New Words (or, A Soapbox for a Soapbox)
I learned a new word today. Actually two words, but they're related: "yupster," and "yindie." Can you guess what this means? Let me quote from the article where I read it (The Dig, 2.22.06, p. 9):
"... the new 'yindie' or 'yupster' trend: young and hip, but professional. Too square for the tatoos and tight pants of the scenesters; too uptight for the relaxed fit of the b-boys and bedside DJs."
This in the context of an article about how a neighborhood (Allston!) is going downhill, because the punks that made it so sweet are leaving and the lame-o students and Young Urban Who-Gives-A-Fucks are moving in.
You can see where I'm headed with this. Tight pants aside, they're describing me here: ripe old age of 23, pro computer skillz, young, hip. No tattoos. More-or-less symmetrical hairdo. Fancy coat. No Technics on my desk. The implication is that if you're "professional," you're square, no matter how hip you look and act. No matter who you are, you're getting judged by your job.
Well, I'm sorry, Ean Frick, if mom doesn't pay my rent and finance my "homegrown" lifestyle. Hipsters are the same as the hippies were: hanging around and looking cool, talking big and living off your newfound morals is a lifestyle you can't support unless mommy and daddy are footing the bill. Sorry that I can't find an image that I'd want permanently etched into my forearm. Sorry that getting on my feet and learning how to pick up my beer bottles off the floor and put them into the recycling qualifies me as not fit to live in your down-to-earth rat-infested Allston Beat utopia. And it's a shame that you feel that way about me because I've got a job; we've probably got more in common than you think.
The first thing you get asked when you meet an American is "What do you do?" We should be more careful about defining ourselves by our employment (or identifying with our lack thereof). Real people don't always do what they want, and real people aren't defined by what they look like. They aren't definable at all.
I don't live in Allston, but gentrification is happening all around Boston. The same trend of homogenization and commodification is happening in Back Bay, Jamaica Plain, Cambridge, Brookline, everywhere. The real issue is that the city as a policital entity doesn't care about independent arts, affordable housing (rent control), public services (MBTA, looking at you here), etc., and that the people who live here are all too willing to replace JP O'Drinky's with Club Aqua, or to let somebody else do it for them without putting up a fight. Place the blame where the blame is due, and *do* something about it if it bothers you. For instance, the Brattle in Cambridge has been putting up a good fight to keep it's doors open and independent film happening. Send them a donation; we can turn this town around.
Latiflearned.com - Go Listen
1 comment:
While doing some onanistic googling I stumbled across your reply to my piece in the Dig. While I'm glad to see that we share many of the same ideas about gentrification I believe you misunderstood the point of my article. I certainly wasn't implying that the punks made Allston a countercultural area or prevented gentrification. Crusty trustfunders(lets call them crustfunders) pretending like its '77 have never contributed to much aside from a squatters movement. My quam arises from the way Allston is sold to many incoming students which harks back to the ska days of the 90s. Kids come there expecting a 'happening' area but just find yah-doods, shitty bars, shittier food and about a million BU attending, iPod accessorized clones. My intention was to separate the myth from the reality, if I insulted some yupsters in the process than so be it. I used to live in Mission Hill which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was ecclectic and good sense of community. Though gentrification is starting to strike there too(TGIFridays is coming to Brigham Circle, Chopping Block destroyed for Mission Bar). But in the cultural discourse of Boston this area is a no no. Most of these feelings are not so subtle forms of racism and classism. Alot of it derives from the Charles Stewart case where a white lawyer wasted his preggo wife, not some black crackhead as was speculated by most of the city. I was merely trying to set the record straight.
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