If this were a traditional dissertation/essay/whatnot (and right now I strongly wish I'd made prepsterdom the subject of my American Studies Masters Thesis five years ago!), my thesis might be thus:
Prepsterdom is about retaining class distinctions in American society, where social mobility is considered more attainable than anywhere else.
I expect this to be polished and refined as I delve into the literature and expand my research.
Related to this is the Preppy/WASP issue. I'm going to write about Preppies and WASPs in the future - my theory at the moment is that people would sooner describe themselves as Preppy (even if they are both) because it's less elitist - at least on a superficial level. For whereas you can become at least outwardly preppy, WASPism is like Hinduism: you have to be born into it. (And note that it's about essence and not nomenclature - for instance, my Caucasian British Anglican husband is not and couldn't be a WASP. So no cute comments like "What if someone's born a WAS of another faith and converts to Protestantism?")
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