What's in a name?
"Bellaire socialite" moniker proves irresistible to national media coveringStern shooting
We have to ask, what's with the "Bellaire socialite" moniker that media outlets across the country have bestowed on the unfortunate Yvonne Stern, shot in that nasty love triangle between her husband Jeffrey Stern and the other woman Michelle Gaiser?
At dinner tables across the city and particularly in River Oaks where the real socialites of Houston hang their designer labels, the term "Bellaire socialite" is considered an oxymoron. In that sleepy burg without benefit of a pedigree zip code such as River Oak's 77019 or Tanglewood's 77056, the term "socialite" just rings hollow. In popular lunch spots downtown, even buttoned-down professionals question the term. "How can you be a socialite from Bellaire?" they ask with a snicker only slightly beneath the surface.
But it makes the story so appealing. Would Dateline NBC really be in town working up a piece on the would-be murderous affair if Yvonne Stern were referred to simply as "mother of two?" Maybe. After all, it isn't every day that four murder attempts are on record for the same victim.
Think of it, the story would have so much more cachet if we imagined a slightly dim, glam victim in Chanel driving in her Bentley convertible to the Bayou Club for lunch. Isn't that what "socialite" typically connotes? Yvonne Stern on the other hand is a mom who spends her days chauffering her kids around town and her nights rather quietly. Only when a friend is chairing a charity event or throwing a dinner party does she venture out into the social swim.
In her entire "socialite" career, it seems that Stern has chaired only one event (the fast track to true socialite status) and that was Una Notte in Italia in 2008. She has dabbled in the social waters with the Latin Women's Initiative and the Una Notte event in various capacities, one year chairing the silent auction.
For CultureMap's part, we will refer to her as "mother of two."
