Westie (person)

Westie, or Westy, is a term used broadly throughout Australasia to describe white members of a blue collar or underclass subculture.

Origination of term

The term originated, and is most often used, in relation to residents of the numerous western suburbs of Sydney, Australia, and of Auckland, New Zealand. In other cities of Australia (such as Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane), the term is largely interchangeable with the terms bogan, booner and yobbo, largely referring to people of unkempt appearance or less fortunate (or 'common') background.

According to the stereotype, residents of suburbs such as Blacktown, and Mt. Druitt in Sydney and Waitakere in Auckland are westies.

Characteristics

Westies are supposedly identifiable by their clothing, attitude and habits. The principle identifiers are:

For men; long, often lank hair (possibly a "mullet"), black leather jacket, jeans (black or grubby and usually tight), black T-shirt (often sporting names and/or logos of their favourite Oz-Rock / Metal bands or alcoholic beverage), aged or faded tattoos, "flannies" - check patterned flannelette shirts which are generally worn open, and work boots.

For women; whilst the stereotype is less specific, they tend to have the same lank hair of their male counterparts and regularly look 'worn out' (often having been heavy smokers during the course of their lives), possibly have tattoos and are often covered in excessive amounts of make-up. They are also known to wear jump-suits, mumus, etc... and are often seen in shopping malls of less affluent socio-economic suburbs, accompanied by multiple, equally rough looking children.

See also: Yobbo, Bogan or Feral (subculture) .

Westies are generally in their late teens to mid-thirties, are regular party-goers (especially an outdoor party with a BBQ and a case of Victoria Bitter beer), and users of the social drugs marijuana and alcohol. Along with the clothing, a principle identifier of Westy men is to drive a V8 car or utility, generally an Australian Holden or Ford.

Sydney, Australia

In Sydney, Westies have taken their namesake from Sydney's western suburbs, a region of suburbs in which the cost of living is generally considered to be less than that of Sydney's more easterly and inner-city suburbs. The former are also known to suffer from higher crime rates, and lower levels of professional employment, however they are home to increasing number of small businesses.

The Westy stereotype is leaving as Sydney is one of the most expensive places in the world to live. A lot of young families are moving out there due to cheap house prices and new towns that are being built on what was formerly farm land on the outskirts of Sydney.

Auckland, New Zealand

In Auckland, Westies are almost entirely residents of Waitakere City, in particular the Auckland city-side suburbs of Te Atatu, Henderson, Sunnyvale, Glen Eden, and New Lynn. Some people from Avondale are called by others and themselves 'Westies' although Avondale is actually within the territory of Auckland City.

To be called a Westy in Auckland is sometimes ambiguous as it can be both a pejorative or good natured, depending on intent. Many people from Waitakere City will call themselves Westies with pride, yet not meet the sterotypical criteria.

The shift from a pejorative to an societal identifier has been abrupt an in no small part due to local comedian Ewen Gilmour whose stand-up comedy act as Ewen "Westie" Gilmour gave the term national prominence between 1995 and 2000 in the premier television programme, "Pulp Comedy". He was "unofficially appointed cultural ambassador" for Waitakere City. He was elected as councellor for the Waitakere City Council in 2004 and joins former mayor Tim Shadbolt as sterotypical Westies who have entered local body politics.

Well-known Auckland Westies include:

Comedian Ewen Gilmour.
Singer Jan Hellriegel, who had a minor hit with her song "Westie girls"
Tim Shadbolt, a former 1960's student radical who is now a nationally-known raconteur, guest speaker, and local authority politician. He was Mayor of pre-amalgamation Waitemata City before moving to Invercargill, where he has also had several terms as Mayor.

External link

Strine and Aussie Slang