July 12, 2007
New Victorians in New York
The Observer has an interesting piece on The New Victorians, who are apparently bringing monogomy and early adulthood back. To get a mental image, think: Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger in Boerum Hill, Jonathan Safran Foer and Nicole Krauss in Park Slope and Liv Tyler and Royston Langdon in the West Village. A new breed of 20-somethings in the big city, and apparently this new regime is more into nesting than late nights.
The Observer assures us this isn't a case of famous couples in certain neighborhoods, in fact "eminent New Victorian couples can be found all over New York these days, puttering about their brownstones (original detail carefully restored), or pushing babies with names like Beatrice, Charlotte, Theodore and Henry in gigantic prams to the local playground." The "lifestyle" has even invaded the long-standing hipster mecca of Williamsburg! One 26-year old from that neighborhood even went as far as saying, “It’s no longer cool to be a slacker and be living in your basement." Her friend assured readers that no one in their circle would be working at The Gap, either.
Another shocking detail: we learn on page 2 that models are no longer doing heroin, in fact they're becoming pregnant and popping out babies. If Madonna were to come here as a young, aspiring songstress today we'd have nothing to offer her. She'd have a litter of children, a good recipe for sweet potato casserole and we'd be living in a world without "Like A Virgin" (which, incidentally, is probably on many of the New Victorians iPods, albeit tastefully secure inside a lace iPod 'cozy').
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"heroine"?
I have cats, I am married, I knit, and I often cook my own meals and go to bed at a reasonable hour. I had no idea that this behavior could be construed as trendy in any way.
It's about time someone actually commented on this phenomenon. Everyone has been too busy beating the dead horse of "hipsters" to notice a sea change in this city's youth.
This is totally what's it now, and in some time it'll be the "norm" in the same way hipsters were a while back.
I've heard proofreading is really hot right now.
Who the hell are Jonathan Safran Foer and Nicole Krauss?
best-selling authors. read a book.
Taking a lot of drugs, having lots of sex, or pursuing ANY alternative to a boring conservative narrowminded life is still here. It was NEVER "trendy". It was never a "lifestyle". A true underground of hearts and minds is brewing, as it alway has been, in New York City. Its just not as visible as it has been in past times.
conservatism reigns in nyc. with terrorism, climate change, the executive branch taking on more and more power, i don't think it's surprising that us 20 somethings are becoming more traditional. but i do think it's scary, especially as a feminist.
So funny, there's a label for every type of person. People who don't even know they have a label. You there! You're a neo-humanist vagrant cowgirl!
Um...it was NEVER cool to be a slacker and be living in your basement.
Of course they wouldn't be using heroin! They'll be getting opium from their doctors for their female hysteria. Long Live Repression!
What's the point of being famous? They should all party like rock stars (except the writer, his behaviour isn't surprising).
apparently partying will no longer make you famous. So that is the way to go.
i thought this was called straightedge
conservatism reigns in nyc. with terrorism, climate change, the executive branch taking on more and more power, i don't think it's surprising that us 20 somethings are becoming more traditional. but i do think it's scary, especially as a feminist.
whatever Judgy von Holierthanthou. You give feminism a bad name if you are really a feminist. Sounds like you hate anyone that makes choices other than the ones you would make. But that's typical for New Yorkers, Democrats, and other assorted lefties.
These fuckers should move to Connecticut and stop driving up housing costs for the rest of us.
Wait, wasn't there an article just a few weeks ago in NY Mag about there being too many single women in the city?
g-damn breeders!
Foer is another trash writer who will be forgotten over time. Be sure and read B.R. Myer's critique of "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" (The Atlantic, "A Bag of Tired Tricks", May 2005). An excerpt:
"Those who liked Foer's first novel will no doubt feel otherwise. Part of postmodernism's appeal has always derived from the drudgery of its spurious playfulness, a drudgery that, while requiring no real thought, makes its followers feel that they are dealing with something too difficult for the herd... After a while the gimmickry starts to remind one of a clown frantically yanking toys out of his sack: a fatal image."
www.theatlantic.com/doc/200505/myers (subscribers only)
“It’s no longer cool to be a slacker and be living in your basement." Another 26 y.o. Williamsburger telling us what is cool.
Sp living off trust funds isn't cool, actually investing them in home and hearth is. Thanks.
something no one else has mentioned:
in order to be 25 or 26 and have
-a nice wedding
-a down payment on a brownstone
-kids and their accessories
you have to have a lot of money. and new york is a city where there are a LOT of people with money. so it makes perfect sense that it would be more visibly conservative than it was in the baby boomer's glory days.
turn on, tune in, drop out
ummm, as they used to say... DIE YUPPIE SCUM!!!
23
Yippie! to that!
RIP NYC
hello? what about Generation X? we're still here. don't forget about us, the few, the proud, the baby busters, the slackers, the punk embracers. We are getting forgotten in a sandwich of neo-traditional New Vics and naive navel-gazing boomers. We are resigned to the fact the we will change the world, but no one will notice.
26, didn't a lot of you guys go corporate and cash out in the late '90s anyway? Most yuppie scum I happen to notice are in the genX age group.
#21 is very confusing.
New York has always had "a LOT of people with money". That comment is not really saying anything.
Hey, #6... Just because something is a bestseller doesn't mean it's good. It just means that a lot of unimaginative people have read what the Times told them to read. I avoid bestseller lists and prefer to read books that I discover on my own. If that means I don't know who the trendy authors of the moment are, I can certainly live with that! Pffft!
New York has always had "a LOT of people with money". That comment is not really saying anything.
But old money had class.
Old money was snooty.
New money is crass.
i agree with #29... if you haven't been exposed to a Nicole Krauss book, consider yourself lucky.
YOU'RE ALL STUPID
So the New Victorians are a take on the Old Victorians of the 19th century? I'm not sure I follow, seems that they are just following the convention of family life, just like the rest of America.