We were going to check this NYmag article on the “ascendant yupster” (yuppie + hipster, as they thankfully point out), but their site was down when we first saw the headline, “Up With Grups – The Ascendant Breed of Grown-Ups Who Are Redefining Adulthood.“

Made-up words and overarching conclusions; you know we’re in for some good journalism.

Luckily, the hot tip finally landed on Catharine P. Taylor at Adfreak’s desk, reminding us to draw out the pens we’ve kept soaking in brine…

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Apparently, there’s a demographic that has a tendency towards having a hip style, a baby, and hating a desk job.

For NYmag, this is like, a big problem. As Catherine cites, “It’s about the mom in the low-slung Sevens and ankle boots and vaguely Berlin-art-scene blouse with the $800 stroller and the TV-screen-size Olsen-twins sunglasses perched on her head walking through Bryant Park listening to Death Cab for Cutie on her Nano.” NYmag writerAdam Sternbergh likens this to a case of Peter Pan Syndrome.

Sure, it’s that, OR yet another cross-section of people decided that getting older doesn’t mean becoming a loser. Or, Sternbergh stumbled upon the amazing revelation that people purchase and use products they enjoy.

Then again, NYMag has a tendency towards the gushy hyperbole of the nonissue zeitgeist…

To its credit, in the summation paragraphs the article finally caves under the weight of its straw man assertions,

“It’s also about rejecting a hand-me-down model of adulthood that asks, or even necessitates, that you let go of everything you ever felt passionate about. It’s about reimagining adulthood as a period defined by promise, rather than compromise. And who can’t relate to that?”

Pity the poor journalist who can, through sheer force of will and objective integrity, only find a small way to “relate” to people who decided that growing up doesnt mean selling out.

Up With Grups* [NYmag]

[drawing and photos ganked from NYmag]

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