States with the biggest identy crisis

[Bass&Catfish2008]

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

Oklahoma has by far the biggest identity crisis. Is it South, Southwest, or Midwest? Actually, it's all 3, so Oklahoma will always have trouble with it's location.

That's interesting this is your observation given that some of the thickest twangin Okie speech occurs in Stillwater and surrounding towns. See Mike Gundy's (head coach of Oklahoma State football) rant...."I'm a mayun, I'm forteee"....LOL. Sorry, couldn't resist...all in good fun.

Culturally, Oklahoma is overtly southern. Geographically you could place it in the Southwest as it is a mixture of the southern plains and the typical woodlands of the Upper South in the majority of the state. It's nowhere near as green all over the state as you would find in a slightly cooler climate of the true Midwest. I think wikipedia pretty much hits the nail on the head in designating Oklahoma as part of the West South Central states: West South Central States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Growing up in school we were always taught that Oklahoma was part of the Old Southwest with strong southern culture. For outsiders that have never been to Oklahoma that designation probably gives them the best idea of what to expect when traversing through OkieVille.

If I were to vote on states with the greatest identity crisis I would have to say some of the Upper West states such as Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. These states get grouped in with the West (or Mountain West) generally, but they are NOTHING culturally like the true West such as California and to a lesser extent Oregon and Washington.

[happ]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

People can take this question two ways. My take on this is the OP is wondering which states suffer from an identity crisis from within. Meaning which state's residents are clueless as to who and what they are. Apparently it can also be taken as which states American's are most ignorant about and don't know a thing about a certain state or states. I guess now I can understand why the guy from California added Vermont and New Hampshire to this list. The people in those states don't suffer from an identity crisis and have their own distinct culture and personality, separate from other New England and Northeast states. But apparently many American's don' realize this because they have not spent time in that region.

Agree that New England\ Northeast states have a very distinct identity [no crisis there - that's for sure

[missymomof3]

Originally Posted by jcm1986

Grits, sweet tea, and fried green tomatoes aren't nearly as common in our dining establishments. In fact, in Louisville, Lexington, and Covington/Newport, one is hard pressed to find any Southern cuisine outside of Cracker Barrel.

There are plenty of restaurants, especially local that have many if not all of those. Have you ever eaten anywhere besides the East end? Why does it seem like you comment on an entire area based on a little bit of it? You can find fried pickles, fried green tomatoes, country ham, sweet tea, grits, biscuits and gravy, fried okra, sweet potatoes, catfish, fried chicken and **gasp!** even GREENS! Go tell me co-workers who like to joke with me that I don't have a twang, ok? Next time you are in Louisville head to Jerry's, Jessie's, Granny's apron,O' Jay's, Mike Lennig's, Moby Dick even and then tell me you can't find it