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Over the past 25 years I have lived in Dallas, Houston, and rural areas in Florida.
Okay then
I always think of Dallas and esp. Houston more southwest though. When we lived in Shreveport
LA for a few years, went to Dallas quite a bit - that's the feel I got.
TX is in the southern part of the US, just like New Mexico, but I
wouldn't consider it "southern" as in way of life southern.
I meant the way the state of CA is run, doesn't seem friendly to rural hardworking types. It seems like Arizona or Wyoming might be a better fit for a cowboy in current times.
Well I can't argue with you there! It is funny, you drive inland and it is very conservative. Vastly different from much (but not all) of the coast politically. The little beach town where I grew up is very red.
The ignorance of sheltered people, living in their box in the cities, that have no clue what is outside their box.
Rural America, is more diversified living in harmony, than any metropolitan area.
Just because you're not a redneck doesn't mean you live in a city. Plenty of decent hardworking people live in small towns, suburbs, coastal areas and other non city areas, even in the country. You think anyone who isn't a redneck lives in a city and is a "preppy"? Where's that whack on the head icon?
Be careful if you have a daughter she just might bring one home one day. A country boy with a farmers tan!!!......... Just when you thought you had her talked into marrying a doctor or a lawyer......
The problem with what you've said is that the "huge demographic" the OP describes, that of a 'country persuasion' if you will, spans all across the socioeconomic spectrum. There are doctors, lawyers, upper-class farmers, upper-middle class business owners, middle-class college graduates, fraternity/sorority members, working-class/blue-collar joes, poor townies, and poor hicks all within that "huge demographic". So who is to say the hypothetical daughter doesn't marry a professional of the 'country persuasion'? I will say what I'm describing is MUCH more common in the South/Texas/SW/West than in some other areas of the country - probably because in the South folks aren't expecting to abandon their roots and authentic culture if they wish to become a highly-educated professional like a doctor or lawyer. When your society isn't instilled with eltist ideas of how to be, you will have doctors and lawyers who hunt, fish, perhaps even farm in addition to their profession. Ones who listen to country music, wear cowboy hats and boots, etc. It's kind of Yankee VS Southern.
But to us ''outsiders'', what to call this huge demographic, that's easy enough to recognize, yet doesn't even really have a name for itself.... or does it (and how do they feel about using all those ''other'' names, even among themselves)? BTW, it seems odd that we casually discuss things like Hispanic, Jewish or Black culture and politics, yet we can't seem to come up with a good name for what is probably the largest cultural group in the country, with pretty identifiable tastes (like Nascar, country music, fried foods, guns, heavy drinking, rural living, etc..... and being ''white'' is only a part of it)!
you're describing a collection of different white demographics, not just one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mateo45
^ ^ It's a whole other world out here from the East Coast that you're so used to (and where I'm originally from), along with a heckuva lot more choices here than just your preconceptions and what you see on tv. So maybe you need to come out for a real life visit, it might surprise you... unless maybe that's really the scary part!
For an example of how this is all muddled up -- North Carolina and Virginia are on the east coast, and have plenty of hillbillies, but very few cowboys.
4 examples of american rural white stereotypes would be --
a. hillbillies / miners living in the mountains
b. cowboys and ranchers living in the intermountain west and the plains
c. cotton and tobacco farmers living in the swamps of the southeast
d. corn, wheat and soybean farmers living in the northern plains like Iowa and Nebraska
these aren't the only groups, but the point is that they all have their own distinct set of stereotypes that aren't necessarily derived from the same place. the fact that they're all rural american whites is incidental. Group (A) is known for Moonshine and NASCAR, not (B),(C), or (D). Group (B) is known for riding horses and rodeos and such, but is completely out of place in the deep south, especially among group (C). Group (D) is country and rural, but isn't southern at all.
And those are just the main ones, they ignore all the pot smoking, pot growing hippies scattered across appalachia, or the louisiana cajuns, or the lowcountry around charleston, savannah and the sea islands, or the whole weird uncategorizable state of Florida.
Location: On the "Left Coast", somewhere in "the Land of Fruits & Nuts"
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Quote:
Originally Posted by le roi
you're describing a collection of different white demographics, not just one.
You're absolutely correct, from a relatively superficial standpoint, like dress, occupations, locale, etc., just as blacks, jews, hispanics and most any other large cultural groups also have huge differences.
Which still doesn't change the fact that they all share certain distinct and common values, heritage, and outlook on life, at least enough that pollsters and demographers acknowledge them as specific groups. So I'm simply suggesting that ''rural whites, etc.'' are a similar such demographic, except they don't really have a ''name'' and that we just don't acknowledge them as such. But as mentioned earlier, politicians like Karl Rove or Sarah Palin sure as heck recognize 'em, and their values!
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Not everything is fried in the south...
Just when you thought you had her talked into marrying a doctor or a lawyer......
