May 31, 2006
What Are Wingmen Again? It's Been Awhile. We Forgot.
It’s no surprise that "A Bud for the Ladies" is one of the most emailed articles of the day on the Post's website. Younger readers in particular must be sending it to each other asking why, if wingmen have been around so long, its worthy of such a lengthy feature today.
Maybe it’s simply to point out that once this year’s college graduates start work and join the real world, "They may actually have to ask women out on dates, take them to dinner. Wingman skills will still be needed, but not as often. Bummer." Yet go into any bar whose clientele is over 22 and you’d see that plenty of wingmen are still working overtime, years after graduation.
Why doesn’t the Style section train its eye to focus on newer trends as opposed to chestnuts of the pick-up scene? Writer Laura Sessions Stepp mentions one in her piece: "Exams are over, graduation is approaching and each of them has several young women on his year end wish-list. (Some senior women, by the way, keep similar lists)." What about exploring whether Wing Women have migrated south? Or whether some men memorize Neil Strauss’ more elaborate pickup schemes from 2005's The Game or have moved on to try out the next big thing?
"A Bud for the Ladies" is a lob at hipness that may make some readers wince the same way Nationals fans did when they were swept by the Mets in their home opener series. And, frankly, it reinforces the stereotype that D.C. is the town for geeks. No wonder that Rebecca Dane wrote such a withering commentary on our city in "D.C. Hotter Than Brooklyn: What’s In? Plame, Foosball, Bistrot Du Coin, Celibacy!” in the New York Observer last week. Read one article after the other and it may appear that D.C. is a town for tone deaf, socially awkward, fashion challenged wonks. Luckily, this isn't the case.
Why did editors at the Post dress something old as something new? Perhaps for the same reasons the Post is phasing out its Food, Health and Home sections in favor of more emphasis on spirituality and parenting. Because the powers-that-be are repackaging it for more socially conservative, practical, older readers, while the Express evolves into its replacement for hipper, younger ones. We knew all along that the Express isn’t just about speed and convenience. "A Bud for the Ladies" reinforces it.
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Why does DCist seem to have such a big chip on its shoulder about the city's image? I understand that a city's reputation has a lot to do with who moves in, and that the cooler Washington looks from the outside the more attractive it becomes to the DCist demographic. But aside from getting more DCist readers into the city, scoring cool points doesn't really mean f-all. Or does it? Am I missing something? More Wonderland bars?
Washington isn't NYC, never will be. Personally, I like that. And I'm a DCist reader.
Oh man...what could be worse then being identified by name in the photo caption as the girl the wingman is taking care of; a girl who according to the article could likely be a "young woman who, like Pouty Girl, would not win any beauty contests." OUCH!
"Sometimes you have to rescue the baby seals in Alaska." Well played.
Benji, I think you may have misinterpreted the tone we were trying to strike. It's not about how DC is perceived; it's about expecting its own institutions to give it the credit it deserves.
The wingman phenomenon came and went here -- an entire UPN sitcom about the fad has risen and been cancelled since it did (and, it's worth noting, was originally developed by a DC resident). Although some folks like to pretend otherwise, this city has its own culture, trends and fads. If the Post is going to try to cover them, they should make an effort that isn't so ridiculously half-assed. For better or worse, the responsibility rests in large part with them.
Most of Laura Sessions Stepp's articles are like this. Overly dramatic and alarmist.
The kids are grinding, stop the presses!
I read this article b/c it was funny in the sense that this is not news worthy. always funny when you read about a guy "taking the grenade" in the washington post
but seriously some kids from the most expensive school in the country is not a solid reprensentation of most of DCs population.
who makes such elaborate plans to get laid
and if you have to work that hard for a girl then no matter how hot they are its a total waste of time
to the guy who got dissed by asking a girl for a drink on his own...he is the one who should be written about for having balls
I'm surprised you guys are treating this article so seriously, as some sort of sociological indicator. To me, it's just another embarrassing article from the most embarrassing part of our newspaper of record (to which I subscribe loyally, by the way, for REAL news and sports). This is somewhere around the stupidity level of that article about the screamo band in Loudoun county a few months back.
pk I totally agree. My parents receive the print version of the Washington Post and I am embarassed for him to read it.
Ha! The Angry Inch. Nail meet head. Tom Tom also would have been an acceptable answer.
Have you ever seen a picture of Laura Sessions Stepp? She looks like 80 years old. Why does the Post think she is cool enough to be their youth-sex beat reporter? Ugh she is the worst.
Have you ever seen a picture of Laura Sessions Stepp? She looks like 80 years old. Why does the Post think she is cool enough to be their youth-sex beat reporter? Ugh she is the worst.
What seemingly intelligent person would consent to be named in this story? Do those 3 guys ever, EVER hope to get laid again? I certainly hope not, at least not in DC, because after this article, they've got no chance.
A friend of mine went to GW and looked all these guys up on Facebook. Evidently they're in Sammy, the Jew-frat (his words, not mine). Way to represent our people, guys. Classssssy.
Being named in this article is nothing compared to that kid from AU who allowed himself to be named by (and giving enthusiastic quotes to) the City Paper for allowing himself to be pissed on at a party so he could win an iPod.
I mean...just--wow.
This article was just further evidence that NO ONE edits the Style section. NO ONE AT ALL.
Laura Sessions Step has had the "teen beat", if you will, for years. But she's become very sadly out-of-touch. She tries, god love her, she tries. But I imagine if the Style section actually had an editor, said editor might realize that if they want to cover "youth trends" someone who has a clue about them might be a more appropriate choice.
Since when did the notion of a wingman become a "youth trend"? It's a pretty ageless concept. But that aside, it's articles like this that make me want to scream about the Style section. Why can't we have more of Hank S. dissing on people for wearing holiday-themed sweaters? Now that, my people, was a great article.
"Read one article after the other and it may appear that D.C. is a town for tone deaf, socially awkward, fashion challenged wonks... "
Anyone who spent the time to spit off such a cleverly written line has obviously thought it was the truth...and you're right.
err.... suspicious timing of this post, considering a similar article appeared here http://whyihatedc.blogspot.com/ after you provided a link to that page yesterday... redundancy not needed. originality? most certainly.
I really enjoyed that dc bashing article... beacuse it pretty much sums up the city of New York. A place where fake trendiness, money, and elitism are valued. I am much happier to live in a city that values power, work, and idealism. Those northerners can criticize us all they want with their arrogance and clout but atleast we have something real to hold onto!
Values= What would "W" do?
Power= Corruption
Work = Back slappin'and bloated billable hours
Idealism = "If I could just get those people out of the neighborhood I would buy here faster than you could say Jack Johnson!"
Come and gone? I don't think so, I still see plenty of wingin' going on in adams morgan and herpes triangle area (lucky bar, rumors, mad hat ect... I know people have different ideas of what herp triangle is but that's for a different post).
Dcist writers and commenters lately have been writing more and more about the 'immature' or 'out of style' parts of the city. Lighten up, you don't sound cool or mature you just sound old and cranky! Don't like the scene at one bar, go to another! I personally can't stand the crowd around gtown but I don't go they and think how much I dislike it like. My favorite are the self centered comments too like "how is this original?" or "this is old news" guess what you are not the only one who reads the post! I am sure there are probably plenty of suburb parents who read the article enjoying as the thought about their nights on the town before they got married and had kids. Ugg, I hate this, all your bitchin has caused me to start bitchin, you bastards. Melissa, if it is bothering you so much have your guido bf load your plastic pants in to your trans am and head back to Jersey....
Sparky: I'm not critical of the city's style or lack of it. Nor am I even assessing it, really. I'm questioning why world, national, and local news for the Post adheres to such high standards-- and regularly breaks stories before the NYT, for example--but is content to underreport on trends, style, features, etc in the city.
As readers, we'd be critical if the Post wrote a softball feature on Bushisms and packaged it as new. We should have the same expectations for every section.
And, thanks for being so diplomatic.
When I saw the article, I couldn't believe it. It's like something that would appear in On Tap.