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I actually find the geopolitical term "Midwest" to be very useless. As someone who grew up in the Detroit area, I always felt closer to people in Pittsburgh or Buffalo than I did to people in Minneapolis. Culturally that is.
Indeed, Buffalo and Pittsburgh have very similar heritages. Minnesota's uniqueness to the Great Lakes region might come from differences in immigrant cultures based on who moved there, with a stronger Scandinavian influence.
We could think of a lot of these terms as being the geographic equivalent of sociologists and their generational identifiers like "Baby boomer," "Millennial" etc.
The "argument" if so comes from absolutism (as well as that people in the General US and City vs. City subforums will argue over whether rock is a rock, or a very large grain of sand) , and reading everything as some sort of blanket statement. It's in that mindset that stereotypes and misconceptions pervade over truth.
When I used the word "pop" when I stopped in Alabama, they had no idea what I was talking about. I suspect the people that use that term in Alabama are transplants from "pop" country.
In that area of the South it is usually "what kind of coke do you want"?
The flyover country thing -- and that the weather is s####y all year around. I've met people who actually thought Chicago was on the East Coast because the sun rises on the big body of water instead of setting on it, and because it's a big huge city with a ton of skyscrapers where the sun rises on the body of water. So that means of course it has to be right next to New York.
Also that it's a frozen snow covered artic tundra from Labor Day all the way until Memorial Day. Sunshine with a high of 42 and a low of 28, while maybe not ideal, is tolerable.
Also that it's a frozen snow covered artic tundra from Labor Day all the way until Memorial Day. Sunshine with a high of 42 and a low of 28, while maybe not ideal, is tolerable.
People out west have that misconception about their own climate. It's so annoying.
As far as misconceptions I've seen in the Midwest, most have come from people in Iowa. There are so many that think Nebraska is some isolated, featureless desert (most of it looks EXACTLY like Iowa) South Dakota is the same but has the Black Hills (east of the Missouri looks just like Iowa) and North Dakota is arctic tundra year round (while there are much fewer cornfields and fewer trees, the eastern half also bears a striking similarity to Iowa in a lot of ways). Notice a pattern here?
The flyover country thing -- and that the weather is s####y all year around. I've met people who actually thought Chicago was on the East Coast because the sun rises on the big body of water instead of setting on it, and because it's a big huge city with a ton of skyscrapers where the sun rises on the body of water. So that means of course it has to be right next to New York.
Also that it's a frozen snow covered artic tundra from Labor Day all the way until Memorial Day. Sunshine with a high of 42 and a low of 28, while maybe not ideal, is tolerable.
No disrespect to you but whoever thought Chicago was on the east coast is an idiot. The sunrise? Give me a break. Also, as a native Midwesterner from the great lakes, I have to disagree with the low 40s with sunshine take. You didn't include wind chill.
Indeed, Buffalo and Pittsburgh have very similar heritages. Minnesota's uniqueness to the Great Lakes region might come from differences in immigrant cultures based on who moved there, with a stronger Scandinavian influence.
To be fair I don't think it's so much to do with ethnic groups as it's do with a legacy of growing up in industrial and post industrial cities. Minneapolis while being a city, was more a city that organized around farming instead of industry and the culture there, at least among ethnic Whites feels a bit different when I compare to Buffalo and my Detroit. It's not a huge difference - granted. The biggest differences are when I enter the south or the northeast. I'm not even sure if they qualify as a culture shock compared to going to different countries but there norms become different.
Indeed, Buffalo and Pittsburgh have very similar heritages. Minnesota's uniqueness to the Great Lakes region might come from differences in immigrant cultures based on who moved there, with a stronger Scandinavian influence.
We could think of a lot of these terms as being the geographic equivalent of sociologists and their generational identifiers like "Baby boomer," "Millennial" etc.
The "argument" if so comes from absolutism (as well as that people in the General US and City vs. City subforums will argue over whether rock is a rock, or a very large grain of sand) , and reading everything as some sort of blanket statement. It's in that mindset that stereotypes and misconceptions pervade over truth.
As someone who has lived in all 4 regions of the U.S.A...in addition to living in London and Amsterdam for 2 years each, I think I'm qualified to confirm or dispel any misconceptions or stereotypes of the midwest for almost a decade....specifically dealing with Illinois/Wisconsin/Indiana natives and living in the Chicagoland area.
1 of the biggest misconceptions about the Midwest is....FRIENDLINESS....no...it's not true....Midwestern friendliness is the biggest misconception you'll hear....A lot of them are passive aggressive and they like to display a lot of micro aggressions with a sinister smile...foul body language with a smile is another tool they use ...their friendliness is also a very calculated rehearsed kind of friendliness...It's not genuine friendliness...It's only on the surface and robotic....It's forced...manufactured...It's actually harder to befriend midwesteners on a deeper level besides the "surface" play-pretend stuff is too much....I also feel that Midwesterners don't form deeper relationships based on common interest, goals, and lifestyle like on the East or West....Deeper Friendships here are based on family ties, "best friend of a close friend" situations, "We grow up together" situations, and "We worked together for XXX amount of years at such and such company" situations.....With that being said, if you're not from the midwest, it will be very hard to get a heart to heart genuine friendship with them....They'll be friendly to your face but you'll constantly be made to feel like "You're not one of us" in subtle calculated ways...and you'll also be discussed once you leave the room.....and it's usually a not so nice discussion about you eventhough they were friendly to you lol.......There is also a lot of racial segregation and race related dynamics to navigate through....so if your not white, you'll really have a tough time....and it doesn't matter how well spoken...or how well dressed....or how much money you have....or how attractive you are....Your race will play a role in how when it comes to friendships and how friendly people are towards you....I never felt the need to pick friends based on race prior to moving to the midwest but after a few years of coming to understand the culture, I've come to a conclusion that race is a big deal here....It's normal here and everyone seems to accept the racial dynamics but as a transplant, I was disgusted for the first 2 years....I've never gotten used to it but I don't let it me bother me as much because I don't anticipate on building a future here in the midwest. On the east coast, ppl are blunt, unfiltered, and straight to business..You know where they stand...WHICH I LIKE.....On the west coast, people are relaxed but they love to talk about themselves so it's easier to know a west coaster on a deeper level for a connection....WHICH I LIKE....In the MIDWEST, people are incredible calculated...from the smile on their faces to the twinkle in their eye....to their tone of voice....to the image they portray....in a very secretive kind of way....you never know what's on their mind or what eggs they're planning to hatch but they make it an aim to ask you personal questions they have no business asking.....they do a lot of friendly talking but it's just meaningless small talk or petty gossiping that never leads to any that matters in life....It can be exhausting dealing with a lot of them....and to be honest, dealing with midwesterners has taught me how to have patience....because that is the only way a transplant from a different region can keep their sanity around these types of people.....You need a lot of patience and a lot of tolerance to be able put up with them for YEARS.....oh....1 last bit.....STARES....Midwesterners like to stare....constantly staring at you from the corner of their eye.....Even if your car windows are tinted, they'll keep staring to see if they can hopefully get a glimpse of who is driving....sheepish stares....goat-ish glares....and when you turn around to establish eye contact, they avert their eyes to pretend they were not looking....just ridiculous, phony, and UNFRIENDLY.....and quite sad.....they whole eye aversion thing they do is an experience I've only tasted here in the midwest.....No where else.....
A giant wall of text with sentences separated by ellipses (ellipses with randomly 4 or 5 ....., no less!) is the most passive-aggressive, goatish microaggression imaginable.
I just created a post on people's misconceptions of the Coasts. Now, I want to hear people's misconceptions of the Midwest. I've heard enough misconceptions about the Midwest especially being from Cleveland. I've heard it's flat, depressing, broke and everybody is ignorant and uncultured. My misconception is that I feel that the Midwest is always being blamed for America's problems and it seems like the media's worst enemy or a region that everybody loves to crap on. What are the misconceptions of the Midwest. No matter if you're a lifelong resident, transplant or a former resident, I'd like to hear whether it's from the media, hearsay or even yourself.
Its a thorn in the flesh for the "third world" advocate/ thumpers of this forum.
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