On a recent episode of Lost (aired Wednes. 4/5/06 "Dave"), heavyweighty Hispanic Hurley is so convinced that a good-looking woman wouldn't ever consider him romantically that he is driven instead to believe the whole island castaway adventure has been, continues to be, only in his head. Because of this cognitive dissonance--and the urgings of Dave, a supposed figment--he's just about to jump off a cliff. Luckily, the good-looking woman (Libby) talks him down, with a kiss. But, we later discover she was a mental patient with Hurley back in the day. He just doesn't know it yet. He's her dupe, we suppose; her attraction to him is a ruse. We should have known.

Because the media cannot, must not, represent fat people in love, not with one another (with the exception of Roseanne, 1988-1997) or with anyone else. Of course, in real life, overweight people often end up together by default. Mad TV has an answer for that: it does a recurring video dating service spoof that started with an intro showing two fat, white people holding hands, walking on the beach. The name of the service, sung in mockingly sweet tones? Lowered Expectations.

Occasionally, black women of size have been permitted romance on camera, and with men of normal weight. Queen Latifah's character (Kadijah) on Living Single (1993-98), had her share of romance, as did Kim Coles' Syn-Claire (who paired on the show, finally, with the handyman next door, Overton). Heavy people in popular narrative media are otherwise rarely, almost never, paired with those of normal size, unless the story specifically centers on realizing and praising inner beauty over outer appreances.

To quote Laura Fraser, who often writes about and serves as a media consultant regarding size, "On television, for the most part, fat people are as invisible as in fashion magazines. When fat people show up on TV, they aren’t usually serious people, but are either comics (the jolly fat person) or pathetic talkshow creatures whose lives are miserable because they can’t lose weight. They’re circus freaks to remind us that there but for the grace of Jenny Craig go I." To elaborate, fat men are used either as dancing fools or studies in incompetence in television commercials. White fat women don't exist in them, although a heavy black woman can represent the maternal, helping to sell Pinesol cleaner or diarrhea medicine. Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty has yet to show a seriously overweight woman; that the attractive women it does show are considered unconventional as models because they don't fit a young, fit standard of ideal beauty is saying something.

How much more unusual, then, to consider the heavy as a proper lead or object for the lead of a romance. There's not just cultural ignorance or avoidance, but resistance. That's why, years ago, I was struck by a movie I saw by accident in which a then-big Ricki Lake starred, Babycakes (1989). As Grace, a shy, white girl working in a funeral parlor, she becomes the love object of a blonde hunk. Of course, Hollywood later attempted something similar, if more pointed, with Shallow Hal (2001), giving us the sweet message in the end that love conquers all -- it's inner beauty that matters. More recently, Just Friends (2005) may be the fat, white man equivalent. We are asked to believe that the hunky Ryan Reynolds' character was once so fat his high school crush considered him "just a friend" -- now, good looking and successful -- he gets his revenge (and the girl).

As for the fat pregnant woman (who has, presumably, been the object of someone's romantic attentions in order to get that way), she exists in a null space. She inhabits a body that cannot exist in American visual culture: the fat could make her the target of a joke (usually voiced about how some guy got desperate enough or wore thick enough beer goggles to sleep with a "fat chick," but the pregnancy temporarily suspends it).

Let's just say that if the virtue of recognizing inner beauty really mattered to our culture, we'd see such romances in media as a matter of course, rather than a moralizing exception. We might even live them, if we weren't purely biologically motivated otherwise. However, in the absence of fantasy, we might have reality instead, and so come to deal with it more straightforwardly. Heavy (1995) is the most honest, and painful, of romantic movies about a large man's unrequited love.

The Library of Congress currently offers an online exhibit on the literary Midwest (from their series Language of the Land: Journeys into Literary America) The exhibit pairs some photos with excerpts from the works of some of our more gifted and famous sons and daughters.

I discovered the Encyclopedia of the Midwest site only after I finished my three posts on Midwestern Culture. The site's contents are thin, really presenting a case for and detailing the intended contents of a new print edition, which was due out in 2005 (an earlier edition from Facts on File was published in 1989). The site is compliments of Institute for Collaborative Research and Public Humanities (ICRPH). BTW, the City of Cleveland also has its own encyclopedia, and a very good one at that.

Who knew there was so much to say about the Midwest? Here's still more to know:

For Midwestern representations in art: See Owen Mundy's Re-discovering Indiana photography series. Also, see this exhibit on the painting of Grant Wood. As another artistic representation of the Midwest, listen to John Mellencamp's Scarecrow album (1985). Still another: Toni Morrison (the Nobel Prize winning writer) is from Lorain, Ohio; her novel The Bluest Eye is set in a small Midwestern town.

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For an example news story that brings together some quintessential aspects of the Midwest experience (sports, rockabilly, and tornadoes), see this excerpt from today's AP wire: "Severe thunderstorms also struck Indianapolis as thousands of fans departed a free John Mellencamp concert that was part of the NCAA’s Final Four weekend. Concertgoers scrambled for cover as tornado sirens sounded and sheets of heavy rain lashed the sidewalks and streets, according to television reports."

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1) Higher Education: Ohio, at least by Ohians, is sometimes called "the education state." That's because, as I was growing up, we claimed that Ohio had more colleges and universities than any other state. It does seem that as you drive through Ohio, and many areas of the Midwest, you can't help bumping into a college at nearly every other highway exit.

Although the Midwest can't claim an Ivy League institution, we do have many fine schools, including the publics--The Ohio State University, Miami University, Indiana University, Purdue University, Ball State University, University of Wisconsin, Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, the University of Kansas, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, Wayne State University, and University of Missouri--and the privates--University of Notre Dame, Northwestern University, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Chicago (which, per the Wiki, leads US universities in Nobel Prizes, second in the world only to Cambridge), and a cluster of liberal arts schools: Marquette University, Valparaiso University, the University of Evansville, Oberlin College, Carleton College, St. Olaf College, Macalester College, Gustavus Adolphus College, DePauw University, Grinnell College, Kalamazoo College, Kenyon College, Knox College, Ohio Wesleyan University, Denison University, Hiram College, Wabash College, The College of Wooster, and Earlham College.

We can't have all these colleges and not also have a well-educated and culturally aware population. It's not all about college sports, either, although, as I mentioned in an earlier post, Midwesterners love them, especially the Big 10 Conference (nine out of ten of which schools are in the Midwest).

We mainly send our kids to college to prepare for careers, rather than to immerse themselves in the humanities or arts. If that happens, we don't mind too much, unless they pick up radical ideas. Then, we grit our teeth and hope they'll grow out of them. They ought to settle in a subdivision or suburb, marry, have some kids, and hold down a decent job. They ought to vacation at Disney World in Florida at least once or twice while the kids are young. They ought to spend their weekends at the mall or putt-putt golf or the movies or the swimming pool or the park or the game or working on the house or yard.


2) Reading: Romances are fine reading for women, thrillers for women and some men, science fiction and the like for nerds and nerdettes, but the closest many of us get to a good read is Time magazine or the Readers Digest or the internet. Truth is, most of us have more cookbooks in the house than any other kind of book, and yet bookstores and coffee shops are everywhere. Our publishing houses are technical and professional / industrial. we're a practical people when it comes to print. We do have a fine tradition in newspaper journalism, however. Where else would Mark Twain have honed his wit?

At the same time, however, the Midwest boasts a certain percentage of highly literate citizens. For example, the Midwest continues to have a strong tradition in poetry, including sponsoring organizations, fine reviews, and practicing poets. Many cities have an active poetry reading scene. It's also common for aspiring writers in other genres, especially fiction and speculative fiction in particular, to meet and work together toward publication. The Clarion Writers Workshop East (currently held at Michigan State U each summer, but now independently funded through a foundation) is an example of such a collaborative writerly tradition in the Midwest. And, many universities have strong MFA programs, most notably the famous Iowa Writers' Workshop.


3) High Culture: Midwesterners regularly attend museums, especially natural history and art museums (Chicago has the famous Field). The Cleveland Museum of Art is world-renowned, and Chicago has its fair share of fine arts institutions (including the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art). We also have our share of smaller museums devoted to special interests, including ethnic heritage centers, automobile and railroad displays, and Native American history centers (Ohio and Indiana boast famous mounds).

Zoos are another popular attraction, and occur with surprising frequency, even in smaller towns. For example, Chicago boasts two large zoos (Lincoln Park and Brookfield) and a very fine aquarium (the Shedd), but not far to the south, Central Illinois also has zoos in Springfield, Decatur, Bloomington-Normal, and Peoria (which also has a state wildlife park, in addition to a zoo). St. Louis also hosts one of the world's best zoos, and the one in Indianapolis is delightful as well (with its new, underwater dolphin encounter). Of course, we're not going to zoos to study animals, or anything high-falutin' like that. We're going to encounter the cute and say over and over to our kids, "Hey, look at that. No, see, over there -- that."

The Midwest may not have much of a ballet scene, but the Cleveland Orchestra is well supported and famous, and the Cleveland theater scene has a rich tradition that includes opera as well as drama. Chicago has its own opera theater, several theater companies, and even its own comedy scene in Second City. Other major Midwestern cities have similar cultural institutions; we consider this the norm.

Of course, popular musical venues throughout the Midwest carry the latest touring concerts of the day, but rock will probably always have a strong outlet here, from the local bar scene to the stadium and commercial center gigs. It's common for bookstores and bars to carry a variety of local acts; grassroots musicianship is a major Midwestern cultural phenomenon.


4) Antiquing, Garage Saling, and Flea Marketing: Midwesterners tend to love a good deal, especially a steal, and this fuels our passion for garage saling, its big market cousin the flea market, and the more upscale antiquing. We'll pick through other people's used junk until our fingers are sore. Antique markets are common throughout the Midwest, and almost every small town has a storefront or home devoted to antiques. Malls regularly feature antique shows, and so do convention centers. Antique auctions, in barns and warehouses, are still held regularly in some locations. Flea markets of size often appear at fairgrounds, too. And, in the summer months, garage sales are ubiquitous, selling a range of household goods. We pick through old junk so often, we've turned the associated activities into verbs.


5) The Great Outdoors: Many traditional Midwestern men continue to hunt game (deer and small animals, mostly, with the occasional bear thrown in for good measure; wild turkeys also become favorite targets come autumn). They take trips up into the mountains or out into the woods for a few days at a stretch. And, as a result, many a Midwestern man of this sort has a gun collection, and gun and knife shows are still popular here.

Men, as well as families, also take regular fishing trips, and fishing is also common at small rivers, lakes, and ponds, even in residential neighborhoods (as long as they're stocked). Most fishing for sport is catch and release, although those who fish larger bodies of water or who are camping at the time will keep and eat what they catch. Camping remains a favorite pastime in the Midwest, too, especially camping by RV. RV parks dot the rural portions of our states, and youth groups regularly take advantage of camps in spring, summer, and fall. Call it our frontier heritage, if you will.

If men hunt, women craft and cook (baking sweet treats, especially, is big). Crafting takes many forms, from quilting and knitting, to painting wood whatnots, to fashioning furnishings for the home.


6) Politeness: When this series of cultural analyses began, I mentioned a conversation I had with a Vietnamese professor in which he expressed frustration over "bland" American culture, by which he meant in part, so he explained, our tendency not to participate in bold debate with one another in casual conversation. We were too "politically correct." I explained to him that our reluctance, at least here in the Midwest, was not necessarily due to political correctness, but to our sense of what is polite and also of what we prefer to discuss with intimates and non-intimates. We're trained from childhood in the Midwest to say 'please' and 'thank you,' show respect for our elders, take our turn in line -- as well as to avoid raising controversial topics of conversation among non-intimates.

We often joke about not discussing politics or religion in mixed company, by which we mean non-intimates. Amongst family or friends who presumably agree with our private views, we're often quite free in making remarks, even pointed and non-politically correct ones. We just prefer not to spoil the peace when we can help it. That's a firm Midwestern value. That smiling, friendly Midwestern face will follow a visitor right to the door, then turn around to an intimate and say, "Now, wasn't he a jackass?"


7) Midwestern Weather: The joke goes, if you don't like the weather, wait a minute and it'll change. A portion of the Midwest is located on Tornado Alley; it's our most common form of natural disaster around here, next to usually minor flooding (running in season from late spring to early summer). We also get severe thunderstorms and, in the winter, heavy snows and blizzards (especially in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and the snow belt of Northeastern Ohio). Humidity near the Great Lakes and major rivers (Ohio, Mississippi) runs high, making the summers uncomfortable (temperatures range up into the 80s and 90s often in late summer). Our best weather is from late April through early July and late September through early November.

Most Midwesterners prefer four seasons, although plenty complain of the winters and swear they'll move South or West when they retire. We do get lovely leaf changes, even though we're not a tourist destination for them as New England is. And, the cold weather keeps the insect population down, which we value. Then, too, we pride ourselves on our ability to drive and thrive in inclement weather. There's more of that pioneering spirit; it's not quite gone from us yet.

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Here, I turn again to quote the entire post of another blogger, demyngeiv, whose post on "Midwestern Life" encapsulates many Midwestern attitudes about our own identity and how that matches up with the bigger US picture in politics and culture:

"Ever watch a train go through a small town? In the Midwest grain elevators are often the only reason why trains stop, and stop only during peek periods of the year to load freshly harvested corn or beans into their cars then ignore the small towns for another year. It's like this for politics.

During election years, we in the Midwest are inundated with political figures that travel to the center of the country. They come here trying to pass themselves off as understanding the concerns of "average" Americans. Truth is none of them do. They fly into an airport, get escorted through security. Ride in nice limousines to their campaign stop and press a few hands of "real American." If they are lucky someone will capture an image of them caring about the Midwest. But like that train which only stops when there is a need, they too stop only when it is important to appear to care.

Of course those living on the coasts enjoy making fun of those unlucky enough to be "trapped" in the Midwest as their jets fly over head. For these people we are only an inconvenience for them because it makes the flight between Los Angeles and New York so long. Sorry, but perhaps you should think about getting out of the clouds once in a while and explore the beauty of a country you have never seen outside of your airplane window as you suck down you 5th in-flight cocktail. Sadly, the East and West coasts assume they hold the intellectual license for the country. This is not true. But because the Midwest for the most part doesn't cater to a jet set social group, we are largely ignored. Which is fine, it allows us to continue to live a life rich in meaning and long in purpose. What is wrong, is that we in the Midwest are forced to live with the creation of laws that were constructed for the chaos of the coasts and thus don't work for the serenity of the Midwest. As much as New York City wishes to believe it is the center of the world is not the center. As much as Hollywood desires to be seen as the heart of the nation, its cold heart lacks the humanity to become the heart of our nation. We, who live in the Heartland, hold the heart of the Nation.

I have sat and watched trains run through the Midwest. They speed through the small towns slowing only enough to avoid any fines; they blow their horns as they rush through the farm comminutes as if to say to them, "you are not worth my stopping". Run long as fast. Don't worry about those of us in the Midwest. We will be here long after the roar of your engines fade from our memories Don't worry about us, we will be here long after we wipe our hands after touching the politicians' hands.

Those of us who are blessed to live in the Midwest understand what those who see us only as mid-flight flush are blinded by their self-absorbed, over-inflated image of themselves and their lives. We have come to accept that drought relief isn't a political stance politicians are willing make as they hand out blank checks to other communities for natural disaster relief. We have grown to expect outside politicians to come in and lie us about how they support Origin of Country Labeling, and then head back to Washington and vote against it. We have come to expect our lives to be meaningless to the outside the Midwest except during the election year.

Living in the Midwest is a blessing. We live here because the trains run through our small towns rarely stopping and the planes carrying the jet-set crowd fly over our communities largely ignoring us and largely taking their cargo of over-inflated egos with them. We live here because we are allowed to live our lives without the unneeded influence from the coasts telling us what is needed to be happy, when in reality we already have the secret to happiness."

As I mentioned in my original post on American Culture, regional identifications matter to most Americans.

We are roughly divided into the following regions: Midwest, Plantation South (Central Virginia, Eastern and Central North Carolina, Eastern and Central South Carolina, Eastern and Central Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Central and Western Tennessee, Central and Western Kentucky, Northern and Central Florida), Appalachian South (West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Tennessee, Western North Carolina, Western Virginia and Northern Georgia), Southwest (Southwest Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Southern Utah, Southern Colorado and Southern California), West (Northern Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Eastern Wyoming and Eastern Colorado), Rocky Mountain and Great Basin (Idaho, Utah, Western Wyoming, Western Colorado and Nevada), Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon and Alaska), the Mid-Atlantic (New York State, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Northern Delaware, Central Maryland and Washington, D.C.), New England (Maine, Vermont, Seattle, St. Louis, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut), South Florida and the American Caribbean (Southern Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands). As of 2005, the Midwest had a population of roughly 64.5 million.

Major US cities also sometimes have their own subregional identities; this is especially true of NYC (and even its boroughs), LA, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Las Vegas, Honolulu, Detroit, Buffalo, Atlanta, Louisville, San Francisco, Washington DC (beltway versus the city proper), Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Boston, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Austin, Houston, Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans (changing, of course), and Miami. Per the 2000 census, the top 15 Midwestern cities by population were:


"1. Chicago, Illinois; 2896016
2. Detroit, Michigan; 951270
3. Indianapolis, Indiana; 781864
4. Columbus, Ohio; 711265
5. Milwaukee, Wisconsin; 596974
6. Cleveland, Ohio; 477472
7. Kansas City, Missouri; 441545
8. Omaha, Nebraska; 391019
9. Minneapolis, Minnesota; 382747
10. Wichita, Kansas; 351150
11. St. Louis, Missouri; 348189
12. Cincinnati, Ohio; 331285
13. Toledo, Ohio; 313782
14. St. Paul, Minnesota; 286840
15. Lincoln, Nebraska; 225638" (Wiki)

Then, too, states may be known for certain sub-American cultural identities. For example, California has recently begun a commercial campaign that runs through a series of adjectives Americans typically associate with the state, in complimentary forms, of course.

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1) Character: Midwesterners are often described as hard-working, patriotic, law and order, religious, family-oriented, friendly, and conservative. We're red-staters, for the most part, even when our state has a significant blue spot or two (see below). I've commented more than once on driving through Indiana that three kinds of establishments pop up with notable frequency: churches, liquor stores / bars, and steak houses. Oh, we have our burnouts and methlabs and all the rest. But, we're talking about tendencies, and myths about them in the popular imagination.

The exceptions to these Midwestern truisms are: Unless you go to the cities or towns in which significant minority or union-based populations reside. These tend to be more Democratic (or left leaning) than Republican. Also mainly in the cities are more liberal-tending groups of educated and upwardly mobile people, from baby boomers and down in age.

Here's what the Wiki has to say: "Midwesterners are alternately viewed as open, friendly, and straightforward, or sometimes stereotyped as unsophisticated and stubborn. Factors that probably affected the shaping of Midwest values include the religious heritage of the abolitionist, pro-education Congregationalists to the stalwart Calvinist heritage of the Midwestern Protestants, as well as the agricultural values inculcated by the hardy pioneers who settled the area. The Midwest remains a melting pot of Protestantism and Calvinism, mistrustful of authority and power...The rural heritage of the land in the Midwest remains widely held, even if industrialization and suburbanization have overtaken the states in the original Northwest Territory. Given the rural, antebellum associations with the Midwest, further rural states like Kansas have become icons of Midwesternism, most directly with the 1939 film, the Wizard of Oz...Midwestern politics tends to be cautious, but the caution is sometimes peppered with protest, especially in minority communities or those associated with agrarian, labor or populist roots."

I'm also going to quote a fellow blogger, and an Iowan, Renee the Blonde Librarian on this question of Midwestern character: "My mom sent me an anniversary card with Barbie and Ken spoofing Grant Wood’s famous painting 'American Gothic.' 'American Gothic” has been interpreted as a satire “on the intolerance and rigidity that the insular nature of rural life can produce' and 'the narrow-mindedness and repression that has been said to characterize Midwestern culture.' Wood denied both of these interpretations, saying that in actuality it represented “the Puritan ethic and virtues that he believed dignified the Midwestern character.' // But no matter how the painting is interpreted Midwestern stereotypes surface. Being from Iowa, which is usually seen as the core of the Midwest, I am quite familiar with the stereotypes of farm life, agricultural heritage, small towns, physical and cultural homogeneity, and pastoral and traditional values. // As all stereotypes, those about the Midwest have some basis in fact. For example, I am from a small town where society revolves around the farm. It is often said (though I don’t think ever verified by census) that there are more pigs than people in Iowa and if you entertain the idea of becoming a vegetarian you are accused of hurting the economy. // As for Midwesterners being dignified, have you ever seen the crowd at a Green Bay Packers game? How can you call people dignified who wear (fake) cheese on their heads and watch football in an outdoor stadium during a blizzard bare-chested? // As a general rule, most Midwesterners are also hospitable, down to earth, reliable, peaceful, considerate, cheerful, and easy-going. In fact, when I think about the Midwesterners I know, I think maybe the smiling Barbie-version of “American Gothic” is more representative than the sullen original."

Another Midwestern internet comment writer, Boggles (aka T. M. Kane), had this to say about a divide in Northern and Southern Midwestern cultures, with which I tend to agree: "Midwestern culture is split in two. There is the I-70 corridor (Basically 150 miles North and South of I-70 goin west from Wheeling W.Va. through to Kansas City) and the Great Lakes Basin which is everything north of the parallel that runs through Kankakee Illinois (where George Will comes from by the way). // The I-70 midwest is intensively German settle[d] and intensively conservative and not all that open to new ideas. The Great lakes was settled by Germans too, but there was a lot more Irish, Polish and Slavic populations thrown into the mix and as a result the northern Midwest is alot more open, a lot more liberal and a lot more progressive - in comparison to the southern midwest. // I was born in Chicago of German heritage, but raised in St. Louis, and let me tell you there is a big difference in what goes on in Northern Illinois than in southern. My mother and father did the polka like twinkle toes, in St. Louis they never even heard of it."


2) Food: American regions may be known by their cuisines. The Midwest is sometimes referred to as "America's breadbasket," and is as famous for beef and pork processing as it is for grains. However, I've often joked that the defining Midwestern ingredient is mayonnaise. You'd be hard pressed to go to a potluck, church buffet, picnic, or holiday sitting without seeing a number of mayonnaise heavy dishes, including macaroni salad, Waldorf salad, and potato salad. Jello, often with embedded fruit and / or shredded carrots is popular. So, too, are corn dishes (corn bread, corn pudding, corn on the cob, succotash -- which is corn mixed with lima beans, creamed corn). Meatballs are likely to appear, especially little sweetish ones with barbeque or brown sauce. Meatloaf is a loved dish and, of course, so is creamy coleslaw (more mayonnaise). We also love our pork chops and barbecue (St. Louis style -- wet).

European ethnic specialties still often make an appearance, including pirogues, lasagna, many types of German and Polish sausage. Farm cooking is still central to the cuisine, including scalloped potatoes and ham. Southern soul food has had its influence, too, with Southern fried chicken, collard greens, sweet potato pie, macaroni and cheese, and the like being popular among white and black families (although white families often substitute pumpkin, and eat the turnips rather than their greens).

Mashed potatoes, egg and potato bread, and other white foods are ubiquitous. Northerners, and Midwesterners in particular, tend to be heavy. We prefer beer over wine, as a rule (although among the high tone and educated, this varies). Velveeta is a major cheese, although Wisconsin rounds out the cheese table with creamy, chunky, if bland, favorites.

Certain Midwestern towns and surrounding regions have their own specialties. For example, in Cleveland, expect the old buttercream frosting Hough’s bakeries used to sell. In Cincinnati, there's a special chili inspired by the Greeks (served on spaghetti, with cheddar cheese and onions). In Green Bay, there're pasties, which is a kind of hand-held meat pie. In Chicago, there's deep-dish pizza pie, Italian beef, and a hotdog with all manner of nonsense on it, including small peppers and bright green relish. For lunch there's peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches for kids especially -- but we all like it. In Indiana, there's pork chop sandwiches (common even at local Illinois football games). For dessert, expect brownies, chocolate chip or oatmeal and raisin or sugar or peanutbutter cookies, cup cakes, ice cream (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, butter pecan, chocolate chip were the traditional flavors), and pie (especially apple, cherry, peach, pecan, pumpkin in season -- with the occasional rhubarb and strawberry, blackberry, or elderberry).

With Hispanic immigration / population growth, there are more and more Mexican restaurants in the Midwest. Chinese immigrants, although fewer in number have ensured that Chinese restaurants are ubiquitous, too. Both kinds tend to offer Americanized forms of those national cuisines, adapted to Midwestern tastes. The Mexican food is heavy on flour tortillas, mild salsa, cheese (cheddar is more common than anything authentic, white, or fresh), and heavily spiced meat. Complex sauces aren't offered, and fresh vegetables only appear with fajitas, mashed into guacamole, or sprinkled on as shredded lettuce, tomato, and yellow onion. Chinese restaurants are likewise predictable, offering wonton, sweet and sour, or egg drop soup. Egg rolls are fried cabbage tubes with meat shreds. Entrees tend to be thickly sauced mixtures of celery, green pepper, onion, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, bokchoi, carrot slices and some form of velveted meat: chicken, pork, beef, and sometimes shrimp. Rice is fried (often mixed with frozen peas and square carrot dice) or steamed.

Of course, fast food, which includes burgers and pizza, form a main staple of the Midwestern diet. So do simple salads, yogurt, and breakfast cereal. Coffee, pop (not soda), milkshakes, milk (white and chocolate), and now smoothies are popular drinks. Some of us drink hot tea, and almost all of us prefer our iced tea unsweet (we'll add sweetening if we want it). At fairs, we're crazy for elephant ears, fresh squeezed lemonade, shoestring French fries with malt vinegar, corn dogs, and Italian sausage sandwiches piled high with sautéed peppers and onions on grilled hoagie buns. We do our fair share of candied and caramel apples, candy corn, and cotton candy, too.


3) Fairs: The county fair is still big in the Midwest. Local fairs, some of which are county and some of which are organized around a local theme like broom corn or cheese, include games of chance for winning stuffed animals (like throwing baseballs to knock down milk cans), cheap merchants (for typical things like trashy jewelry), food trailers (see above), and amusement rides (adult and child-size). County fairs also include livestock shows, demolition derbies, and grandstand concerts, as well as competition ribbons for animal raising, collections, crafts, flower arrangements, and large vegetables. At the larger fairs, butter sculptures, petting zoos, fresh milk milkshakes (that is, made with milk drawn directly on the premises), tractor pulls, farm equipment booths and demonstrations, and betting on cow drops (that's betting where a cow will lay manure on a numbered grid) are sometimes extra features.


4) Shared Pastimes: Grass and the Lottery: In my last post, I talked about the diversity of Midwestern worship, especially the tendency toward a wide number of Christian denominations. I should have mentioned the one faith that binds most of us together: Grass. Midwestern homeowners are devoted, wholly and religiously, to maintaining weed-free, edged greens around their homes. We love it more than bundt cake, and nearly as much as football. The lottery takes an edge on grass -- but that's legalized gambling and you just can't expect the pride of grass (which proves you're at least as good as your neighbors, if not better than some) to complete with the dream of getting rich, telling the boss to "take this job and shove it," and living on a lawn chair into old age. Okay, and we might get up to golf (if we're upper-middle class) or bowl; bowling's still in fashion, especially among blue-collar and older folks.


5) More Pastimes: In addition to grass, we're devoted to home improving (we're keeping Lowes and Home Depot in business), as well as cars. We're not nearly as devoted to our garden as the English, but we love to be mobile in style. For some, that means a tricked-out ride, but they're usually young and urban or suburban (not rural). For most, that means a good wash perpetually, but especially whenever the weather warms up. The first wash after winter salt is required. Expect long lines at the autowash.

One more word about Midwestern car culture: Some of us are crazy for it. NASCAR has as devoted a following here as it does in the Southeast. What's more, two major races are held in the Midwest: the Indianapolis 500 and, more recently, the Cleveland Grand Prix. Major car manufacturers used to succeed in the Midwest (before we became synonymous with the post-industrial, manufacturing-bust 'Rust Belt'), and as a result Detroit was the other pole of our car-culture universe. Many Midwesterners restore old cars, and there are cruising societies that show them off on Saturday nights in fair weather. They've come to be rivaled by motorcycle clubs, which even middle-class folks join these days (it's not all just bikers anymore). Car and boat shows are still popular, too. In more rural areas of the Midwest, restoring antique tractors is popular, and yes, there are also shows that feature them (when we're not gawking at model railroads, remote controlled airplanes and cars, and whatever else we take a fancy to).


6) Hicks from the Sticks? We're as wired up and tuned in as other Americans. Our farmers have cell phones and dish tv. Flyover country, hmph. We don't like to be thought of as hicks, out of style, or out of touch. We won't believe it of ourselves. But we do accept, quietly, that we're not the trend setters here, either. We look to New York and LA for that -- although we're likely to think they're fools for living too fast or putting on airs. We often call the nearest big town "town" or "the city." Unless a Midwesterner lives in "town" or "the city," she/he accepts that sort of marginal, regional existence, and doesn't mind it, unless she/he is young and hoping to move away someday. Almost all of us do wish that when young, although many of us don't go through with it, or not permanently.


7) Plugged In: We watch TV when we eat, sleep, study, make love -- you name it. If we're home, the tv is on. Unless we're on the internet, that is. Or walking, driving, or shopping -- in which case, we're probably listening to music through headphones or earbuds, or on the car stereo. Or male, in between our preteens and thirties, and staring at videogames until our eyes bleed (ideally with the music cranked). Like most Americans, we're media junkies. But nothing yet rivals our love affair with TV. When Homer Simpson, who supposedly lives in the Midwest, waxes poetic about TV and its powers of love and truth, he's speaking for us, although most of us are smart enough to take that ironically and distrust big business just as much as we do the government, local somewhat, state a bit more, and federal for damn sure.


8) Neutral Accent: Middle and upper class Midwesterners (although we don't usually identify ourselves by any class other than middle, no matter where we fall income and education wise) believe we speak perfectly unaccented English. Everyone else has an accent. We will acknowledge the idiomatic regional phrase. The wolf's at the door, we might say, when trouble's brewing (especially the too-many-bills kind). Or, How ya doin'? Or, Hey. Everyone speaks like that, right?

Here's what the Wiki has to say on the subject: "The accents of the region are generally distinct from those of the American Northeast and South. They are considered by many to be "standard" American English (known as General American or Standard Midwestern) and are preferred by many national radio and television broadcasters. Prominent broadcast personalities - such as Walter Cronkite, Johnny Carson, Tom Brokaw, John Madden and Casey Kasem - came from this region and so influenced this perception. In addition, a National Geographic magazine article (11/98) attributed the high number of telemarketing firms in Omaha, Nebraska to the "neutral accents" of the area's inhabitants. However, in some regions, particularly the farther North into the Upper Midwest one goes, a definite accent is detectable, usually reflecting the heritage of the area. For example, Minnesota and Wisconsin both have a strong Scandinavian accent, which intensifies the farther north one goes. Parts of Michigan have noticeable Dutch-flavored accents. Also, residents of Chicago are recognized to have their own distinctive nasal accent which adds to the uniqueness of the city. There is a similar accent in parts of Michigan, Cleveland, and Western New York State. Arguably, this may have been [derived] from heavy Eastern European influences in the Great Lakes Region."

For a more technical discussion of Midwestern dialect, see here (authored by Matthew J. Gordon, assistant professor of English at the University of Missouri - Columbia).

Some time ago, I set out to describe, as dispassionately as possible, essential, definitional elements of American Culture. I also said I would move on to Midwestern Culture. For those not familiar with US regional divisions, the Midwest is comprised of the following north-central states: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan (the old Northwest Territory). However, Americans themselves often contest what other states count as Midwestern.

Sometimes also added are Missouri; Iowa; Kansas; Minnesota; Nebraska; and the Dakotas, North and South. I'll own that, growing up in the Midwest, I didn't associate these other states with the region under that name. The old Northwestern Territories, bounded by the Great Lakes and the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys are sometimes also called the "heart of the Midwest," or the "Heartland." We do not like being referred to by West and East Coast dwellers as "flyover country."

The states bordering the Great Lakes are also referred to as the Great Lakes States, which are nearly synonymous with the Midwest (except for New York, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania). Although Pennsylvania is sometimes added in as a Midwestern state, most Midwesterners think of it as northeastern. Some people in Kentucky also prefer to be called Midwestern, although most Midwesterners are likely to think of Kentucky as southern, despite the border slide of Cincinnati into that state.

So, to be certain of my accurate characterization, I'll be limiting my remarks to the Heartland, in which I've traveled extensively and lived all my life. For the record, I'm white, not religiously associated except with secular Buddhism, and from Ohio but living in Illinois.

This entry and the two which follow carry the same caveat as early entries on American Culture: they are necessarily generalized, reductive, and subject to change. My impressions may, nevertheless, be inaccurate. I have not looked up the facts. Take this, then, as the example of a native impression.

__________


1) Racial and Ethnic Identities: White Midwesterners often divide themselves into two groups: Those who identify strongly with European descent and those who describe themselves as "country." The immigrant-identified whites pejoratively describe the country-identified whites as "rural," "Appalachian," and / or, if also low-income, "White trash." (This, despite the fact that country people are also immigrant-descendents, from many of the same European groups and during the same historical waves, with some variation.)

Immigrant-identified whites are likely to refer to themselves by terms such as "German-American," "Irish-American," and so on. On meeting, Midwesterners of this group are still likely to rattle through their groups of European descent ("I'm Irish, German, and English," for example). Historically, certain white-European immigrant groups were discriminated against, especially the Irish and Italians. This is no longer the case.

Jewish people are regularly also considered white and marked off only through their religious practice; they are often not considered a separate ethnicity.

Hispanics, although white, are likely to be considered a separate race if identified, as are Blacks, Asians, and Native Americans. Of course, these categories of perceived racial and ethnic separation are problematic, as many people in the Midwest share mixed heritages.

Black Americans are considered a separate race simply by darkened skin (and associated features of face, hair), although culturally Midwestern tend to divide blacks by class-inflected culture, as they do whites. They are likely to describe a black acquaintance (even within the black community) as "middle class" or "inner city." There are more pejorative terms, including "ghetto," but I won't repeat the others here. Historically, racial tensions in the Midwest, not only in cities, but also in small towns, ran high. Speech and dress patterns are often used to separate the two groups.

Although there continue to be instances of individual racism on both sides of the racial divide, these incidents tend to be less frequent and more unpredictable than in the past. It is usually only openly expressed between people of the same race when they are certain their hearers are receptive; they can no longer assume that all other whites, for instance, are receptive. Interracial romantic coupling, between blacks and whites as well as other races, is more common than ever before, holding promise for increased future integration.

This is not to underplay incidents of racism in the Midwest, many of which I've encountered and heard about in my lifetime. I've witnessed white youths in Little Italy, Cleveland, attacking the slowed cars of blacks in heavy traffic, as their drivers were going home from work. I've been attacked by a large group of black girls, as I was walking home from high school and they were walking home from junior high school; the girls shouted racial epithets at me and sought me out several times over as many weeks. I've heard a landlord (from whom I was renting, unfortunately) say she had no intention of renting to foreigners. I heard of a cross being burned on the lawn of a middle-class black family who moved to a rural area of Lake County, Ohio (a white friend of mine was dating the son). However, we shouldn't forget that, "from Buffalo to Cincinnati, the middle-eastern U.S. is the heart of the historic Underground Railroad" (Wiki) or that Cleveland elected the first black mayor (Stokes) of any major US city.

Historically, many ethnic neighborhoods divided Midwestern cities and towns, and certain neighborhoods were exclusive to particular races. This is changing across the Midwest, as middle-income neighborhoods are increasingly integrated along with poor, and old ethnic neighborhoods give way to new immigration waves and new income distribution patterns (for example, as old ethnic neighborhoods or towns decay, lower-income populations -- some of which are mixed-- overtake them, with the exception of those few old neighborhoods or towns targeted for urban renewal).

The apparently set ethnic and racial divides I describe here are unstable, however. It is not uncommon, for example, to learn on further conversation that Midwestern blacks have white European ancestry (German is the most common) or that Midwestern European-identified whites claim Native American bloodlines, such as Cherokee.

Now, let's hear from the Wiki on the African American population in particular, which is an important demographic group and constituency, especially in the northern and urban Midwest: "Due to 20th-century African American migration from the South, a large African American urban population lives in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, Columbus, Indianapolis, Kansas City, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Toledo, Dayton, and other cities. The combination of industry and cultures, Jazz, Blues, and Rock and Roll, led to an outpouring of musical creativity in the 20th century in the Midwest, including new music like the Motown Sound and techno from Detroit and house music from the south side of Chicago. Rock and Roll music was first identified as a new genre by a Cleveland radio DJ, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is now located in Cleveland."


2) Religious Identity: Many Midwesterners are secularly identified. They are broadly Christian, in the sense of having been raised in that tradition and celebrating its holidays and conforming to its rituals of marriage, burial, and so on. However, they rarely or never attend church and might describe passive belief or agnosticism if questioned closely.

Yet, a solid segment of Midwesterners are devoted Christians, although the number and variety of Christian denominations is profound. Methodist, Lutheran (especially among German-immigrant descendents, which is the biggest European-immigrant US demographic, historically), Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Catholic (especially among Italian, Irish, and German immigrant-descendents and Hispanics) denominations are widespread. Catholic private schools are regularly seen as a better alternative to public schools, and are sometimes attended by non-Catholics for this reason. For church-attending Midwesterners, church tends to serve as a major social network.

The Midwest also includes a smattering of other Christian faiths, including Baptist (nowhere near as prevalent as in the South), Quaker, Seven-Day Adventist, Mormon, and Jehovah's Witness (which is most common among African Americans). Of course, synagogues, mosques, and other places of religious worship (Buddhist, etc.) are located throughout the Midwest, and the populations they serve are not insignificant in number.

These are my impressions, having grown up in the Cleveland area. Now, for some more generalized Midwestern facts, the Wiki: "Catholicism is the largest religious denomination in the Midwest, varying between 19 and 29% of the state populations. Baptists compose 14% of the populations of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, up to 22% in Missouri and down to 5% in Minnesota. Lutherans peak at 22-24% in Wisconsin and Minnesota, reflecting the Scandinavian and German heritage of those states. Pentacostal and charismatic denominations have few adherents in the Midwest, ranging between 1 and 7%. Judaism and Islam are each practiced by 1% or less of the population. Those with no religious affiliation make up 13-16% of the Midwest population." However, there are pockets of exception. For example, "Cleveland also has one of the nation's highest Jewish-American populations per capita of all major U.S. cities."


3) Sports Fanaticism: The average male Midwesterner, and some of the women (especially by partner association), are sports fans. They tend to follow football (number one), basketball, and baseball; wear team clothes in their leisure time; put team bumperstickers or miniflags on their cars; and fly team colors from their homes on game days (well, some do -- those who are on the borderline of taking off their shirts and painting their chests and bellies for a game). Popular sports are major viewing pastimes, as people gather in their homes and sports bars, for professional and college games (college baseball being the exception; it isn't followed). High school football and basketball tend to bring communities together for games. High school football is an especially important gathering place for communities, especially in small towns, where the sport is followed and attended even by people who don't have children enrolled. At the junior levels, children are often enrolled in baseball, softball, and soccer leagues. Hockey is sometimes also followed and played with local fervor in the most northern portions of the northern Midwestern states.


4) Family Orientation: Traditional Midwestern life tends to be strongly family-oriented. Perhaps this is why scrapbooking has become a major pastime for a good many Midwestern women, especially those who are married and family oriented. Scrapbooking is usually limited to making elaborate keepsake volumes of pictures for and about immediate family and is used to celebrate seasons, special occasions, holidays, and the like. It is almost certainly why we love a backyard or public park barbeque, especially as an occasion for gathering with other workers' families, our own families (often the setting for a summer family reunion), or friends' families.

Homophobia is still common in the Midwest, although homosexual identity and relationships are becoming more accepted within younger generations and certain cosmopolitan segments of urban populations. Acts against gays, from verbal abuse to housing discrimination to outright assault, are not yet as uncommon as we might hope.

Although sexual liberation has struck the Midwest as it has elsewhere in the United States, Midwestern women tend to be somewhat sexually conservative, especially given the double-standard that continues to suggest that women who are 'easy' should be undervalued and are not good marriage material (while men are forgiven for more sexual exploration and experience). Women believe they have equal access to education and opportunity, although they often complain that the burden of housework and childcare continues to fall on them disproportionately. Extended family often shares in childcare responsibilites for working parents, but daycare and school are also common solutions.

Midwesterners live in a state of heightened fear that their children will be sexually abused or that violence (especially gun violence) will occur in their public schools. Although there is a kernel of reason for these fears, the degree of concern may outstrip actual incidence of these crimes, and so suggest the treasured role children play in Midwestern emotional life.

Pets are members of our family, and we're wild about them. Midwesterners are especially fond of cats and dogs, and if we had to pick one, dogs. We favor a wide variety of breeds, but you're as likely to find larger breeds (labs, retrievers, shepherds) as not.


5) Patriotism: The majority of Midwesterners would likely characterize themselves as patriots. Flags wave from public buildings and private homes. National pride is a commonly expressed value when threats to or criticism of America are made. The Midwest in particular has shown its patriotism through its contributions to the armed services; next to the South, the Midwest provides more soldiers than any other US region.

Sometimes patriotism can surface in the less glorious forms of jingoism and insularity. Midwesterners are likely to support English as a shared national language and to believe that those who immigrate here (as many of their forebearers did) should work hard to learn the language and fit in. They are unlikely to have much sympathy for illegal immigrants or to approve of the outsourcing of what have been historically perceived as American jobs or industries.

The majority of Midwesterners believe that the government should stay out of private life, and ensure that Americans get their just due as well as fair treatment under the law. They don't believe that anyone with self-respect would settle for a hand-out or even a hand-up, if they can manage under their own powers. Independence and self-reliance are still strong features of the Midwestern value system.


6) Restraint: Midwesterners may not be known for being taciturn, as are New Englanders; however, they tend to carry themselves with a limited range of motion and to speak quietly in public. They don't approve of strong emotional displays, loud merriment, or loose movement. There are certain venues at which Midwesterners will let their guard down, such as at sports events. Certain subcultures within the Midwest also permit wider ranges of expression or motion, which can cause neighborly conflict or social disapproval between groups.