"That family over there is Other, they do not comport themselves as we do"

That WASP person everyone has already been making fun of.

I wish I could cross stitch because this is beyond hilarious and I would hang it on a frame above my computer. If anything, as a reminder of what we are up against.

(via redlightpolitics)

I couldn’t believe this was real. I couldn’t.

When I read the bit below, I was sure it was a joke:

It’s very, very tricky, to feel that people are Other, when you come from the original dominant class. Even when falling like Lucifer in Milton’s Paradise Lost, we High WASPs clutch tatters of Very Good-Looking Toile de Juoy in our tended hands. Those we now see as Other, we once called Not Our Kind, Dear. With no respect, only disdain. And that disdain was used for the longest time as part of a sophisticated arsenal to keep Others out.

Then I read this:

So, first of all, yes, it’s very not done of me to talk about all this. I shouldn’t, according to the culture, be talking about either the money or the attitudes. But I decided to do it any way, almost three years ago when I began writing this. Back then nobody read it, so nobody got offended. I’ve reduced the High WASP stuff a lot lately, and probably will go back now to just style. I think my sparser posts make it a lot harder communicate my complicated feelings in such a way that I don’t sound like a jerk.

But secondly, what I was trying to do here was communicate both the learned reaction and class behavior, as well as the developed understanding that one really has to move on and embrace a wider view. I wanted to say that it’s OK to develop a strong sense of Us, but that doesn’t have to entail disdain of the Other, unless they are acting in a way that’s truly difficult. 

I just didn’t know. 

Class behavior. 

Wow. 

Just. Wow. 

Someone later on says “While I don’t have your pedigree…” in reference to the author. All I can think of is the fact that I’ve never personally lived in circles (social, work, or otherwise) in which being a WASP was considered something of pride or bragging rights. 

Unrelatedly, I did want to remind people that “Because pure-breeding creates a limited gene pool, purebred animal breeds are also susceptible to a wide range of congenital health problems.”

Completely unrelated, I assure you.