History Main / WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant

[[caption-width-right:350:Oh look, a WASP nest.]]

* ''Series/WetHotAmericanSummerFirstDayofCamp'': The series sets up a SlobsVersusSnobs conflict between the heroes at Camp Firewood and the snobs at Camp Tigerclaw, who have all the affectations of wealthy Northeastern [=WASPs=]: preppy polo shirt and cardigan outfits, posh, vaguely British accents, and a penchant for activities such as croquet, rowing, and formal dances. Many of the Camp Firewood campers, meanwhile, are Jewish, and the camp is implied to be a Jewish summer camp, so the conflict has ethnic undertones.

* ''Series/WetHotAmericanSummerFirstDayofCamp'': The series sets up a SlobsVersusSnobs conflict between the heroes at Camp Firewood and the snobs at Camp Tigerclaw, who have all the affectations of wealthy Northeastern WASPs: preppy polo shirt and cardigan outfits, posh, vaguely British accents, and a penchant for activities such as croquet, rowing, and formal dances. Many of the Camp Firewood campers, meanwhile, are Jewish, and the camp is implied to be a Jewish summer camp, so the conflict has ethnic undertones.

* ''Series/WetHotAmericanSummer'': The series sets up a SlobsVersusSnobs conflict between the heroes at Camp Firewood, and the snobs at Camp Tigerclaw, who have all the affectations of wealthy Northeastern WASPs: preppy polo shirt and cardigan outfits, posh, vaguely British accents, and a penchant for activities such as croquet, rowing, and formal dances. Whereas many of the Camp Firewood campers are Jewish and the camp is implied to be a Jewish summer camp, so the conflict has ethnic undertones.

* [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne AKA Batman]] uses an OldMoney WASP persona as a convenient cover. Creator/BillFinger who designed his SecretIdentity wanted him to have Patrician heritage, so he named him after "Mad Anthony" Wayne, a Revolutionary-era war hero (another WASP icon, Marion Morrison would also be renamed after the same figure as Creator/JohnWayne). Incidentally, recent comics, have implied that [[http://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/i-am-vengeance-i-am-the-night-i-am-jewish/ Batman's mother, Martha Kane, might be Jewish]] so that would mean, that Batman is technically Jewish, albeit Bruce has never quite taken that identity (or for that matter any other identity) in the comics. Both of Batman's creators (like most GoldenAge creators) were Jewish incidentally.
* Creator/MarvelComics managed to avert this by bringing in more diversity and greater social realism in their comics (such as Irish-American heroes: Franchise/SpiderMan, ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}). But they have also played it straight, with [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] being originally [=WASP=] as well as [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Reed Richards, Susan and Johnny Storm (Ben Grimm]] being the exception for being Jewish).

The term originally referred to New Englanders, New Yorkers, and even Tidewater Southerners from wealthy, Anglo-Saxon (English) backgrounds, generally either [[UsefulNotes/AmericanChurches Congregationalist or Anglican/Episcopalian doctrinally]], but it eventually came to be applied to inland Southerners, Midwesterners, Northwesterners, and Westerners as well, regardless of income level or sect. It also came to be roughly synonymous with "Protestant", so that even Protestant Irish, Scandanavians, Dutch and Germans were eventually called [=WASPs=]. "White Protestants" wasn't as snappy a term as WASP, so usage of the term has hung around. As with AmbivalentAnglican, though, it's much less a matter of holding specific religious doctrines than about being a member of the "right" church.

The term originally referred to New Englanders, New Yorkers, and even Tidewater Southerners from wealthy, Anglo-Saxon (English) backgrounds, generally either [[UsefulNotes/AmericanChurches Congregationalist or Anglican/Episcopalian doctrinally]], but it eventually came to be applied to inland Southerners, Midwesterners, Northwesterners, and Westerners as well, regardless of income level or sect. It also came to be roughly synonymous with "Protestant", so that even Protestant Irish, Scandanavians, Dutch and Germans were eventually called [=WASPs=]. "White Protestants" wasn't as snappy a term as WASP, so usage of the term has hung around.

UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode had this effect on [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood classic Hollywood cinema]]. Although written by two Irish Catholics, the Code was enforced mostly by Midwestern Protestants, and the films under its jurisdiction cut according to their biases which in turn reflected the biases of America's conservative ideology of that time. American characters in movies from the 1930s and '40s do tend to [[MonochromeCasting all look and talk the same]], with only minor regional differences. Non-Anglo/Nordic Americans don't tend to show up - and when they do, [[RaceLift they are "conventionalized" as much as possible]]. Not until the 1950s would the existence of "ethnic" whites be openly acknowledged. Many of the classic Hollywood actors weren't WASP themselves but became WASP to fit in with the values of the time. Hispanic-American Creator/RitaHayworth is a famous example, as are a number of Jewish-origin actors who changed their names to better fit in (Creator/LaurenBacall for instance). This ended in the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood era with ''Film/TheGodfather'' with its Italian-American setting and cast, marking the start of greater on-screen diversity and largely ending the age when actors needed to alter their ethnic make-up or personal names to pass as WASP. In fact, nowadays the opposite will often be the case, at least in fiction: SuddenlyEthnicity is used to [[ForeignCultureFetish "spice up"]] an otherwise "ordinary" protagonist, especially if this person does not otherwise conform to WASP stereotypes.

Compare and contrast with ChristianityIsCatholic. See IrishmanAndAJew for a similar ethnic fault line, with Jews (usually) filling the WASP niche. Other associated tropes are UpperClassTwit, RichInDollarsPoorInSense, JerkJock, SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl, StepfordSmiler, GranolaGirl, BourgeoisBohemian, and ValleyGirl (despite originating in the San Fernando Valley in California). More positively, they may be associated with TheAllAmericanBoy or the GirlNextDoor. Especially common in HollywoodNewEngland, though they may also be found in EverytownAmerica and {{Suburbia}} (especially the StepfordSuburbia variety). See also UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents for more variations and stereotypes associated with them.

* [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne AKA Batman]] uses an OldMoney WASP persona as [[RichIdiotWithNoDayJob a convenient cover]]. Creator/BillFinger who designed his SecretIdentity wanted him to have Patrician heritage, so he named him after "Mad Anthony" Wayne, a Revolutionary-era war hero (another WASP icon, Marion Morrison would also be renamed after the same figure as Creator/JohnWayne). Incidentally, recent comics, have implied that [[http://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/i-am-vengeance-i-am-the-night-i-am-jewish/ Batman's mother, Martha Kane, might be Jewish]] so that would mean, that Batman is technically Jewish, albeit Bruce has never quite taken that identity (or for that matter any other identity) in the comics. Both of Batman's creators (like most GoldenAge creators) were Jewish incidentally.

[[folder: Fan Works]]

'''Wife:''' What I can't cook, I make up for with some grace and civility to the table.\\
'''Husband:''' Patty, did you know your mom's a whore?

Not to be confused with WickedWasps, which is about evil, mean, or bad literal wasps, despite "wicked" being a New England slang term and the [=WASP=] spelled with all capital letters originating in New England.

%%* Pete Campbell from ''Series/MadMen''.

* "WASP mom" is the most popular of TikTok comedian [[https://www.youtube.com/c/CaitlinReilly Caitlin Reilly]]'s characters. She's portrayed as a condescending and entitled woman who uses a thin veil of fake niceness to bully others (usually workers in the service industry) into fulfilling her demands. She also has more HiddenDepths than the other characters, showing signs of deep unhappiness and deteriorating mental health due to the rigid and stifling life she follows.

[[folder:Film]]

%%* Radio/TheShadow, Kent Allard aka Lamont Cranston.

The term originally referred to New Englanders, New Yorkers, and even Tidewater Southerners from wealthy, Anglo-Saxon (English) backgrounds, generally either [[UsefulNotes/AmericanChurches Congregationalist or Anglican/Episcopalian doctrinally]], but it eventually came to be applied to inland Southerners, Midwesterners, Northwesterners, and Westerners as well, regardless of income level or sect. It also came to be roughly synonymous with "Protestant", so that even Protestant Irish, Scandanavians, Dutch and Germans were eventually called [=WASPs=]. "White Protestants" wasn't as snappy a term as WASP, so usage of the term has hung around. The stereotype might be extended to upscale (or not) Catholics or Jews who either intermarry with Protestants or internalize Protestantism as the standard for "normal" Americans.

The term originally referred to New Englanders, New Yorkers, and Tidewater Southerners from wealthy, Anglo-Saxon (English) backgrounds, generally either [[UsefulNotes/AmericanChurches Congregationalist or Anglican/Episcopalian doctrinally]], but it eventually came to be applied to inland Southerners, Midwesterners, and Westerners as well, regardless of income level or sect. It also came to be roughly synonymous with "Protestant", so that even Protestant Irish, Scandanavians, Dutch and Germans were eventually called [=WASPs=]. "White Protestants" wasn't as snappy a term as WASP, so usage of the term has hung around. The stereotype might be extended to upscale (or not) Catholics or Jews who either intermarry with Protestants or internalize Protestantism as the standard for "normal" Americans.

Compare and contrast with ChristianityIsCatholic. See IrishmanAndAJew for a similar ethnic fault line, with Jews (usually) filling the WASP niche. Other associated tropes are UpperClassTwit, RichInDollarsPoorInSense, JerkJock, SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl, StepfordSmiler, GranolaGirl, BourgeoisBohemian, and ValleyGirl. (More positively, they may be associated with TheAllAmericanBoy or the GirlNextDoor.) Especially common in HollywoodNewEngland, though they may also be found in EverytownAmerica and {{Suburbia}} (especially the StepfordSuburbia variety). See also UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents for more variations and stereotypes associated with them.

Strictly speaking, it is hard to generalize about [=WASPs=]. Since a majority, albeit a slim majority, of Americans are both white and Protestant, [=WASP=] covers a lot of demographic ground. They can be either liberal or conservative politically ([[BourgeoisBohemian fiscally conservative but culturally liberal]] being a frequent combination), and fill any socioeconomic niche. This trope is primarily for figures who meet the most stereotypical WASP criteria: affluent, generic, bland personalities, usually with a little bit of [[BritishStuffiness stuffiness inherited from their British ancestors]] and a preoccupation with keeping up appearances. These days, much of the WASP characteristics can be found ironically enough, in the non-WASP Irish-American community, especially in Boston. Thanks to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_succession_theory ethnic succession]] with Irish Catholics being the first immigrant waves, they have integrated and assimilated strongly into the WASP hegemony, with UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy's election being a symbol for the acceptance of the Irish Catholic community into the mainstream, and Kennedy being, alongside UsefulNotes/BarackObama, the ''only'' non-WASP President of the United States.[[note]]Sometimes UsefulNotes/MartinVanBuren is also included as a non-WASP president, as he was of Dutch descent and not British ("Anglo-Saxon"). It also helps that he was the only US President to speak English as a second language (Dutch was his first). Others however still feel he qualifies as WASP since he's non-immigrant, and comes from a country and culture that is Protestant and allied to England, so while he may not be Anglo-Saxon, he's still White/Protestant and non-immigrant.[[/note]]

** The original ''X-Men'' group has the patrician Professor X, Charles Xavier, in spite of his Spanish-sounding name[[note]]Marvel names often went with RuleOfCool, witness a poor Roma boy having an aristocratic name like Victor Von Doom as his real name[[/note]]. Also Warren Worthington III, better known as the Angel, a scion of the American aristocracy. Most of the ComicBook/XMen in the early days were largely WASP, including Jean Grey, daughter from a suburban middle-class family of academics, as well as Hank [=McCoy=] with Scott Summers being an orphan from Alaska, and a poor-WASP. Only Bobby Drake averted this, being Irish-American and Catholic.

* Charles Emerson Winchester III from ''{{Series/Mash}}'', played by Creator/DavidOgdenStiers with a full-on Boston Brahmin accent. Winchester has occasionally shown distaste for Catholic ethnicities, in one episode being heartbroken at the news of his sister getting engaged to an Italian, remarking to the (Irish) Catholic Father Mulcahy, "at least she's not marrying an Irishman".

** Played up in "Scenes From the Class Struggle in Springfield": the Simpson family (who are of French, American Indian and Black descent as well as Anglo-Saxon) trying to work their way into the high society of Marge's "preppy" high-school friend and ultimately deciding that lifestyle isn't for them.
** Charles Montgomery Burns. Truth be told, different episodes of the show have provided wildly conflicting backstories for him. Originally he was from a clan of stuffy New England snobs (Monty himself being a Yale graduate), but then the episode "Rosebud" hinted that he was Jewish, the older brother of comedian George Burns (although that was obviously a CutawayGag, and not to be taken seriously). More recently, it's been mentioned (in "The Color Yellow") that he is the son of a Southern slaveholder. The Simpsons Wiki claims he's of Scottish descent, though a wealthy, American-born Scot would probably be lumped in with [=WASPs=] in popular perception, especially if his family is Protestant.

* From ''Series/DesperateHousewives'', there’s Bree Van De Kamp and her husband Rex, although his family name reveals a Dutch heritage, as opposed to British. As Bree explains to her (Jewish) marriage counsellor when he questions her preference for carrying on as normal, despite obvious problems: ”We’re [=WASPs=] doctor Goldfein — ignoring the elephant in the room is what we do best.”

* Christopher Walken once succinctly described his roles to ''Equire'' : "I am the malevolent WASP" (although his father was a German immigrant).

The White[[note]]or less commonly: Wealthy since White and Anglo-Saxon is tautological[[/note]] Anglo-Saxon Protestant, or WASP, is a largely American trope that today is used to describe the stereotypically "white" (and mostly upper- or upper-middle class, as the term is usually not applied to working-class poor whites and white Southerners associated with DeepSouth stereotypes.... even though they ''technically'' fit the definition) person in American culture.

Compare and contrast with ChristianityIsCatholic. See IrishmanAndAJew for a similar ethnic fault line, with Jews (usually) filling the WASP niche. Other associated tropes are UpperClassTwit, RichInDollarsPoorInSense, JerkJock, SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl, StepfordSmiler, GranolaGirl, BourgeoisBohemian, and ValleyGirl. (More positively, they may be associated with TheAllAmericanBoy or the GirlNextDoor.) May be found in EverytownAmerica and {{Suburbia}} (especially the StepfordSuburbia variety). See also UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents for more variations and stereotypes associated with them.