Bou-Bo
bou ● bo (bū´ bō)
adj.
1. Bourgeois-Bohemian. Possessing both bourgeois and bohemian attributes. Combining a bourgeois love of fine living with bohemian irreverence and disdain for traditional values and conventional behavior.
2. The art of being both urbane and counter-cultural.
Oscar Wilde was wonderfully Bou-Bo in both his writings and deportment.
(Not to be confused with the term “Limousine Liberal,” or “Li-Li,” which denotes a wealthy person who espouses liberal politics and concern for the poor, but who is not engaged with the poor on a daily basis and is far-removed from the class struggle. Moreover, a Limousine Liberal sometimes suggests a wealthy liberal who might devote a portion of his/her wealth to charity, but who is not interested in altering exploitative social structures or addressing the unequal distribution of wealth or the underlying causes of poverty.)
adj.
1. Bourgeois-Bohemian. Possessing both bourgeois and bohemian attributes. Combining a bourgeois love of fine living with bohemian irreverence and disdain for traditional values and conventional behavior.
2. The art of being both urbane and counter-cultural.
Oscar Wilde was wonderfully Bou-Bo in both his writings and deportment.
(Not to be confused with the term “Limousine Liberal,” or “Li-Li,” which denotes a wealthy person who espouses liberal politics and concern for the poor, but who is not engaged with the poor on a daily basis and is far-removed from the class struggle. Moreover, a Limousine Liberal sometimes suggests a wealthy liberal who might devote a portion of his/her wealth to charity, but who is not interested in altering exploitative social structures or addressing the unequal distribution of wealth or the underlying causes of poverty.)
posted by Sandouri Dean Bey at 12:03 PM
12 Comments:
I thought Bou-Bo was the French cousin of Yogi The Bear's little buddy...
you're a real comedian, treeboy.
je vous montrerai mon petit copain :)
Metaphorically speaking, I'm not sure there's a big difference between Bourgeois-Bohemians and Limousine-Liberals. Dictionary.com defines a bourgeois as "(i) A person whose attitudes and behavior are marked by conformity to the standards and conventions of the middle class, and (ii)in Marxist theory, a member of the property-owning class; a capitalist." How many members of the middle class (Bohemian or otherwise)are "engaged with the poor on a daily basis"?
i guess that depends upon how economically diverse one's neighborhood is.
but the point is that the term "limousine liberal" does not refer to members of the middle class, but to members of the upper class.
and while historically bourgeois values and bohemian values were at odds, a new (sub)culture has emerged that blends the two.
Fair enough, not everything has to fit so neatly into one category or another. That being said, "wealth" is a relative term. From the perspective of the truly poor, members of the "middle class" could be easily categorized as "upper class," irrespective of perceived neighborhood diversity. What I'm trying to suggest is that labels can be misleading. It is entirely possible to be bourgeois, bohemian, liberal, enjoy an occasional limousine ride (does a Subaru qualify?), and at the same time be genuinely concerned about underlying causes of poverty. I suspect that most of us are "far removed from the class struggle."
No, L, a Subaru does not count. Neither does a VW :)
and just to be clear, the definition i've assigned Bou-Bo is not about wealth vs. contact with the poor. it's about culture and a rejection of traditional values and the synthesis between bourgeois and bohemian values that we can find among certain subcultures in places like boston.
it is precisely for that reason that i've drawn the distinction between it and Limousine Liberal, the latter being a designation that is primarily about wealth and politics.
oh im so confused! haha
don't worry, ryan... i am too :)
you saw bou-bo on the bathroom wall at Ten Tables, didn't you? what I wish was on the bathroom wall at Ten Tables was Shane's phone number. that's not too crass of me, is it?
the review on the wall of the bathroom at ten tables did refer to it as "bourgeois-bohemian." however, i claim exclusive credit for the abbreviation to "Bou-Bo."
no, it would not be crass to wish for that. but you know, restaurant owners often google the name of their establishment to find out who's talking about them and what the buzz is. i know that, because cafe apollonia found this blog as a result of my mentioning them, remember?
shane, if you're reading, we're harmless, really. we come to ten tables about 75% for the food, 25% for you :)
nuh-uh! at least 50% shanester. actually, it's spring time; make that 75% shanester.
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