From: Jim Burnes <jvb@ssds.com>
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 00:49:41 +0800
To: "Brown, R Ken" <brownrk1@texaco.com>
Subject: Re: Soccer Moms?
In-Reply-To: <896C7C3540C3D111AB9F00805FA78CE2013F84C8@MSX11002>
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.96.981013100212.480A-100000@jb3.fastrans.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



On Tue, 13 Oct 1998, Brown, R Ken wrote:

> In the middle of an interesting article about digital cash, forwarded
> here by Bob Hettinga, there was the line:
> 
> > After all, the kind of soccer moms who elected Bill Clinton
> 
> "Divided by a common language" as I am  I genuinly don't know what that
> means. And I can't even guess from context. I'd have expected a dig at
> liberals or feminists or welfare recipients at that point; and I can't
> work out what soccer has to do with it.
> 
> Do mothers play soccer much in the USA?
> 

etc...

The answer you search for is:

In US primary schools (mostly in affluent suburbs), soccer (football)
is a very popular fall/winter sport for ages 7-14.

Soccer moms are the mothers that haul their sons and daughters around
after school and on Saturday mornings in minivans to these games.

"Soccer moms" connotes a particular kind of woman.  Its difficult to
give you an exact definition although its usually slightly deragatory.
Lets try to describe her:

Middle to Upper Middle class
White
Mid-thirties
Average Intelligence
Thinks Bill Clinton is a Stud
Probably a Career Mom and thinks working 9-5 in a big corporate
arcology is a pretty neat thing
(not relative to unemployment, but relative to others who think its a
trap)
Probably religious, either WASP, Catholic or Statist.

This, at least, is the stereotype.  YMMV.

Jim