Submitted by nichole.fromm on Tue, 2009-12-15 17:02.

Thank you for this post, Jesse. I agree, the song is in poor taste (and that's being nice).

According to UW Hillel FAQ (http://www.uwhillel.org/), about 10% of the campus population is Jewish. I may be talking out of my hat, and I welcome correction, but I've heard this is so partly because of the historical existence of "numerus clausus" admittance restrictions that limited Jewish attendance at Ivy League schools. As at any university, family alumni traditions remained strong even after the institutionalized racism was put to an end.

Knowing that puts a different spin on the idea that "coasties" come to the UW because they "can't get in" elsewhere. And adds a twinge of irony to the insult of the song.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2009-12-15 18:07.

Ok, come on, those of us from the home-state started out calling people coasties when we felt under-dressed in classes in our Kohls clothing and didn't like being treated like dirt when we worked in retail or fast food on State Street. Ok, fine, we say that mean people who treat others badly that are from one particular area of the country are Coasties. Har har har.

But saying that these people are all one particular religion? That is completely inappropriate. It's not even true. It would be as inappropriate and untrue as labeling a Coastie by race or ethnicity. The students from Wisconsin should know better, and deserve a better representation than this.

Not all of us who have ever used the word Coastie ever used it as a racist slur. One of the best things about the UW is the diversity, and shame on us if we ever forget that!

Submitted by Dar on Wed, 2009-12-16 10:14.

I haven't heard the song and I didn't even read this article (yes I'm THAT lazy) but I gotta say that this seems like college bs. I've never heard anyone talk about "coasties". I do, however, on a regular basis hear the midwest referred to as "fly over country." In my experience, people from the midwest don't care about what's going on with coastal folks, but people from the coasts like to act like people from the midwest are all hicks. I also regularly hear derogatory remarks made about the deep south and Texas (from midwest folks and coast folks alike). Why everyone feels the need to act like just because someone lives in a different part of the country they are assholes/stupid/racist/conservative/liberal/etc makes no sense to me. I've lived in lots of parts of the country and there are assholes anywhere you go. Like the folks that put together this song. It's got nothing to do with geography. Can we stop acting like we're in middle school and dividing up the nerds from the jocks, etc?

Submitted by Randy Warhol (not verified) on Wed, 2009-12-16 10:33.

I found the song neither offensive or funny. It was bland as hospital food. I don't think it's going to keep Weird Al Jankovic up at night worrying about the competition.

Let's call it what it is: The song perpetuates a stereotype, some people seemingly fulfill that stereotype, and it was written by a couple of college guys who only did it because they think it will help them get laid (another stereotype). Good Lord, people, we've got bigger things to worry about.

Submitted by c0rrSPLAT (not verified) on Wed, 2009-12-16 13:12.

"This song characterizes Jewish women as being self-absorbed, materialistic, and from wealthy backgrounds."

No. They are claiming that coasties are self-absorbed, materialistic, wealthy jewish women. Those are different claims.

Yes, the phrase "Jewish American Princess" is problematic and racist. I'd like to note, however, the songwriters are not claiming that jewish people behave in a certain way, but that coasties are jewish women. In other words, they are not claiming that jewish women drink at Starbucks and waste daddy's money. They are claiming that coasties have a particular identity, and one element of that is being a jewish girl (more on this, below). As a result, I think that some of your claims don't fit.

This does not excuse their employment of racist terms. But I do think you put too much at their feet. Berate them for using racist terminology, absolutely. Who knows? They may even be actual anti-semites, which is also worth taking a stand against. I just have to quibble about the charges you levy on them based on things that they aren't actually saying in the text of the song.

One small note: as a long-time resident of Madison, I know that I first began hearing the term coastie back in 1997 or 1998, and it wasn't necessarily applied merely to people that came from the coast. There were generally two usages: one, a person that came from the coast and acted as though Wisconsin was beneath them because of their superior, more metropolitan life (and also applied to anyone who acted that way about WI, regardless of their geographic origin), and two, a more particular definition that was linked to phenotype: big sunglasses, particular clothing (in the late 90s, black flared out pants that were too tight (on women) and North Face jacket), and carriers of unexamined privilege who typically lived in private dorms. Given your identity, as I see it, you aren't now newly being excluded from the term, you never were intended to be included in the first place. Jewishness was never a direct requirement nor further evidence of "coasty-ness", though it was always linked to class, and often linked to gender. Some people run with this to the actively racist stereotype of jewish people (particularly women), but this isn't explicit to the pejorative. Think of other turns of phrase, like "hood", which can absolutely be laden with racism, but aren't necessarily so (most people who call, say, Allied Drive, "the hood" are putting some of their racism(s) on display). And also note that just because concepts can be employed by racists, that doesn't mean their ideology is racist (though it can still be problematic).