Do U.S. states have their own culture or identity? - Page 5

Darkhorse

United States23455 Posts

May 03 2013 12:56 GMT

#81

Different states do have different cultures. Picture the difference between Louisiana and states like new York or California.

Kaitlin

United States2958 Posts

May 03 2013 13:02 GMT

#82

The U.S. was set up so the States had their own identity. Over the years, the Federal Government has been doing its best to reduce that. Also, I can't think of two States that have held their own unique identity more than Texas and Alaska. Alaska because of their isolation and resources, and Texas because of their State "Pride". I moved to Texas for a short time a while back, and immediately noticed how much more people identified themselves as Texans than I had ever known. It's very much ingrained in the culture in Texas, compared to the rest of the Continental U.S.

MstrJinbo

United States1251 Posts

May 03 2013 13:11 GMT

#83

Language? Have you ever HEARD a Kentucky-ite speak? The accent alone makes it sound like we're speaking different languages. We often have completely different dialects, with different words for certain things and different expressions/phrases, or even saying the same word differently, so it's not like this is a "common bond" that bridges the gap between our cultures, even if it is the same language.

The hell? I talk to someone from Kentucky and I can understand exactly what they are saying. I talt to someone from Northern California, Texas, Arizona, Louisiana or Minnesota and I understand them perfectly. Sure the use weird words sometimes and we make fun of them for that but it's really just slight accent differences.

Zealotdriver

United States1557 Posts

May 03 2013 13:16 GMT

#84

I like how this turned into USA vs Europe.

KingAce

United States471 Posts

May 03 2013 13:16 GMT

#85

From Florida to Texas to California, that's just the south....hell yeah. The tallest white people I have ever seen are Texans. Me being an average height black man 5 11. I noticed something odd about our football teams here in Texas. I lived in the city of Houston for awhile before moving further into the country side. And the noticeable difference in how much larger their high school football players were to ours was self evident. Not only is the culture different once I moved towards the country, the appearance is also noticeably different as well. Country folk are gaints.

Also no one has mentioned, Hawaii or Alaska for some reason.

The weather is different from state to state. And that surely affects the culture. Central USA with its tornadoes, the East coast with its hurricane seasons, California with its hell on Earth effects and Seattle with the constant rain. We don't get a lot of snow where I live in Texas.

And of course guns.

trainRiderJ

United States615 Posts

May 03 2013 13:21 GMT

#86

The states have roughly the same amount of cultural diversity and distinctiveness as, say, Europe, it just appears less because we all speak the same language (more or less) and our history is much shorter. I'm sure most foreign TV shows and movies show a generalized view of all Americans, just like we see a generalized view of all Russians, all Australians, all Scandanavians, all French, etc.

Nachtwind

Germany1130 Posts

May 03 2013 13:28 GMT

#87

Sure has every state(region) it´s own culture or subculture. Some states have more or less differsity from the primary culture USA or from each other but saying their regions don´t have any culture is ignorant. The same is true for every other country around the world. If you say to me as someone from the ruhrpott i would share the same culture as a bavarian because we both are german, it would just not be 100% true. We share some culture in the country level but we don´t share subculture in the region level.

ZeaL.

United States5955 Posts

May 03 2013 13:29 GMT

#88

As an American, a few thoughts

-We do have differences by state but...
-the differences are more in the rural/urban divide
-ex: NYC vs rural NY, Portland vs everything outside portland, Atlanta vs Georgia
-on the east coast where states are generally smaller, identities are more regional than by state
-which isn't to say that east coast states don't have their weird quirks
-Alabamans are southerners with a weird obsession with "Roll Tide!"
-Louisiana has cajun flavored southerners
-Rhode Island are Massachusetts are both of the New England culture but have slightly different accents
etc.
-The differences in culture between California and Nevada are much smaller than the differences between even France and French speaking Switzerland
-But as a corollary, differences in ethnic diversity are much greater between CA and NV than any country I visited in Europe.

oneofthem

Cayman Islands24199 Posts

May 03 2013 13:31 GMT

#89

more regional than states based.

KrazyTrumpet

United States2520 Posts

May 03 2013 13:43 GMT

#90

Maybe not ALL states, but there are definitely many regions with different cultures. Hell, sometimes even one state may have very different cultures, just look at Virginia. Northern Virginia may as well be a completely separate entity from the rest of the state, which is largely rural.

Kimaker

United States2131 Posts

May 03 2013 13:46 GMT

#91

Urban areas tend to have more transient cultures than rural areas, so I'm only going to consider rural in this:

No. It's divided regionally. Internally, NY's in Western NY on the Pennsylvania border have more in common with the people in Pennsylvania than people in NY once you get out around the Finger Lakes.

I tend to think of the cultural similarities of any two areas being primarily dependent on two key factors:
The Ethnic make-up, and the geography. If those are similar, then the cultures are likely indiscernible.

TheFish7

United States2824 Posts

May 03 2013 13:48 GMT

#92

Yes the different states do have very different cultures. Hell, different boroughs in New York City have different cultures for that matter. Take a walk around Brooklyn and then take the subway 2 stops into Manhattan and you are in another world.

I have a perfect example. I work at a big corporation that has employees all over the country and I'm based out of Connecticut. The other day we had a conference call with some of our employees in West Virginia. One of the Virginians greeted my boss with a "Howdy, Ma'am!". This was a big mistake because my boss was very offended at being called "Ma'am". In West Virginia, this is a sign of respect but in Connecticut calling someone Ma'am is considered condescending, or implying that she is an old lady. Its a silly example, but if you go on a trip around the states you will find that in different places people eat differently, act differently, and speak differently, watch different TV shows etc. This is coming from a guy who lived in Europe for a semester and spent 6 months living in China, so I am well versed in how different cultures can be. Cultures in the U.S. are very different from state to state.

Euronyme

Sweden3804 Posts

May 03 2013 13:53 GMT

#93

Thing is, US states don't have much more defining culture than regions in other countries. Regions in Sweden have their own dialect, their own flags, their own history, their own cousine etc. Yes US states have their own culture, but not more so than administrative zones in other countries. National states are typically even more defined.

blizzind

United States642 Posts

May 03 2013 13:57 GMT

#94

Hell if I drive two hours south and remain in the same state, I feel like a foreigner. Different accent, traditions, etc.

TheFish7

United States2824 Posts

May 03 2013 13:59 GMT

#95

On May 03 2013 22:53 Euronyme wrote:
Thing is, US states don't have much more defining culture than regions in other countries. Regions in Sweden have their own dialect, their own flags, their own history, their own cousine etc. Yes US states have their own culture, but not more so than administrative zones in other countries. National states are typically even more defined.

This is silly. The dialect, flag, cuisine, and history are different and distinct from Boston to New York.

Asymmetric

Scotland1309 Posts

May 03 2013 14:01 GMT

#96

Culture is not a quantifiable value. Theirs no culture-o-meter you can stick in the street and give you a culture reading.

You can not have more or less of it, it simply is what it is, the societal norms, which will no doubt vary by region.

KwarK

United States44123 Posts

May 03 2013 14:04 GMT

#97

The US is much younger than Europe and has had unifying cultural factors for a greater part of its history. From the invention of films and radio to migration and the draft the formation of isolated cultural pockets has been limited. I believe this is different from the way towns in England developed their own dialects and subcultures over the centuries because the same conditions were not present for long enough. Looking at this at a state level perhaps misunderstands what people in Europe mean, I live in Liverpool (a medium sized city) and you can tell where people grew up and went to school in Liverpool by variations in the ccent. We're talking about pinpointing people's origin within a few miles.

YumYumGranola

Canada346 Posts

May 03 2013 14:06 GMT

#98

I'm sure most of the lack of understanding of local identity and culture between states is just due to general ignorance, and perhaps a bit of a misconception that because we all generally speak the same language it must be the same culture (completely ignoring all of the Spanish speaking areas of the US in our South, but just trying to make a basic point.) I totally understand it, I've been to both Italy and France and frankly I don't see that much different in the two cultures beyond the language they speak and the wines they prefer. I'm sure any natives of these countries wouldn't agree, an Italian might point to the vastly different cultures of Sicily and northern Italy and say making such a comparison is silly as there isn't one type of "Italian" to be compared to a "French" person. And they'd be right.

People sometimes forget how big the US is, and how small Western Europe is. I don't believe anybody who has spent even a little time in different parts of the US honestly believes it's all the same.

andrewlt

United States7702 Posts

May 03 2013 14:08 GMT

#99

There are different cultures but state lines are a very bad way of delineating them. State lines were drawn long before people settled down in many places in the US. The differences are mostly regional and centered around big cities. Highly populated states like California have a divide between Northern California and Southern California while many mountain states may share the same culture.

Different regions have huge differences in ethnic diversity as well. California, where I live, is around 40% Latino and 15% Asian already. That has a huge influence in local culture. We eat a lot of fusion type dishes here, for example.

Marimokkori

United States306 Posts

May 03 2013 14:12 GMT

#100

People say California is like another country for a reason

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