This is too juicy to be buried in comments.
Xavier writes in the comments of the previous post, "I said before that there is a link between Republicans, Christianity, and Fox News. Let me go one step further, and this delves more into the realm of stereotypes, but there are a string of descriptors that appear to go together for a particularly large demographic of the states. Here goes:
Republican
Christian
Fox News watcher
NASCAR lover
Skeptical about what higher ed teaches youth
Traditional views of men and women [CP - I read "sexist views" here.]
White
Rural and/or affluent community member
Individualistic
Pro-war, guns, hunting
I'm not saying that there is any necessary relationship here and many people can fit some of the descriptors without fitting the others, for instance, I am white but not Republican. Yet, something's going on. Coincidence? Just a particular effect of socialization?"
Thoughts? An argument for or against this view?
So what exactly are you saying, that anyone sharing several or all of these characteristics are just plain stupid or grossly misinformed? The entire US population, from the right and left, probably shares several of these characteristics. You answered your own question. People rarely change their social and cultural belief systems as well as their political identification from those of their parents and peer group. Monkey see monkey do!
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that we could do something similar for liberals too.
ReplyDeleteOne cannot imply that "anyone sharing several or all of these characteristics are just plain stupid or grossly misinformed." Such people can be quite rational according to the social rules they have learned. The implication should be that rationality is culture-bound. Liberals appear to have another set of rational norms they follow, if we can be so stark in divisions. The problem is then how the two sides can work together when they share different cultural assumptions and rational norms. Of course the generalizations here may be too large to really talk coherently about.
ReplyDeleteGood point! They already share certain norms and Dems and the GOP have worked together since the founding of the Republic.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to call crap on this one. I mean how can you stereotype a whole group of people by what they watch or by what color they are? This is probably one of the funniest posts I have seen. It sounds to me like a judgement is being passed before you even take a deeper look into what a person is really like. I do agree that people are influenced greatly by their peers, but that doesn't mean you're going to find a bunch of white, republicans watch nascar just parading themselves around; or that even if people do have that in common I'm sure not every republican shares the same views. Stereotypes are over-rated, but sometimes funny when they seem to play out. My finally words to this, don't judge people so harshly.
ReplyDelete-the not so stereotypical woman- (Danni)