To all readers from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, I envy you. In fact, I was so jealous at one point during my freshman year, I considered impersonating an Oconomowoc native. I saw a sign for your town as I came into Madison on the Badger Bus. It was after winter break and I was coming back to our great Wisconsin city from my hometown of Montclair, New Jersey. A new, fake place of residence seemed like the perfect solution to those inevitable and dreaded moments when the truth comes out: I am a full-fledged Coastie.
I was ashamed about where I came from because it forced me into a group that I don’t think I belong to. By sharing such a basic truth about myself I was admitting to a whole host of characteristics, which describe someone I am completely unfamiliar with. At parties and social gatherings it incited the painful smirk of assumption and functioned like a statement of self-importance. My five-word response of, “I am from New Jersey,” to the simple and inevitable question of origin would provoke so many images and emotions, it became an unnecessary evil. So for one or two introductions I was Selena Handler from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin (until someone asked me a question about the city I had never actually visited).
Although many students at the University of Wisconsin are technically from one of the coasts, the term “Coastie,” in practice, refers to a very small demographic at the university.
There is an important distinction between what I call a “real Coastie” and an “on-paper Coastie.” SOAR advisors, older family friends and others who have a vested interest in putting a public relations spin on life in Madison, will proliferate the “on paper” meaning. They describe the Coastie vs. Sconnie schism as something harmless and natural. They will make it seem like the terms were created to categorize the in-state from the out-of-state. They will claim only friendly banter and innocent merchandising, like the Sconnie brand, have arisen from the split.
The reality is much more sinister. For most Badgers, usually style of dress and attitude are used to distinguish a “real Coastie.” The terms are actually much more concrete. Frankly, when Badgers think about Coasties they are thinking of white, wealthy girls from the New York area who tend to be Jewish. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with having any of these traits; I fit all of them. However, they have become inextricably linked with privilege. It becomes an issue when these traits make my peers and me the butt of endless criticism and jokes that lump all people of the same heritage together as having undesirable personality traits.
Being a “real Coastie,” in most Badgers’ minds, is like being a fully-formed puzzle. Each piece represents a criterion from the laundry list of Coastie stereotypes, and no Coastie could be complete without all the pieces. We all came to Madison because our wealthy parents got us in on their legacy. We must only wear Patagonia, Ugg and North Face outerwear; we must don leggings that are too tight and apply makeup that is too dark. We exclusively shop at overpriced stores like Urban Outfitters and Vineyard Vines. We tote around our favorite specialty Starbucks drink wherever we go (which is pretty much just the sorority house and the nearest mall, right?). We use our nasally voices to condescend to our plebian, Sconnie counterparts and generally we think very highly of ourselves.
Somehow, the innocent and playful divide between geographic origins has become something much more problematic. Over the evolution of Sconnie experience this picture has formed, and now the image can’t be complete without every negative aspect. And what this picture amounts to is a white, privileged, rich, snotty and, importantly but most inconspicuously, Jewish. I don’t believe most Sconnies knowingly ridicule the religion, but they are feeding the negative culture that already exists around it. To be Jewish is an essential piece of the “real Coastie” persona, and by labeling us as privileged, snotty and abundantly wealthy, is only perpetuating existing Jewish stereotypes.
I concede that each region has its stereotypes, but no regional inhabitant at UW is greeted with as much disdain as those who hail from the New York area. As the great majority, Sconnies can joke amongst themselves about being tractor-driving, cow-obsessed, beer and dairy lovers. But this caricature is only a joke; the Coastie stereotype stems from a lack of understanding and a desire to shun the minority.
When I came to SOAR and introduced myself, one girl’s first question for me concerned the location of my vacation home and what brands I like to wear. I believe she meant these questions in earnest, but her curiosity and assumptions were based on a stereotype that has been growing at UW for a long time. It is time to break the chain of stereotypes and divides, for we are all Badgers after all.
Selena Handler ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in journalism.
