Bassett 1

Adrian Bassett

Lorie Jacobs 4/13/2016 11:50 AM

Comment [1]: Very nice format!

WRIT 1301.02
Ethnography Final Draft
March 29, 2016
Identifying Texans
With many subcultures, theres always a hint or identifiers that make the subculture
unique. Clothes, accents, attitudes, mannerisms, and even the way people walk can help identify
a person into a certain subculture. Attention to detail can help decipher what subculture(s) a
person may belong to. Texans are no exception. I started to conduct an experiment to see if
people could really identify Texans by some of these identifiers they might have. I observed
people passing by and looked for what identifiers they might have that would make them seem
like they were Texans. The certain identifiers were from what I gathered the typical Texan was
like in my profile and the blogs I found of Texans. . If they had the Texan identifiers, I would
ask them if they were really from Texas to see if my assumption was correct. I also asked both
groups if they identify themselves as Texans to see if they agreed with my findings.
Walk
Watching people pass by the first thing I see is their walk. Most people have a distinct
walk. Most members of subcultures carry themselves in different ways. When doing my profile,
I learned that Texans are a real proud subculture so I was looking for people who are proudly
walking. Backs up straight, kind of fast paced, and head up higher could be identifiers as a proud
walker. It was easy to identify these walkers as candidates of possible Texans. I noticed a few of
them when observing the people passing by.
Clothes

Lorie Jacobs 4/13/2016 12:03 PM

Comment [2]: Purpose could be clearer.
Why are you doing this? What is your
academic motive? Also why this group
and/or why this place?

Lorie Jacobs 4/13/2016 11:51 AM

Comment [3]: Unclear. Can you list or
describe these identifiers?
Lorie Jacobs 4/13/2016 12:01 PM
Deleted: Texans how would
Lorie Jacobs 4/13/2016 12:01 PM
Deleted: and Non-Texans how they would
identify

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Taking a closer look at the people passing by, the next thing I would notice was their
clothes. In the everyday life, it was harder to identify these people as Texans. The types of
clothes Texans are typically known for arent usually worn as everyday wear to some. Not many
people wore the typical Texan wear of vests, cowboy hats, khaki pants, and cowboy boots. The
observed may have chosen a more casual look for doing everyday things or running errands. I
was still able to identify some Texans more comfortable with wearing the typical Texans clothes
around town doing everyday things. I noticed most of the people wearing this type of clothing
were usually older males who were maybe more attached to their roots. After seeing the people
with typical Texan clothing, it fit these individuals further into the Texan subculture.
Voice
Voice was an important factor when identifying people passing by as possible Texans.
Also from my profile, I learned that Texans have a distinct way of talking. Many of them have a
southern accent. They may say words that are usually only used in the south such as yall and
aint. Yall and aint were the more common and easier words to pick up when noticing how
these people interacted with other people and when talking in casual conversations. Even though
they were easier to pick up with the some people. It wasnt as easy with everyone. Some people
may be more nationalized and dont really speak with that southern accent so it wasnt the
easiest identifier to find out if the people passing by where Texans or not. It was more apparent
in some people, but not all people. It couldnt be an identifier for Texans alone.
Attitude
The last thing that I picked up was their attitude. I learned the attitude of Texans from my
profile subject, Katie, and the Texan blogs I found. In the blogs, you could tell that they writers
had that distinct attitude that was similar to Katies attitude. I was looking for that proud kind of

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attitude. The attitude was half given off with their walk and the other half was given off when
listening them talk to others or having casual conversations with these people. After passing the
first three identifiers, these classified Texans had a common proud attitude to them. I noticed
their proudness not only when they walked, but when they talked.You can sense a kind of aura
with different people and they definitely gave off a more proud aura. When they talked, walked,
and how they portrayed themselves gave off that proud aura.
Results
After trying to identify the different people walking past me as Texans, I went up to ask
them if they considered themselves Texans. For the most part, I was right. You could identify
Texans from people you see everyday by using these identifiers. Of course, there was some
situations where they werent from Texas. The majority, however, was from Texas. Using the
identifiers of a proud walk, proud attitude, typical Texan clothes, and voice can be used to help
identify Texans. You cannot be sure though unless you ask the people themselves. My identifiers
did not work on everyone that fit the criteria. You cannot really classify any subculture on

Lorie Jacobs 4/13/2016 11:56 AM

Comment [4]: Can you give us some
numbers? About how often were you right
out of how many attempts? Also, where
were the non-Texans from? Were there
any common themes there, such as
Southern states or the Gulf Coast region?

identifiers alone. It would be best to not classify a person without asking the person first.
Comparison
After finding that for the most part the identifiers worked, I wanted to see how Texans
and Non-Texans felt about my findings. Did they agree or disagree? Do they feel like there
might be different identifiers that I did not cover? Are these identifiers only specific to Texans?
Did the Texans feel like they identified with these identifiers? Do Non-Texans use these
identifiers when trying to classify Texans? I wanted to see how other people felt about these
identifiers so I interviewed other people to see how they felt about these identifiers for Texans.
Would they agree or disagree with these Texan identifiers and my findings?

Lorie Jacobs 4/13/2016 11:57 AM

Comment [5]: I love this list of questions!

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Texans
There were two kind of reactions to the results. Some people thought they were pretty
accurate and agreed with them. Some people were sort of denying it. The people who agreed
seemed pretty impressed by my results and thought they pretty much described Texans. They
could see why I chose my identifiers and how they probably could lead to identifying Texans.
The agreeing ones seemed okay with the identifiers, which shows that they were proud of just
being a Texan and to be identified as a Texan. The ones who were denying kind of fit into that
proud attitude. They seemed like they were above or ashamed of the identifiers and didnt really
agree with them. I thought the attitude they gave off made them fit into the attitude identifier
even more because they were kind of too proud to admit that they could be identified by these
identifiers.

Lorie Jacobs 4/13/2016 11:58 AM

Comment [6]: An example would be
helpful here. Do you mean they were
embarrassed by the stereotype?

Non-Texans
Most of the Non-Texans agreed with the identifiers and my results. Most of them had a
concrete idea of what Texans are like and for the most part fit the identifiers perfectly. When
picturing a Texan walking around town in their head, the Non-Texans seemed to agree with my
findings. I asked them to picture a Texan walking down the street and their answers fit the
identifiers that I had told them after telling them to picture a Texan. I also had this concrete idea
of Texans when first coming here. I had a JROTC teacher who was from Texas. Every Friday,
when it wasnt uniform days, he wore the traditional cowboy hat, boots, and vest. He looked like
he stepped right out of a cowboy film. He had a very proud attitude and would always talk about
the ranch or his cowboy days. I thought Texas would just be a whole bunch of my JROTC
instructors walking around when I first came here. Its interesting to see that the identifiers I

Lorie Jacobs 4/13/2016 11:58 AM

Comment [7]: Hilarious. I wish you had
this on video.

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found are proven and most Texans are kind of a tamed down version of my JROTC instructor
except for the attitude. The attitudes are mostly the same.
Identifiers such as walk, clothes, voice, and attitude can narrow down these people
passing by as possible Texans. However, just observing and using these identifiers on people
passing by is not enough. The information gathered by observing these people do not provide
enough to categorize them as Texans. No one can simply know if someone belongs to a certain
subculture just by the observing them from afar. Its only enough to make an educated guess
about whether they are apart of a certain subculture. The best way to know if someone is a part
of a subculture is to ask them directly. Do not classify anyone into a particular subculture
without asking them first. Dont make those assumptions without asking first.

Lorie Jacobs 4/13/2016 12:00 PM

Comment [8]: I like these lessons at the
end. However, I am curious then, as to
why you wanted to see if you find common
identifiers in the first place? What purpose
do common identifiers serve? While you
are right that we shouldnt use stereotypes
to pass judgment, are they useful in other
ways?

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Works Cited
Ramirez, Katie. Personal Interview. 21 Feb 2016
Unnamed People Around Town. Observations. 14-18 Mar 2016.
Unnamed People. Personal Interview. 26 Mar 2016
Spencer, Elly. Texas Stereotypes: Truth or Myth? Odyssey. 2014 Web. 21 Mar 2016.
Garcia, Omar. Road Tripping Close to Home. Explore Texas. 2016. Web. 21 Mar 2016.
Werst, David. About Real Texas. Real Texas Blog. 2008. Web. 21 Mar. 2016