Yuppie (short for "young urban professional" or "young upwardly-mobile professional")^[1] is a derogatory term that refers to a member of the upper middle class The upper middle class is a sociological concept referring to the social group constituted by higher-status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term lower middle class which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle class stratum and the regular middle class. There is considerable debate as to how the upper middle in their twenties or thirties.^[2] It first came into use in the 1980s.

History

Although the term yuppies had not appeared until the early 1980s, there was discussion about young urban professionals as early as 1968.

Critics believe that the demand for "instant executives" has led some young climbers to confuse change with growth. One New York consultant comments, "Many executives in their 20s and 30s have been so busy job-hopping that they've never developed their skills. They're apt to suffer a sudden loss of career impetus and go into a power stall."^[3]

Joseph Epstein Joseph Epstein is an essayist, short story writer, and editor, best known as a former editor of the Phi Beta Kappa Society's The American Scholar magazine and for his recent essay collection, Snobbery: The American Version. He was also a lecturer at Northwestern University from 1974 to 2002. He is a Contributing Editor at The Weekly Standard and a is incorrectly credited for coining the term in 1982.^[4] An early printed appearance of the word is in a May 1980 Chicago Chicago ( /ʃɨˈkɑːɡoʊ/ or /ʃɨˈkɔːɡoʊ/) is the largest city in both Illinois and the Midwest, and the third most populous city in the United States, with over 2.8 million living within the city limits. Its metropolitan area, commonly named "Chicagoland", is the 26th most populous in the world, home to an estimated 9.7 million magazine article by Dan Rottenberg.^[5] The term gained currency in the United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language in 1983 when syndicated newspaper columnist Bob Greene Robert Bernard Greene, Jr. was an award winning columnist for the Chicago Tribune newspaper, where he worked for 24 years. Greene has written books on subjects varying from Michael Jordan, to small towns, to U.S. presidents. His Hang Time: Days and Dreams with Michael Jordan became a bestseller. Greene has two children, Nick and Amanda, from a 31- published a story about a business networking group founded in 1982 by the former radical leader Jerry Rubin Jerry Rubin was a far left-wing American social activist during the 1960s and 1970s. He became a successful businessman in the 1980s, formerly of the Youth International Party The Youth International Party, whose members were commonly called Yippies, was a more radically youth-oriented and countercultural offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the 1960s. It was founded in 1968. They employed theatrical gestures — such as advancing a pig as a candidate for President in 1968 — to mock the social status (whose members were called yippies The Youth International Party, whose members were commonly called Yippies, was a more radically youth-oriented and countercultural offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the 1960s. It was founded in 1968. They employed theatrical gestures — such as advancing a pig as a candidate for President in 1968 — to mock the social status); Greene said he had heard people at the networking group (which met at Studio 54 Studio 54 was a world-famous disco in the 70s and early 80s. Studio 54 was originally a New York City Broadway theatre, then a CBS radio and television studio. In the 1970s it became a discothèque located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan. The disco opened on April 26, 1977 and closed in March 1986 and briefly reopened in 1994 after a multi- to soft classical music Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 9th century to present times. The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common practice period) joke that Rubin had "gone from being a yippie to being a yuppie". The headline of Greene's story was From Yippie to Yuppie.^[6][7] The proliferation of the word was effected by the publication of The Yuppie Handbook in January 1983 (a tongue-in-cheek take on The Official Preppy Handbook^[8]), followed by Senator Gary Hart Gary Hart is an American politician, lawyer, author, professor and commentator. He formerly served as a Democratic Senator representing Colorado (1975–1987), and ran in the U.S. presidential elections in 1984 and again in 1988, when he was considered a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination until various news organizations reported that he's 1984 candidacy as a "yuppie candidate" for President of the United States The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is one of only two nationally elected federal officers, the other being the Vice President of the United States.^[2] The term was then used to describe a political demographic group of socially liberal Social liberalism is the belief that liberalism should include social justice. It differs from classical liberalism in that it recognizes a legitimate role for government in addressing economic and social issues such as unemployment, health care, and education while simultaneously expanding civil rights. Under social liberalism, the good of the but fiscally conservative Fiscal conservatism is a political term used in North America to describe a fiscal policy that advocates avoiding deficit spending. Fiscal conservatives often consider reduction of overall government spending and national debt as well as ensuring balanced budget of paramount importance. Free trade, deregulation of the economy, lower taxes, and voters favoring his candidacy.^[9] Newsweek Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence. Newsweek is published in four English language editions and 12 magazine declared 1984 "The Year of the Yuppie", characterizing the salary range, occupations, and politics of yuppies as "demographically hazy".^[2]

In a 1985 issue of The Wall Street Journal The Wall Street Journal is an English-language international daily newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, in New York City, with Asian and European editions, Theressa Kersten at SRI International SRI International, founded as Stanford Research Institute, is one of the world's largest contract research institutes. Based in the United States, the trustees of Stanford University established it in 1946 as a center of innovation to support economic development in the region. It was later incorporated as an independent non-profit organization described a "yuppie backlash" by people who fit the demographic profile yet express resentment of the label: "You're talking about a class of people who put off having families so they can make payments on the BMWs Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), (literally English: Bavarian Motor Works) is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the MINI brand, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands. BMW is known for its ... To be a Yuppie is to be a loathsome undesirable creature". Leo Shapiro, a market researcher Market research is any organized effort to gather information about markets or customers. It is a very important component of business strategy. The term is commonly interchanged with marketing research; however, expert practitioners may wish to draw a distinction, in that marketing research is concerned specifically about marketing processes, in Chicago Chicago ( /ʃɨˈkɑːɡoʊ/ or /ʃɨˈkɔːɡoʊ/) is the largest city in both Illinois and the Midwest, and the third most populous city in the United States, with over 2.8 million people living within the city limits. Its metropolitan area, commonly named "Chicagoland", is the 26th most populous in the world, home to an estimated 9.7, responded, "Stereotyping A stereotype is a commonly held public belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings. Stereotypes are standardized and simplified conceptions of groups based on some prior assumptions. Generally speaking, always winds up being derogatory. It doesn't matter whether you are trying to advertise to farmers A farmer is a person, engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops such as produce and grain. A farmer might own the farmed land or might work as a labourer on land owned by others; but in advanced economies, a farmer is usually a farm owner, while, Hispanics Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to the ancient Hispania (geographically coinciding with the Iberian Peninsula). During the modern era, it sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, relating to the contemporary nation of Spain or Yuppies, no one likes to be neatly lumped into some group".^[2]

Later, the word lost its political connotations and, particularly after the 1987 stock market crash In finance, Black Monday refers to Monday, October 19, 1987, when stock markets around the world crashed, shedding a huge value in a very short time. The crash began in Hong Kong, spread west through international time zones to Europe, hitting the United States after other markets had already declined by a significant margin. The Dow Jones, gained the negative socio-economic connotations that it sports today. On April 8, 1991, TIME Time is "a nonspatial continuum in which events occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future." It is used to sequence events, to quantify the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify and measure the motions of objects and other changes. Time is quantified in proclaimed the death of the yuppie in a mock obituary An obituary is a death notice which often includes an attempt by an author, publication, or news organization to give an account of the life of someone considered significant who has recently died. It can, however, be simply a death notice , and may be a paid advertisement written by family members and placed in a newspaper either by the family or.^[10]

Notable cultural depictions of yuppies

• The Bonfire of the Vanities The Bonfire of the Vanities is a 1987 novel by Tom Wolfe. The story is a drama about ambition, racism, social class, politics, and greed in 1980s New York City and centers on four main characters: WASP bond trader Sherman McCoy, Jewish Assistant District Attorney Larry Kramer, British expatriate journalist Peter Fallow and black activist Reverend, by Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. [citation needed] is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s, a "satire of yuppie excess"^[11]
• Bright Lights, Big City Bright Lights, Big City is a novel by the American author Jay McInerney, published by Vintage on 12 August 1984 by Jay McInerney John Barrett McInerney Jr. (pronounced /ˈmækɨnərni/) is an American writer. His novels include Bright Lights, Big City; Ransom; Story of My Life; Brightness Falls; and The Last of the Savages. He edited The Penguin Book of New American Voices, wrote the screenplay for the 1988 film adaptation of Bright Lights, Big City, and co-wrote the^[12] (McInerney himself has been called "the archetypal yuppie")^[13]
• Family Ties Family Ties is a television sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. The sitcom reflected the move in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between Young Republican Alex P. Keaton and his liberal, former, the TV show, features a young Michael J. Fox Michael J. Fox is a Canadian-American actor, author and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the 1970s to the present, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy (1985–1990); Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties (1982–1989), for which he won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award; and as the Republican and 'yuppie-in-the-making' Alex P. Keaton in tie with his parents who used to be hippies.^[14]
• Fight Club Fight Club is a 1996 novel by Chuck Palahniuk. It follows the experiences of an unnamed protagonist struggling with insomnia. Inspired by his doctor's exasperated remark that insomnia is not suffering, he finds relief by impersonating a seriously ill person in several support groups. Then he meets a mysterious man named Tyler Durden and, the 1996 Chuck Palahniuk Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk is an American transgressional fiction novelist and freelance journalist. He is best known for the award-winning novel Fight Club, which was later made into a film directed by David Fincher. He lives near Vancouver, Washington novel and 1999 film adaptation Fight Club is a 1999 American film adapted from the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. The film was directed by David Fincher and stars Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, and Helena Bonham Carter. Norton plays the unnamed protagonist, an "everyman" who is discontented with his white-collar job in American society. He forms a ", follows "a disenchanted yuppie ... numbed by the sterile materialism In philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance. As a theory, materialism is a form of physicalism and belongs to the class of monist ontology. As such, it is of modern life."^[15]
• In John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction's They Live Part science fiction thriller and part dark comedy, the film echoed contemporary fears of a declining economy, within a culture of greed and conspicuous consumption common among Americans in the 1980s. In They Live, the ruling class within the monied elite are in fact aliens managing human social affairs through the use of a signal on top of the, a pair of working class Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average material. Working classes are mainly found in industrialized economies and in urban areas of non-industrialized economies protagonists come into possession of sunglasses Sunglasses or sun glasses are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright Sun light and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can sometimes also function as a visual aid, as variously termed spectacles or glasses exist which feature lenses that are colored, polarized or darkened. In the early that reveal yuppies as predatory aliens In popular cultures, life forms —especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin, i.e. not coming from the Earth are referred to collectively as aliens.
• Girl with Curious Hair by David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace was an American author of novels, essays, and short stories, and a professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California. He was widely known for his 1996 novel Infinite Jest, which Time included in its All-Time 100 Greatest Novels list (covering the period 1923–2006), a short story about a young Republican The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. The party's platform is generally considered right of center after enjoying life after prep school with a group of punk rockers Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock. They created fast, hard-edged music, typically with short songs,.^[16]
• Slaves of New York by Tama Janowitz^[12] describes a later (early 1990s) evolution of the Yuppie, in which the upper tier made considerably more than the lower, supporting tier, the "slaves" of the title, who were trapped by rents and insufficient salaries into a struggle merely to stay afloat in Manhattan.
• American Psycho American Psycho is a psychological thriller and satirical novel by Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the first person by fictitious serial killer and Manhattan businessman Patrick Bateman. The graphic violence and sexual content generated much controversy before and since publication. Nearly twenty years on, Ellis's work, the 1991 Bret Easton Ellis Bret Easton Ellis is an American novelist and short story writer. He was regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack, which also included Tama Janowitz and Jay McInerney. He is a self-proclaimed "moralist." Ellis employs a technique of linking novels with common, recurring characters novel and 2000 film American Psycho is a 2000 film by Mary Harron, a film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's novel of the same name. The movie stars Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, with Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Justin Theroux, Bill Sage, Chloë Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, Willem Dafoe, and Samantha Mathis. It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on April 14, 2000 about yuppie serial killer Patrick Bateman.^{[17][18][19][20][21][22][23]}
• thirtysomething, U.S. TV series, seen as a representation of "yuppie angst"^[24]
• Stuff White People Like, a satirical blog A blog is a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a that pokes fun at generalizations and yuppie culture.^[25]
• Wall Street, the 1987 film about stock traders, has been described as "encapsulation of 80s yuppie greed culture", particularly Bud Fox, Charlie Sheen Carlos Irwin Estévez , known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. His character roles in films have included Chris Taylor in the 1986 Vietnam War drama Platoon, Jake Kesey in the 1986 film The Wraith, and Bud Fox in 1987 film Wall Street. His career also included more comedic films, such as Major League, the Hot Shots! films,'s naive 20-something character.^[26]
• "Yuppy Love", a 1989 Only Fools and Horses Only Fools and Horses is a British television sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan, and made and broadcast by the BBC. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003. Episodes are regularly repeated nowadays on G.O.L.D. episode based on Gordon Gekko from Wall Street, in which Del Boy reinvents himself as a yuppy and hangs out in trendy wine bars.^[27]
• Christmas Vacation, a 1989 comedy, features neighbors Todd and Margo as the quintessential yuppies ^[28]

Related terms

• Reporter David Brooks characterized yuppies as bourgeois bohemians, or Bobos, in his book Bobos in Paradise, a.k.a. Trustifarians.
• A buppie is a black urban professional.^[29]
• DINKs (DINKY in the UK) is an acronym is for Dual Income, No Kids [Yet];^[30][31] at least one authority considers this to be synonymous with "yuppie".^[32]
• Guppie is a gay urban professional.^[29]
• A scuppie is a Socially Conscious Upwardly-Mobile Person^[33][34]
• Yuppification often replaces the word gentrification; it is the act of making something, someone, or someplace appealing and thus marketable to yuppie tastes.^[35]
• Yuppie flu was a sometimes derisive, and inaccurate, term applied to chronic fatigue syndrome.^[36]
• Yuppie food stamp is a slang term in the United States for a $20 bill, because ATMs there typically dispense only $20 bills.

See also

• Fads and trends
• Gold-collar worker
• Hippie
• Hipster
• Model minority
• Paninaro
• Selling out
• Sloane Ranger
• Young professional

References

1. ^ Algeo, John (1991). Fifty Years Among the New Words: A Dictionary of Neologisms. Cambridge University Press. pp. 220. ISBN 0-521-413-77X.
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Burnett, John; Alan Bush. "Profiling the Yuppies". Journal of Advertising Research 26 (2): 27–35. ISSN 0021-8499.
3. ^ Kessler, Felix. "Executive Promotion Path: Fast Track for Young Managers". Management Review 57 (3): 25. ISSN 0025-1895.
4. ^ Ayto, John (2006). Movers And Shakers: A Chronology of Words That Shaped Our Age. Oxford University Press. pp. 128. ISBN 0-198-614-527.
5. ^ Dan Rottenberg (May 1980). "About that urban renaissance.... there'll be a slight delay". Chicago Magazine. p. 154ff.
6. ^ Budd, Leslie; Whimster, Sam (1992). Global Finance and Urban Living: A Study of Metropolitan Change. Routledge. pp. 316. ISBN 0-415-070-97X.
7. ^ Hadden-Guest, Anthony The Last Party: Studio 54, Disco, and the Culture of the Night New York:1997--William Morrow Page 116
8. ^ Living: Here Come the Yuppies!, Time, January 9, 1984
9. ^ Moore, Jonathan (1986). Campaign for President: The Managers Look at '84. Praeger/Greenwood. pp. 123. ISBN 0-865-691-320.
10. ^ Shapiro, Walter (1991-04-08). "The Birth and -- Maybe -- Death of Yuppiedom". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,972695-1,00.html. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
11. ^ Will Lee (28 April 2000). "Things that Make You Go Hmmm...". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,276085,00.html. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
12. ^ ^{a b} R.Z. Sheppard (June 24, 2001). "Yuppie Lit: Publicize or Perish". TIME magazine. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,145267,00.html. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
13. ^ Mary Ellen Mark (August 1996). "Jay Watch". Elle magazine UK. http://www.maryellenmark.com/text/magazines/elle%20uk/909O-000-007.html. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
14. ^ . http://eightiesclub.tripod.com/id434.htm.
15. ^ Tom Brook (5 November 1999). "Showdown at the Fight Club". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/03/99/tom_brook/506620.stml. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
16. ^ Girl with Curious Hair at Amazon.com
17. ^ American Psycho: a double portrait of serial yuppie Patrick Bateman
18. ^ Amazon.com: American Psycho
19. ^ Arizona Daily Wildcat: 'American Psycho' ties yuppie greed to serial killing
20. ^ George Mason University: Into the Wilds of an American Psycho's Identity: Parallels between Into the Wild & American Psycho
21. ^ Filmmaker Magazine: "Die Yuppie Scum!"
22. ^ Goddard College Pitkin Review: "The Pen is Mightier: Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho"
23. ^ Entertainment Weekly: Book News: "American Psychodrama"
24. ^ Patricia Hersch (October 1988). "thirtysomethingtherapy: the hit TV show may be filled with "yuppie angst," but therapists are using it to help people". Psychology Today. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1175/is_n10_v22/ai_6652864. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
25. ^ Rodriguez, Gregory (2008-02-25). "White like us". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-rodriguez25feb25,0,1952462.column. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
26. ^ "Wall Street Review". Channel 4 (UK). http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=109998.
27. ^ "imdb "Yuppy Love" episode profile". imdb (UK). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0666595/trivia.
28. ^ "imdb=Christmas Vacation". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097958/.
29. ^ ^{a b} Ayto 2006, p. 225.
30. ^ The American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Reference Books. 2002. p. 89. ISBN 0-618-249-524.
31. ^ Dale, Rodney; Puttick, Steve. Wordsworth Dictionary of Abbreviations & Acronyms. pp. 44. ISBN 1-853-263-850.
32. ^ Merriam-Webster (1991). The Merriam-Webster New Book of Word Histories. p. 141. ISBN 0-877-796-033.
33. ^ Tom VanRiper. “Going Green Cuts Profits”. The New York Daily News, 2005-4-22. Retrieved on 2008-11-11
34. ^ http://www.scuppie.com
35. ^ Algeo 1991, p. 228.
36. ^ Packhard, Randall M. (2004). Emerging Illnesses and Society: Negotiating the Public Health Agenda. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 156. ISBN 0-801-879-426.

External links

• Yuppies entry in the St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture

Categories: Social groups | Stereotypes | Pejorative terms for people | Social class subcultures

Personal tools

• New features
• Log in / create account

Namespaces

• Article
• Discussion

Variants

Views

• Read
• Edit
• View history

Actions

Search

Navigation

• Main page
• Contents
• Featured content
• Current events
• Random article

Interaction

• About Wikipedia
• Community portal
• Recent changes
• Contact Wikipedia
• Donate to Wikipedia
• Help

Toolbox

• What links here
• Related changes
• Upload file
• Special pages
• Permanent link
• Cite this page

Print/export

• Create a book
• Download as PDF
• Printable version

Languages

• Беларуская (тарашкевіца)
• Dansk
• Deutsch
• Eesti
• Français
• Italiano
• עברית
• Nederlands
• 日本語
• Polski
• Português
• Русский
• Suomi
• Svenska
• Українська

• This page was last modified on 26 July 2010 at 12:36.
• Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details.
  Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
• Contact us

• Privacy policy
• About Wikipedia
• Disclaimers

See Also:

What Links Here:

Recently Viewed Pages:

• Search Terms
• Home
• High-Tech: Blogs
• Privacy
• Sitemap.rss
• Urllist.txt
• Business: Opportunities: Vending: Directory
• Bulk Vending: Encyclopedia
• Society: Issues: Fraud: Business Opportunities: Directory
• Toll-free Telephone Number: Encyclopedia

Most Popular Pages:

• Home
• Omnivore: Encyclopedia
• Inventions
• Bird Incubator: Answers
• Insulation: Answers
• Insulate: Answers
• Hatch: Answers
• Search Terms
• Incubators: Answers
• Mindanews: News

Related 'Yuppie' Searches: