Shots In The Dark
Monday, February 26, 2024
  Faust the Aristocrat
In the Globe yesterday, the M-Bomb and Maria Sacchetti wrote this long and interesting profile of Drew Faust. The dominant theme is that Faust was composed and mature from an early ageā€”the letter-writing to Eisenhower was hardly an isolated example.

The part of the piece I most enjoyed delved into Faust's childhood. Knowing that Faust went to prep school, I knew that hers couldn't have been such a hardscrabble existence. Turns out that Faust grew up with extraordinary privilege.

Catharine Drew Gilpin was born on Sept. 18, 1947 , in New York City to the former Catharine Mellick , a New Jersey socialite, and McGhee Tyson Gilpin , a Princeton graduate from Virginia who became a thoroughbred horse breeder. Her parents, who met on a fox hunt, lived near New York before she was born.

[Blogger: Her parents met on a fox hunt? Fabulous. You can't make this stuff up.]

The family later moved near Millwood, in Clarke County, Va. Known as "Drewdie," she was raised mainly at Lakeville Farm , a white farmhouse on hundreds of acres with a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. At Scaleby , their grandmother's estate nearby, she and her three brothers swam in the pools and read by the fire in the Georgian mansion, with crystal chandeliers and a ballroom on the top floor.

[Blogger: The pools, plural?]

"The Gilpins are to Clarke County what the Kennedys are to Hyannisport," said Paul Jones , a retired school principal who once worked with Faust's uncle. "You would go by Scaleby and look at how the other half lived."

Great stuff.

Here's a question: Would a young woman from that background today go in Faust's direction, living a life of hard work, leadership, and accomplishment? Or, as part of America's money culture, would she follow the Paris Hilton model?

(Hint: This is not so much a question about feminism as it is one about American cultural decline.)
 
Comments:
This strikes me as a rather bizarre and sexist comment. There are many paths for women --including women of privilege--to follow today that fall between, or rather well outside, the parameters you describe. Are women either Paris Hiltons or Drew Fausts? Give me a break. Would you set up a similar dichotomy for a man---I doubt it.
 
Of course there are many paths. The intention was to suggest extremes.

And yes, I would absolutely set up a similar dichotomy for a man. No one has ever accused me of being less offensive to men than I am to women.
 
Richard:

Harvard's Chief Fundraiser announced today that she is stepping down-how do you read this?
 
Post a Comment



<< Home
Politics, Media, Academia, Pop Culture, and More

Name: Richard Bradley
Location: New York, New York,
ARCHIVES
2/1/05 - 3/1/05 / 3/1/05 - 4/1/05 / 4/1/05 - 5/1/05 / 5/1/05 - 6/1/05 / 6/1/05 - 7/1/05 / 7/1/05 - 8/1/05 / 8/1/05 - 9/1/05 / 9/1/05 - 10/1/05 / 10/1/05 - 11/1/05 / 11/1/05 - 12/1/05 / 12/1/05 - 1/1/06 / 1/1/06 - 2/1/06 / 2/1/06 - 3/1/06 / 3/1/06 - 4/1/06 / 4/1/06 - 5/1/06 / 5/1/06 - 6/1/06 / 6/1/06 - 7/1/06 / 7/1/06 - 8/1/06 / 8/1/06 - 9/1/06 / 9/1/06 - 10/1/06 / 10/1/06 - 11/1/06 / 11/1/06 - 12/1/06 / 12/1/06 - 1/1/07 / 1/1/07 - 2/1/07 / 2/1/07 - 3/1/07 /


Powered by Blogger