Yuppies and Politics

A Yuppie is an affluent young urban professional who was born during the baby boom of 1946-1964 who have college degrees and well paid jobs. This article suggests that Yuppie culture rejects high taxes, social spending, and government regulation, therefore are very conservative. However with that being said they have very socially liberal attitudes and are firm believers on equal rights for women, freedom of sexual preference and abortion rights. This shows that they have very liberal attitudes involving personal freedom in regards to sexuality and gender despite their reputation for being too conservative due to their materialistic status in society. The idea that youth and education make people more liberal has been described as yuppie syndrome, although this is not necessarily a bad idea the article portrays this in a positive light as it highlights the progression of American society from the sixties to the eighties. Particularly due to the rise in feminism and women's rights which enhanced that this generation was more progressive and open to change compared to the older generations. In contrast many people viewed yuppies as being quite self-centred and materialistic due to their economic status, yet it is this status that allowed them to receive so much media attention. In a period of conservative politics yuppies offered a completely new subculture which helped them to become so well renowned. This is what makes them stand out as a dominant subculture of the eighties as they were non-conformist and embodied a generation of positive change and progression.

http://www.jstor.org.winchester.idm.oclc.org/stable/pdf/2748754.pdf
http://www.history.com/topics/1980s
http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3791692.pdf