [[Canada]] and [[Australia]], which were settled by members of similar [[ethnic group]]s. Beyond the English-speaking world, the term is sometimes used in a [[metaphor]]ical sense, to refer to perceived elite social groups.


==Usage==
==Usage==
The term was popularized by [[sociology|sociologist]] and [[University of Pennsylvania]] professor [[E. Digby Baltzell]] in his 1964 book ''The Protestant Establishment: Aristocracy & Caste in America''. However, its first recorded use was by Andrew Hacker in [[1957]].<ref>Andrew Hacker, 1957, ''American Political Science Review'' 51:1009-1026. WASP was also used by Erdman B. Palmore in ''The American Journal of Sociology'' in 1962.</ref>
People seldom call themselves WASPs; the term is used by outsiders often with a slight negative undertone.


The original use of WASP denoted either an ethnic group, or the culture, customs, and heritage of early Western European settlers in what is today the United States. The [[New England]] Yankee elite were almost exclusively of [[English people|English]] extraction, although some early German immigrants, largely Protestant, arrived in the Dutch colony of [[New Netherland]].


In addition to being [[Protestantism|Protestant]], WASPs are primarily [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopalian]] but many are also members of [[Presbyterian]], [[Lutheran]], [[Congregational church|Congregational]], [[Baptist]] and [[Methodist]] churches. The Episcopal Church in the United States of America is [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] in other countries.
WASP was popularized by sociologist and University of Pennsylvania professor E. Digby Baltzell in his 1964 book ''The Protestant Establishment: Aristocracy & Caste in America''. However, its first recorded use was by Andrew Hacker in 1957.<ref>Andrew Hacker, 1957, ''American Political Science Review'' 51:1009-1026. WASP was also used by Erdman B. Palmore in ''The American Journal of Sociology'' in 1962.</ref>


US Northeasterners who may be labeled as WASPs may refer to themselves as "[[Yankee]]s." However, this term does not apply to Canadian northeasterners. [http://www.canadianheritagealliance.com/portal/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=327] In the [[Southern United States|South]], where relatively few immigrants settled after 1860, WASP was less commonly used as there are fewer external groups to make the characterization.
The original use of WASP denoted either an ethnic group, or the culture, customs, and heritage of early Western European settlers in what is today the United States. The [[New England]] Yankee elite were almost exclusively of English extraction.  


In the Western United States, "[[Anglo]]" is often used to contrast [[whites|white]] Americans of European ancestry from [[Hispanic]]s. It has a broader meaning than WASP, as it is sometimes used to include all [[English language|English-speaking]] [[Whites]], no matter their religion or ethnicity.
WASPs vary in religion, from secular to Episcopalian, [[Presbyterian]], Congregational, [[Baptist]] and [[Methodist]]. [[George H. W. Bush]] and [[George W. Bush]] fit the WASP profile exactly. [[John Forbes Kerry]] fits the profile except he is Catholic.  Catholics, Mormons and Jews are not called WASPs, nor are people of Hispanic or Asian secent.


When using the term, speakers vary widely in terms of which ethnic group they mean to designate, and some even apply it to all Protestants of European descent. For that reason, use of the term WASP has broadened significantly since its first use. Some people use it to refer to any powerful [[elite]], with little regard to actual ethnicity or religion. Others use it only to refer to an ethnic group and its culture.


In the United States, it is most prevalently used today to contrast early arriving, Western European, "old stock" Americans with the descendants of later arriving groups from Southern and Eastern Europe, Catholic Ireland and other parts of the world.  The term WASP is also often used in a way which is synonymous with "[[The Establishment]]" or for the privilege that White Protestants in America  obviously enjoy. It is frequently used today in a derogatory fashion. In fact, many dictionaries warn the term is often "derogatory" or "insulting".
In the western and southwestern U.S., "Anglo" is often used to contrast Americans of European ancestry from [[Latino history|Hispanics]] of Mexican ancestry.  


==Culture attributed to WASPs==
==Culture attributed to WASPs==
The original ''WASP'' establishment created and dominated the [[social structure of the United States]] and its significant institutions when the country's social structure took shape in the [[17th century]] until the [[20th century]]. Many scholars, including researcher Anthony Smith, argue that nations tend to be formed on the basis of a pre-modern ethnic "core" that provides the myths symbols and memories for the modern nation and that WASPs were indeed that core. [http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p40195_index.html] Many only associate America's elite institutions with WASPs when it has always been a wider, more diverse group. The class is still imagined to dominate America's [[University-preparatory school|prep school]]s and to older universities including those in the [[Ivy League]] or small liberal arts colleges, such as Amherst, Hamilton, Williams, Union, Trinity, Middlebury, and St. Lawrence and schools like Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby (see the "[[Little Ivies]]"). It is true that these elite institutions were important to a certain portion of WASPs, who were taught skills, habits, and attitudes and formed connections which carried over to the influential spheres of finance, culture, and politics. While people labeled as WASPs were not a truly insular society, well into the 20th century, prominent families preserved an attitude toward marriage carried over from the British aristocracy: A desire to marry was carefully scrutinized by the potential groom's and potential bride's families.  Marriage was often influenced by the desire to maintain each party in their social and cultural milieu.  This is something that occurs in other cultures as well.   
The original ''WASP'' establishment created and dominated the social structure of the United States and its significant institutions when the country's social structure took shape in the 17th century until the 20th century. Many scholars, including researcher Anthony Smith, argue that nations tend to be formed on the basis of a pre-modern ethnic "core" that provides the myths symbols and memories for the modern nation and that WASPs were indeed that core.<ref> see  [http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p40195_index.html]</ref> WASPs still dominate America's prep schools (expensive private high schools, primarily in the Northeast) and to Ivy League universioties and prestigious liberal arts colleges, such as Amherst, Williams, Trinity, Middlebury, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Wellesley, Wesleyan, Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby Colleges. Those colleges are overwhelmingly meritocratic, but still favor "legacy" alumni. A degrethese elite institutions were important to a certain portion of WASPs, who were taught skills, habits, and attitudes and formed connections which carried over to the influential spheres of finance, culture, and politics. While people labeled as WASPs were not a truly insular society, well into the 20th century, prominent families preserved an attitude toward marriage carried over from the British aristocracy: A desire to marry was carefully scrutinized by the potential groom's and potential bride's families.  Marriage was often influenced by the desire to maintain each party in their social and cultural milieu.  This is something that occurs in other cultures as well.   


WASP families are sometimes unwarrantedly stereotyped as pursuing traditional British diversions such as [[Squash (sport)|squash]], golf, tennis, Badminton, riding, polo, and yachting, pursuits that served as a marker of affluence.  [[Social register]]s and society pages listed the privileged, who mingled in the same private clubs, attended the same churches, and lived in neighborhoods &mdash; [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]]'s [[Pennsylvania Main Line|Main Line]], [[New York City]]'s [[Upper East Side]], and [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston's]] [[Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts|Beacon Hill]] are notable examples &mdash; governed by covenants designed to separate the well-bred from the merely wealthy.  
WASP families are sometimes unwarrantedly stereotyped as pursuing traditional British diversions such as [[Squash (sport)|squash]], golf, tennis, Badminton, riding, polo, and yachting, pursuits that served as a marker of affluence.  [[Social register]]s and society pages listed the privileged, who mingled in the same private clubs, attended the same churches, and lived in neighborhoods &mdash; [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]]'s [[Pennsylvania Main Line|Main Line]], [[New York City]]'s [[Upper East Side]], and [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston's]] [[Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts|Beacon Hill]] are notable examples &mdash; governed by covenants designed to separate the well-bred from the merely wealthy.  
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While the white Protestant establishment is no longer the sole elite group in American society, it remains a significant presence throughout the nation. WASPs are still predominantly [[upper middle class|upper middle]] to [[upper class]] and well educated, as well as occasional members of the [[elite]].  Some white Protestants families have jettisoned the notion of marriage as a way to maintain culture, and marriages between WASPs and Jews or Catholics are not altogether rare; marriages between WASPs and other races are less common but are not necessarily frowned upon.   
While the white Protestant establishment is no longer the sole elite group in American society, it remains a significant presence throughout the nation. WASPs are still predominantly [[upper middle class|upper middle]] to [[upper class]] and well educated, as well as occasional members of the [[elite]].  Some white Protestants families have jettisoned the notion of marriage as a way to maintain culture, and marriages between WASPs and Jews or Catholics are not altogether rare; marriages between WASPs and other races are less common but are not necessarily frowned upon.   


WASPs in the Northeast, Midwest, and West were once dominant in the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]].  Catholics in the Northeast, generally recent Irish or Italian immigrants, populated that region's Democratic party politics. Catholic, or "white ethnic," voters and politicians failed to find favor among WASP voters even in the liberal Northeast. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,838862,00.html] A popular example was the 1952 senate election in Massachusetts between John F. Kennedy and [[Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.]], decisively split along sectarian lines (despite JFK's WASPish associations such as Choate, Harvard, Spee Club, Hyannisport). While affluent, white, Protestant Northerners tended at one point toward temperamental conservatism (or [[noblesse oblige]] [[progressivism]]), trends and demographics have changed these realities. The old style [[Rockefeller Republicans]] wing of the party favored by WASPs weakened, as most recent successful Republican politicians in the Northeast have been Catholics, such as [[George Pataki]]. Five of the six New England states have recently become reliably Democratic in their presidential voting, with the exception of New Hampshire. White Protestants in the South are largely Republicans. Liberalism or Progressivism has also come to define a certain portion of WASP politics, especially in the Northeast. [http://www.cercles.com/review/r27/kaufmann5.htm]  Prominent WASPs such as [[Howard Dean]] and [[Ned Lamont]] have become visible leaders of the contemporary Democratic party. 
WASPs in the Northeast, Midwest, and West were once dominant in the [[U.S. Republican Party, history)|Republican Party]].  Catholics in the Northeast, generally recent Irish or Italian immigrants, dominated that region's Democratic party politics.  
 
With the exception of the rise of Evangelicalism among Southern and Midwestern white Protestants, even true believers of mainline churches strongly consider religious belief to be a private matter.  Historically, this may have led to a mild but persistent suspicion of Catholics, who were more likely to openly identify with their religion.  While many associate WASPs chiefly with the Episcopal, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Baptist, and Methodist churches, in some cases there is a growing lack of religiosity. [http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1171072004]  The population of religiously, at least among active Episcopalians, for instance, does not appear to be growing. One [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopal church]] leader was quoted in 2006 as estimating the church's national membership as 2.2 million and attributing a low birth rate to their higher level of education.<ref>http://www.suntimes.com/news/steyn/149527,CST-EDT-steyn26.article</ref> Notwithstanding, white Protestants are still the largest group of Americans with over half of Americans claiming to be Protestant vs. about 25% Catholic. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5465761/]
 
==Usage outside North America==
 
In Australian usage, the word WASP has lost its elite connotations, and has come to have a similar meaning to [[Anglo-Celtic Australian]]. For instance, according to some reports, the mass murderer [[Martin Bryant]], shortly before the [[Port Arthur massacre (Australia)|Port Arthur massacre]] on April 28, 1996, was heard to say something like: "there are a lot of WASPS ... not a lot of [[Japanese people|Japs]]."<ref> [http://150.theage.com.au/view_bestofarticle.asp?straction=update&inttype=1&intid=419 Michael Gawenda, 1996, "In cold blood (Part One)", ''The Age'']. Downloaded 14/09/06.</ref> There is controversy regarding Bryant's meaning, resulting from disagreement as to whether or not he mentioned "Japs", and suggestions that he was referring to insects when he said "wasps". If the latter theory is correct, the controversy nevertheless illustrates that "WASP" (in the ethnic sense) is a well-known term in Australia.
 
As an example of the broadening of use, consider that in [[Turkey]] in 2002, [[Abdullah Gül]] called his fellow cadres in [[Justice and Development Party (Turkey)|AK Parti]], the "WASPs of this country", referring to their [[Turkish people|ethnic Turkish]] origins, mainstream [[Sunni Islam]] beliefs, their "enterprising spirit", which he thought to be comparable to the [[Protestant work ethic]] and the party's moderate line.
 
In [[Israel]] the term WASP is sometimes used as an acronym for "White Ashkenazi Sabra with Protexia".{{Fact|date=October 2007}} [[Ashkenazi]] are Jews whose family emigrated to Israel from Europe (as opposed to [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardic]] Jews from Middle Eastern countries). A [[Sabra (person)|Sabra]] is someone who was born in Israel and "Protexia" as in having friends in high or influential places. People with this kind of background are said to be the Israeli equivalent of the US WASPs.
 
==Criticism==
Some object to the expression because of its inaccuracy and because the term is bandied about in a casual manner by people who may not understand its full meaning or its imprecision. As noted above, many people now referred to as "WASPs" are not Anglo-Saxon in the sense of being descendants of the Germanic settlers of Britain. In addition, some see it as a racial, ethnic, and religious slur showing contempt for European Americans and an attempt to smother European American diversity, since European Americans trace their origins to a large number of European countries with a diverse history where a variety of religions are practiced: It is therefore difficult to apply a single catch-all term. Critics see it as perpetuating anti-white stereotypes by association with a negative concept, that of an insect that often aggressively enforces its territory by use of stinging attacks.
 
In addition some see it as a racial, ethnic, and religious slur showing contempt for white Protestant Americans.  As such it can be understood to be a unflattering term that denies white Protestants a positive, unified identity. Others may use WASP as a point of pride in their Northern European, Protestant heritage and its legacy in American life.
 
If some see the term only as critical neologism, attempting to disenfranchise, dissuade, and ignore white Protestants from participation as a group and culture competing or existing as an influence in politics and culture, some also see a response or backlash in new [[Nativism]], [[Evangelicalism]], and a rise in [[Paleoconservatism]]. [http://www.bbk.ac.uk/polsoc/staff/academic/eric-kaufmann/samuel-huntington-review], [http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/pdf/267/26702606.pdf], [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060313/blumenthal/3] ,[http://www.cercles.com/review/r27/kaufmann5.htm]
 
If a sense of pride is to be found in modern literary exercise about the theoretical WASPs &mdash; this first-established group of non-natives &mdash; it may be as [[Wendell Berry]] wrote, in a grim and sprightly little poem, ''Anglo-Saxon Protestant Heterosexual Men'': "We are the last hope of earth / for we have no excuses, / nobody to blame but ourselves."
 
==See also==
* [[Anglo]]
* [[Anglo-Saxon]]
* [[White Christian male]]
* [[Boston Brahmin]]
* [[Preppy]]
* [[Social Register]]
* [[Yankee]]
* [[American Dream]]
* [[Keeping up with the Joneses]]
* [[Gentile]]
* [[Critical race theory]]


==Notes==
WASPS in much of the 20th century tended toward temperamental conservatism (or "noblesse oblige" progressivism). The old style "Rockefeller Republican" wing of the party favored by WASPs weakened, as most recent successful Republican politicians in the Northeast have been Catholics, such as [[George Pataki]]. Five of the six New England states have recently become reliably Democratic in their presidential voting, with the exception of New Hampshire. White Protestants in the South are largely Republicans. Liberalism or Progressivism has also come to define a certain portion of WASP politics, especially in the Northeast. [http://www.cercles.com/review/r27/kaufmann5.htm]  Prominent WASPs such as [[Howard Dean]] and [[Ned Lamont]] have become visible leaders of the contemporary Democratic party. 
<div style="font-size: 90%;">
<references />
</div>


==References==
==Bibliography==
*Allen, Irving Lewis: ''Unkind Words: Ethnic Labeling from Redskin to Wasp'' (NY: Bergin & Garvey, 1990)
*Allen, Irving Lewis. ''Unkind Words: Ethnic Labeling from Redskin to Wasp'' (1990)
*Cookson, Peter W.; Persell, Caroline Hodges: ''Preparing for Power: America's Elite Boarding Schools'' (NY: Basic Books, 1985)
*Cookson, Peter W.; Persell, Caroline Hodges. ''Preparing for Power: America's Elite Boarding Schools'' (1985) [http://www.questia.com/library/book/preparing-for-power-americas-elite-boarding-schools-by-peter-w-cookson-caroline-hodges-persell.jsp online edition]
*Davidson, James D.; Pyle, Ralph E.; Reyes, David V.: "Persistence and Change in the Protestant Establishment, 1930-1992"; ''Social Forces'', Vol. 74, No. 1. (September., 1995), pp. 157-175.
*Davidson, James D.; Pyle, Ralph E.; Reyes, David V.: "Persistence and Change in the Protestant Establishment, 1930-1992"; ''Social Forces'', Vol. 74, No. 1. (September., 1995), pp. 157-175.
*King, Florence: ''WASP, Where is Thy Sting?'' (NY: Stein and Day, 1977)
*King, Florence. ''WASP, Where is Thy Sting?'' (1977)
*Pyle, Ralph E.: ''Persistence and Change in the Protestant Establishment'' (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996)
*Pyle, Ralph E. ''Persistence and Change in the Protestant Establishment'' (1996)
*Schrag, Peter.: ''The Decline of the WASP'' (NY: Simon and Schuster, 1970)
* Salk, Susanna. ''A Privileged Life: Celebrating Wasp Style'' (2007)  
*Schrag, Peter. ''The Decline of the WASP'' (1970)


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=406108&in_page_id=1770&in_page_id=1770&expand=true#StartComments Anglo-Saxons and Britons]
*[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=406108&in_page_id=1770&in_page_id=1770&expand=true#StartComments Anglo-Saxons and Britons]


[[Category:Ethnic groups in the United States]]
----
[[Category:Social groups]]
See also [[Yankee]]
[[Category:slang]]
====Notes====
<references/>


[[cs:WASP]]
[[Category:History Workgroup]]
[[de:White Anglo-Saxon Protestant]]
[[Category:Sociology Workgroup]]
[[eo:WASP]]
[[Category:CZ Live]]
[[fr:White Anglo-Saxon Protestant]]
[[gl:WASP]]
[[it:White Anglo-Saxon Protestant]]
[[nl:White Anglo-Saxon Protestant]]
[[ja:ワスプ]]
[[pl:WASP]]
[[pt:WASP]]
[[ru:WASP]]
[[zh:白人盎格魯-撒克遜新教徒]]

Revision as of 18:15, 26 November 2007

WASP refers to White Anglo-Saxon Protestants in the United States or Canada, usually in a disparaging reference to their elite status. The "Anglo-Saxon" part means of English descent, though in common usage people from elsewhere in western and northern Europre are includes. By contrast Yankee refers to New Englanders of English descent, regardless of social status, while WASP includes high status white Southerners.

A class factor is implicit, so that working class whites are not usually called WASPs. By the 21st century, less than 25% of the American population is of English descent, yet they continue to have disproportionate influence over American institutions, especially cultural, eduicational and financial.


Usage

People seldom call themselves WASPs; the term is used by outsiders often with a slight negative undertone.


WASP was popularized by sociologist and University of Pennsylvania professor E. Digby Baltzell in his 1964 book The Protestant Establishment: Aristocracy & Caste in America. However, its first recorded use was by Andrew Hacker in 1957.[1]

The original use of WASP denoted either an ethnic group, or the culture, customs, and heritage of early Western European settlers in what is today the United States. The New England Yankee elite were almost exclusively of English extraction.

WASPs vary in religion, from secular to Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Congregational, Baptist and Methodist. George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush fit the WASP profile exactly. John Forbes Kerry fits the profile except he is Catholic. Catholics, Mormons and Jews are not called WASPs, nor are people of Hispanic or Asian secent.


In the western and southwestern U.S., "Anglo" is often used to contrast Americans of European ancestry from Hispanics of Mexican ancestry.

Culture attributed to WASPs

The original WASP establishment created and dominated the social structure of the United States and its significant institutions when the country's social structure took shape in the 17th century until the 20th century. Many scholars, including researcher Anthony Smith, argue that nations tend to be formed on the basis of a pre-modern ethnic "core" that provides the myths symbols and memories for the modern nation and that WASPs were indeed that core.[2] WASPs still dominate America's prep schools (expensive private high schools, primarily in the Northeast) and to Ivy League universioties and prestigious liberal arts colleges, such as Amherst, Williams, Trinity, Middlebury, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Wellesley, Wesleyan, Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby Colleges. Those colleges are overwhelmingly meritocratic, but still favor "legacy" alumni. A degrethese elite institutions were important to a certain portion of WASPs, who were taught skills, habits, and attitudes and formed connections which carried over to the influential spheres of finance, culture, and politics. While people labeled as WASPs were not a truly insular society, well into the 20th century, prominent families preserved an attitude toward marriage carried over from the British aristocracy: A desire to marry was carefully scrutinized by the potential groom's and potential bride's families. Marriage was often influenced by the desire to maintain each party in their social and cultural milieu. This is something that occurs in other cultures as well.

WASP families are sometimes unwarrantedly stereotyped as pursuing traditional British diversions such as squash, golf, tennis, Badminton, riding, polo, and yachting, pursuits that served as a marker of affluence. Social registers and society pages listed the privileged, who mingled in the same private clubs, attended the same churches, and lived in neighborhoods — Philadelphia's Main Line, New York City's Upper East Side, and Boston's Beacon Hill are notable examples — governed by covenants designed to separate the well-bred from the merely wealthy.

It was not until after World War II that the networks of privilege and power in the old Protestant establishment began to lose significance. Many reasons have been attributed to the WASP decline and books have been written detailing it. [2] Among the reasons often cited is increased competitive pressure as the WASPs themselves opened the doors to competition. The GI Bill and government-supported mortgage programs brought higher education to the children of poor European immigrants, and the postwar era created ample economic opportunity for a growing new middle class. Nevertheless, white Protestants remain represented in the country's cultural, political, and economic élite.[3]

While the white Protestant establishment is no longer the sole elite group in American society, it remains a significant presence throughout the nation. WASPs are still predominantly upper middle to upper class and well educated, as well as occasional members of the elite. Some white Protestants families have jettisoned the notion of marriage as a way to maintain culture, and marriages between WASPs and Jews or Catholics are not altogether rare; marriages between WASPs and other races are less common but are not necessarily frowned upon.

WASPs in the Northeast, Midwest, and West were once dominant in the Republican Party. Catholics in the Northeast, generally recent Irish or Italian immigrants, dominated that region's Democratic party politics.

WASPS in much of the 20th century tended toward temperamental conservatism (or "noblesse oblige" progressivism). The old style "Rockefeller Republican" wing of the party favored by WASPs weakened, as most recent successful Republican politicians in the Northeast have been Catholics, such as George Pataki. Five of the six New England states have recently become reliably Democratic in their presidential voting, with the exception of New Hampshire. White Protestants in the South are largely Republicans. Liberalism or Progressivism has also come to define a certain portion of WASP politics, especially in the Northeast. [3] Prominent WASPs such as Howard Dean and Ned Lamont have become visible leaders of the contemporary Democratic party.

Bibliography

  • Allen, Irving Lewis. Unkind Words: Ethnic Labeling from Redskin to Wasp (1990)
  • Cookson, Peter W.; Persell, Caroline Hodges. Preparing for Power: America's Elite Boarding Schools (1985) online edition
  • Davidson, James D.; Pyle, Ralph E.; Reyes, David V.: "Persistence and Change in the Protestant Establishment, 1930-1992"; Social Forces, Vol. 74, No. 1. (September., 1995), pp. 157-175.
  • King, Florence. WASP, Where is Thy Sting? (1977)
  • Pyle, Ralph E. Persistence and Change in the Protestant Establishment (1996)
  • Salk, Susanna. A Privileged Life: Celebrating Wasp Style (2007)
  • Schrag, Peter. The Decline of the WASP (1970)

External links

See also Yankee

Notes

  1. ↑ Andrew Hacker, 1957, American Political Science Review 51:1009-1026. WASP was also used by Erdman B. Palmore in The American Journal of Sociology in 1962.
  2. ↑ see [1]
  3. ↑ Davidson, James D.; Pyle, Ralph E.; Reyes, David V.: "Persistence and Change in the Protestant Establishment, 1930-1992," Social Forces, Vol. 74, No. 1. (September., 1995), p. 164
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