OPINION & EDITORIAL
UW ‘coasties’ suffer from discrimination
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Also by Skye Kalkstein:
- Facebook has identity risks (January 15, 2006)
- UW 'coasties' suffer from discrimination (January 20, 2006)
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- Culture of intolerance spawns actions of hate on campus (January 25, 2006)
- Shout outs harbor hatred (March 26, 2007)
by Skye Kalkstein
Friday, January 20, 2006
Somebody alert the authorities! A bunch of coasties are running rampant on campus. Ugg boots, aviators, and jackets with fur trim abound. Oh, the horror!
On the University of Wisconsin campus, there seems to be hostility between people from the coasts of the United States and everyone that hails from in between. But does having a pair of Ugg boots really make coasties bad people? Is wearing big sunglasses seriously that offensive? Why can't people be judged by the type of person they are and not by the location of their hometown?
Stereotypes exist all over the world. People are judged before they say a word to anyone else. Here at UW, if you are from the East or West Coast, the stereotype is that you're an obnoxious snoot who doesn't care to give anyone the time of day. I find a stereotype like this quite offensive. I am from the East coast. I am even from New York. There, I said it. But that doesn't mean I am a bad person. Before people even get to have a conversation with me, they are sizing me up. I am judged because of where I grew up, my accent and my clothes. Why does it have to be this way?
The negative view of "coasties" only fuels the stereotype. If UW students from different parts of this country were to actually get together and talk, then maybe this stereotype would be broken down.
Also, the bashing of people from either coast leads them to have a negative view of people from other parts of the country. Think: if someone has a negative view about you, you're probably going to have a negative view about him or her, too.
A couple of days ago, I was in lecture when a teacher asked if there was anyone from Los Angeles in the class. After several students confirmed that they were from the L.A. area, the professor made a comment. Upon hearing one student's reply, the professor stated, "If anyone needs money, go to this guy … or his parents." After another student said she came from Beverly Hills, the professor called her a "rich bitch." I was not specifically called out, but I was offended just witnessing this event. If students as well as professors fuel this negative stereotype of coasties, the walls between the people of the coasts and other parts of the country will only continue to build. Should professors who are supposed to be expanding our minds teach us to view our peers negatively? It will only stimulate the harsh feelings people have toward coasties.
What can be done to stop this antagonism? Private dorms play a big part in coastie isolation. Coasties are accused of hiding in the world of the private dorms where other kids similar to them reside. I have to say, there really isn't much integration at UW, and having the private dorms certainly doesn't help that. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of housing for freshmen at UW, so private dorms have become somewhat of a novelty on our campus. I believe the university should hold mandatory social events for all freshman students. Why deny yourself meeting thousands of people from all over this country? Why stick to your stereotype when you can break it down? Our generation should be the one to dissolve this animosity.
I am asking all UW students to judge a person not by where they came from, but by who they are. It shouldn't matter what people wear or how they speak. Meeting new people and encountering new cultures is a part of the college experience. Why deny yourself this opportunity because of a stupid worthless stereotype?
Skye Kalkstein (kalkstein@wisc.edu) is a freshman.
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 1:20am):
Nice article. But try living with them in the Langdon / Frances District. Some claims might be stereotypes, but not all of are, that's for sure.
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 1:39am):
"I believe the university should hold mandatory social events for all freshman students."
Yes, how could I forget how effective the "break the ice" games were in camp? How about trust falls and Twister?
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 5:44am):
Couldn't find something else that hasn't been regurgitated into writing 20 times in the past year and a half?
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 7:45am):
Wearing ugg boots and fur trim does make you a horrible person. It shows you have a complete lack of compassion for animals.
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 7:53am):
It's funny, but since moving to the East Coast, I don't see very many people with big sunglasses, UGGs or furry coats.
Perhaps some people are purposely magnifying their own stereotypes as means of fitting in and overcoming homesickness.
It fits, at last count I had over 15 varieties of cheese in my small fridge. Overcompensation of a different kind...
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 9:22am):
Skye, as a fellow coastie, I must call you out and ask you to reveal this professor who called a student a "rich bitch".
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 9:22am):
"But does having a pair of Ugg boots really make coasties bad people?"
not only "coasties" wear uggs and big sunglasses. unoriginal, fashion-impaired people from allll over the US do. But thank you for reinforcing the stereotype you try to dispel in your first two paragraphs.
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 9:25am):
This article gets printed at the beginning of each and every semester. Where's the article talking about how frats are unfairly stereotyped?
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 9:30am):
You know what I can't stand? People who don't understand that stereotypes are based in truth. You see, Ms. Kalkstein, there are certain things that Ugg boots (whatever those are) and designer clothes represent that isn't thought of as highly by a lot of people in the midwest: Blatant materialism.
Now, a lot of coasties (and I'm restraining this to only people from Jersey, New York, and Montgomery County, MD) are very nice people. If you don't act like a jerk, I'll be more than happy to befriend you, hang out with you, get drunk with, be your wingman if you are a guy and hook up with you if you are a girl. But a lot of coasties are jerks. They are loud, obnoxious, think everyone from the midwest is a country bumpkin, and can't hold their liquor.
And how exactly do you plan on having a social event with however many freshmen there are? Pile 5000 people into Camp Randall and say, "You can't leave until you meet everyone?"
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 9:57am):
Drive the non-residents away if you wish, but first consider that they each subsidize three resident students.
You think there's a budget problem now, you ain't seen nothing 'till you have only residents footing the bills!
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 11:19am):
You are judged by having $200 to waste on Uggs, having who knows how much on designer sunglasses, spending $4 on your chilled Starbucks every morning, the way you and your pack of friends pile on the 80 at Humanities to go up Bascom, the ridiculous costs of living in the Towers/Statesider, the fact that you are in a sorority, and the fact that you love saying you're from New York, when you're really from spoiled rotten Long Island. Forgive us for putting that equation together.
My roommate is from the coast, and we're both disgusted by "Coasties."
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 11:22am):
Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, the new semester brings another article on Coastie stereotyping. And, as is usually the case, the fault for the divide is layed at the feet of the Sconnies. The affable cheeseheads known to the rest of the country for their Midwestern friendliness become unbearable when one is forced to actually live with them. The public-private dorm seperation is once again explained away. Coasties would live in the public dorms too if the slow pace of the mail didn't keep them from getting their applications in on time. How do we bridge the coast-midwest divide? Mandatory mixers of course.
In all seriousness, the stereotypes (both ways, of course) do no one any good on this campus, but lets face up to the fact that there really is a class/geographical divide. The differences start with the dorm divide but continue through the Greek system, apartment selections, favorite drinking establishments, and the previously mentioned style choices. You're right: it's not that $150 pointy boots make someone a bad person (or being a member of Delta Gamma, living at the Aberdeen, or frequenting Madison Avenue), it's that they're status symbols that divide the campus. Call it resentful or mean-spirited if you want, but a campus divided by economics will always have stereotypes. It's not always the fault of the underprivileged locals.
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 12:26pm):
"I am asking all UW students to judge a person not by where they came from, but by who they are. It shouldn't matter what people wear or how they speak."
You're right. I don't judge people by what they wear, but by who they are. I know that if someone is wearing hideously ugly boots and oversized singlasses and overpriced jackets, they're not doing it becuase it represents who they are, but because everyone else is doing it. "Look at me! This clothing is expensive. It makes me cool!" The need to superficially conform is often a warning sign to me that the person wearing those hideous boots is a shallow, vapid person who only cares about where the next opportunity to get drunk/laid is. It doesn't matter if they're from Long Island or Oconomowoc, it's not the kind of person that I want to associate with. Is that unfair? Possibly. However, first impressions are important. And if you're wearing that get-up, then odds are that you don't want to assocaite with someone who's wearing a Bucky t-shirt, wrinkled khakis, and grey socks anyway.
If you're so concerned about breaking down stereotypes, then try it yourself. Wear what you like, not what is hip. Show that there's a reason for someone to want to get to know you, and they will.
I'm a graduate student who's from neither Wisconsin nor the coast, so I don't really have a side in this fight. However, I do know that there's a large number of people who step off the plane for the first time and immediately go on and on about how every single darn thing is better in New York/Boston/LA/what-have-you than it is in the midwest. This demographic spends four to five years complaining about how everything is too slow, there's not enough traffic, not enough to do, how it's way too long until they get to go back to the big city, and then they leave. (This applies to you too, Chicago suburbanites; you're just as bad.) And you wonder why the people who are actually from here don't like that?
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 1:41pm):
"If UW students from different parts of this country were to actually get together and talk, then maybe this stereotype would be broken down."
Generally, I agree with the sentiment of this article. Having people from different walks of life is big part of what makes attending a large university such a great experience. Be the culture coastie, hippie, or hip hop, they contribute to a far more interesting society that exists in much of the 'real world'.
However, many upper class (and lets be honest, that has more to do with the stereotype than do the fashion decisions) east coast students seclude themselves in exclusionary insitutions. Greek houses hand pick who is good enough to be a part of their clique, and then some (not all) members of that clique turn around and complain when they are stereotyped by the same people they rejected.
I'm not anti-greek, nor anti-coastie, and I'm not even anti ugg boots (though they are starting to wear thin)...but I consider the self-inflicted exclusionary environment many east coast students choose to live in to be a controlling factor here.
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 1:43pm):
This is a really insightful article, especially considering the number of "coasties" who heap stereotypes on all of us dumb, hick students home-grown right here in the Midwest. We can't dress right, speak right or even order drinks right, according to our more sophisticated counterparts who hail from the east or west.
It goes both ways sister, so get a thicker skin or head back home.
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 2:21pm):
You forgot to mention that the North Shore of Chicago is also a coast.
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 2:28pm):
"I am a New Yorker. I love health food. Frozen yogurt is the best invention ever. Skiing and tennis are my favorites. Iced Coffee is just 10x better than hot. I know the words to almost every song. I have never tried a cigarette and never will. Wisconsin is the best school ever. I love emo music but I'm not emo. 18325 is the best zip code on earth. Done" Wow.
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 3:09pm):
I am unfortunately going to have to hate more on this article. The reality is I have a few friends that I have made through classes and various other ways that fit the "stretch pants, north face, ugg boots, oversize sunglasses" stereotype. I like them because they are nice to me and in my view, anyone who is nice to me deserves to be treated nicely right back. Did I judge them based on their appearance initially? Yes. Did I still talk to them as I would anyone else? Yes. I know not everyone actuall does that, but I would like to point out that I came from a high school class of 29, a town of around 1000 people, and I grew up on a farm. Guess what? I say that I work on a farm or came from a small town with a "drive your tractor to school day" and people look at me like I should be running a carnival ride or wearing bib overalls with nothing underneath. I figure if people don't like me for who I am, then they are missing out anyway. It's about time some other people started thinking like that as well.
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 6:55pm):
Wow... what a mess.
So, their fashion might suck, and they might be a bit arrogant sometimes, yet it's not the 'coasties' fault their parents lived in an affluent suburban area, other than one inside Wisconsin.
As for the person who stated the northern suburbs of Chicago are on a coast, nice job! You can read a map! Guess what? So is Milwaukee! Why isn't anybody complaining about that? Because it's in the boundaries of this state.
The issue I'm seeing here is one more instance of good-old Wisconsin xenophobia. This is our school! you say, and yes, it carries the name, at least. Guess what? YOU CHOSE TO GO TO MADISON, and as the largest of the 26 schools in the UW system, you knew it would have the most DIVERSITY. Hell, some of you even came here for that. Or, at least, what you perceived would be diversity - more kids from around the country like you. If you've got a problem with non-midwest out-of-staters, my advice is to A) shut the hell up and B) go to another school that fits your needs, like UW Eau Claire or River Falls.
Would you complain if a Middle Eastern student or an Asian student, for example, came here to study? No way, for fear of looking racist. Apply the same rule here.
And if you don't like the Statesider, shut your mouth.
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 9:34pm):
Plenty of trendy OC watching ashlee simpson wannabe midwesterners wear hideous clothing too. Most of these uggs we are seeing is probably just way behind the times sconnies, as people on the coast stopped wearing these about two years ago.
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 9:37pm):
It's been my experience to use the term "coastie" when talking about the arrogant east coasters. I actually love the west coast very much and would never speak ill of it. It is the highly overrated snooty east coast that offends me.
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 10:01pm):
Boo hoo, you poor coasties!
It's your own damn fault. I'm from New York myself, but I don't go around telling anyone who will listen (and most people who don't want to) how much better everything is in New York. If everything is so much better there, go back! We won't miss your whining here.
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 10:57pm):
I, for one, agree with the author. I'm originally from a town of less than 1000 in WI and now live on a coast. I'm a recent grad and I think that my years in Madison were obviously the best that I have had. The only negative thing that I ever can say about UW is that this division between coasties and midwesterners is sickening. I have met plenty of people from all over who I love and plenty that I can't stand. I have never had a problem with anyone solely based on which part of the country that they hailed from. Maybe, just maybe--this is because I wear what I want, do what I want, and say what I want...oh, and I respect people. I guess I just confused you all and you couldn't figure out whether I was a "coastie" or a "sconnie." I think that there are definitely students and others on both sides that could use a little maturity/sensitivity training. So go get a drink, make some friends, and stop whining.
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 11:15pm):
I don't think you made a concerted effort first of all to enter University Residence Halls. Being from the East Coast, you probably had your friends back home tell you that the Private Residence Halls were the best place to live on campus, even though they also knew that most of the people who lived there were from the Coasts, and yet you followed them and decided to enter the Private Residence Halls. That was your first mistake. I actually know a person who lives in the Langdon, and is from a small town Wisconsin, and due to the housing stretch, also decided to live in the Private Residence Halls. He, however, has made a concerted effort to get to know people not only in the Langdon, but also in the University Residence Halls, and also in the other Private Residence Halls. But you, you probably have made no effort to try and assimilate with the in-state crowd and probably decided to hang around with the Statesider crowd just because you live there. If your friends don't want to hang out with Wisconsinites, then why don't you do it yourself? It's okay not to be around your 25 out-of-state friends at one time! At any small college, sure they'd do some cramming into their token Division 3 football field and tell you to meet each other, but baby, this is no small school, and you must make a drive to meet other people, through classes, through whatever. Don't just sit on your ass and complain, please, because you are just wasting everyone's time, as everyone has heard the same complaint over, and over again.
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 11:34pm):
Did you seriously just say that hating on coasties is the same as racism? I think you're missing the point...coasties segregate themselves from the student society at large. There are people from all over the country and the world who choose to enjoy their time here and get to know people outside of their normal social groups. When coasties refuse to do this, they show an air of elitism that does not sit well with the rest of the campus comunity. Just because coasties come from affluent areas (and guess what, there are diverse, affluent areas away from the eastern and western seaboard!) it doesn't mean they can't be xenophobic.
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 11:54pm):
honestly...i think that this article directly reflects what goes on in this school and you all just proved her point...
Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 11:57pm):
I'm from the East Coast and I'm no fashion freak. I wear casual clothes that are no different than what you farm kids wear here. Long Island, NY does not set the tone for all East-Coasters. Hell, do you really think that we all have large disposable incomes to throw away on all that designer crap? If I were a surgeon today, I'd make about $40k more in New York City than I'd make here. But look at the cost of living in New York City. It's outrageous! I'd also be interested in knowing why so many of you Midwesterners insist on moving there. It's overcrowded in NYC as it is!
Compared to the Coast, Madison is truly a better choice. Just don't judge us all by the few big spenders. And you have a few people like that here, I hope you know.
Anonymous (January 21, 2006 @ 3:02pm):
"I don't think you made a concerted effort first of all to enter University Residence Halls."
They were all full - residents get first choice maybe? Anyway, my son spent his first year in one of those luxury private halls. Three guys in a room the size of a large closet - there was 15 inches from the top of his bed to the ceiling.
Anonymous (January 21, 2006 @ 6:08pm):
"Just because coasties come from affluent areas (and guess what, there are diverse, affluent areas away from the eastern and western seaboard!) it doesn't mean they can't be xenophobic."
This comment makes no sense.
Anonymous (January 21, 2006 @ 10:06pm):
"There are people from all over the country and the world who choose to enjoy their time here and get to know people outside of their normal social groups. When coasties refuse to do this, they show an air of elitism, blah-blah-blah..."
And when you plowboys destroy our vehicles and write anti-Semitic graffiti on our walls, it makes us want to avoid you dungheads more than ever. It's not just gays who are putting up with it, punk.
Anonymous (January 22, 2006 @ 10:44pm):
Oh dear lord, that "the anti-coastie is anti-semitism" gimmick. I'm Jewish and those of you who fit the stereotype annoy me too.
Anonymous (January 26, 2006 @ 8:38am):
You cannot be serious. This article is poorly written at best, and admist the poor wording it asks me to 'think' about all the harm sterotypes are doing to the world. 'Sterotypes' do not do any harm. A sterotype is just a generalization of a people or place or thing. Acting negativly from that sterotype, or acting out of prejudice is the offense. Coasties is the biggest problem plaguing the campus? Honestly? Judging by the article the much greater problem is one of self centered, pretentious 'reporting' taking space in a school newpaper. This is not an ABC special, we as a society, albeit one made up of university students, understand the dangers of assumption. This article does not bring anything to light, it does little more than whine at individuals who may gawk at a pair of aviator glasses or dare ask why Ugg boots were ever popular. (The glasses are huge and the boots are ugly, trust me) Next time Miss Skye writes an article I humbly suggest that she attempts to write a well worded adn interesting article before going out and trying to help saving us from ourselves.
Anonymous (February 26, 2006 @ 6:53pm):
i agree with the author. i am not a coastie but not a sconnie or someone from minnesota. i come from an average sized city (about 300 thousand people). i really have noticed the anti-coastie sentiment to be much greater than the anti-sconnie. living in the public dorms has shown me that many people from wisconsin are from small and sheltered towns, and they are quite unwelcoming to outsiders. many of my out-of-state friends in the public dorms agree with me on this. most of my best friends here live in the private dorms, i feel more comfortable with them than with xenophobic hicks. although anti-coastie may not blatantly be anti-semitic (possibly because many wisconsinites had never heard of judaism before coming here), but it seems more than coincidental that the coasties are more often than not jewish, and the wisconsinites celebrate their german heritige. also the fact that in the dorms, being a jew people automatically associated me with the coasties. its called xenophobia and its killed more lives than gucci sunglasses and burberry scarves.
Anonymous (March 4, 2006 @ 11:35pm):
Ha, I bet you wear the ugg boots thats why you defend it, we aren't saying your nessisarily from the coast, we are just saying that people who dress like that are generally too rich. They were boots that are hideously oversized.
Anonymous (March 28, 2006 @ 7:37pm):
Funny. You live in my dorm and I do not see you breaking any of the barriers to try to talk to new people.
Anonymous (April 4, 2006 @ 4:41pm):
i just hope she doesn't judge someone who is dressed like a "gangsta" or a "dirty hippie"....trite
cindy biddle (April 5, 2006 @ 10:50am):
I think you need to get your head out of your ass and realize that things are not that simple. People are going to discriminate, whether you like it or not, and you are just going to have to get used to it. If you have such a problem with it, go to a different college.
Anonymous (April 13, 2006 @ 6:06pm):
Mandatory social events? Was that actually a serious suggestion?!? That's ludicrous to the point of being Onion-esque.
Wow. Just... wow.
Anonymous (April 13, 2006 @ 11:10pm):
why out of state people seem arrogant and self indulgent:
we spend more on tuition-we pay more and you instaters benefit!
we will spen more money on ourselves-since when is biting the hand that feeds the local economy?
we are smarter-look at stats comparing out of state and instate students. On average, out of staters did 20 points higher on their SAt, hd better grades, better internships, more involved-ITS HARDER TOET IN OUT OF STATE!
When I am snooty to instatrs its usually cause they pre-judge m e for being a spoiled rich brat as soon as its revealed I am out of state. Forget that I am way more involed in school here, my best friends are from small WI towns, but when people snub me I rip them apart because being a snob is just rude. And yes, sadly the more self indlgent out of staters are more obvious about what tuition they pay and thus they give all "coasties' and out of state students a stereotype. But hey, at least we out of staters are smarter. Look at the stats.
Anonymous (May 1, 2006 @ 11:56pm):
If you are going to write a comment in defense of "coasties" on the grounds that they are smarter; I would suggest representing that statement by using correct grammar, spell check, and (oh, I dunno)correct capitalization.
