rachelmanija (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rachelmanija) wrote2008-10-03 12:47 pm
rachelmanija) wrote2008-10-03 12:47 pm
My country does not belong to Joe Sixpack
I am not a hugely patriotic person in the "My country can beat up your country" sense, but I am an American citizen, and I fucking hate the popular American media narrative in which the only real Americans are white, rural, Republican or independent, middle or working class, uneducated, parents, heterosexuals, Christians, and aggressively folksy-- the "Joe Sixpack" noted by Sarah "Doggone It" Palin.
Those people do exist, and they are real Americans, but they are a relatively small slice of the population. The majority of Americans are either urban or suburban. In some urban areas, the majority of Americans are not white.
Jews, Muslims, Baha'i, people of color, college professors, white collar workers, union organizers, childless people, leftists, urban yuppies, street hustlers, queer activists, recent immigrants who don't speak English, subway riders, taco truck drivers -- even Wall Street millionaires -- are Americans too. Whether or not we look like a whitebread Norman Rockwell painting of some right-wing regressive fantasy of an America that only ever existed in little pockets of the country fifty years ago makes no difference. We are all citizens, we have the vote, and our country belongs to all of us.
Adrian asked me if Japan has an equivalent of "Joe Sixpack." "Maybe 'Sazae-san?'" I hazarded.
People from countries other than the US, do you also have an obnoxious stereotype of the "ideal" citizen? Who is he or she, and does she have a name?
Those people do exist, and they are real Americans, but they are a relatively small slice of the population. The majority of Americans are either urban or suburban. In some urban areas, the majority of Americans are not white.
Jews, Muslims, Baha'i, people of color, college professors, white collar workers, union organizers, childless people, leftists, urban yuppies, street hustlers, queer activists, recent immigrants who don't speak English, subway riders, taco truck drivers -- even Wall Street millionaires -- are Americans too. Whether or not we look like a whitebread Norman Rockwell painting of some right-wing regressive fantasy of an America that only ever existed in little pockets of the country fifty years ago makes no difference. We are all citizens, we have the vote, and our country belongs to all of us.
Adrian asked me if Japan has an equivalent of "Joe Sixpack." "Maybe 'Sazae-san?'" I hazarded.
People from countries other than the US, do you also have an obnoxious stereotype of the "ideal" citizen? Who is he or she, and does she have a name?
no subject
It was so bad that the government at one point attempted to change this cultural image by introducing and heavily promoting a counter stereotype, Juan Masipag (John Industrious, Esq.). It didn't work out too well, since Masipag was a much more negative opposite to Tamad: a content, cheerless sycophantic drone.
Actually, I wasn't aware of this Joe Sixpack stereotype. Is this the "redneck", Homer Simpson-esque image popularized by the media.
no subject
Homer Simpson is more of a satire of the Joe Sixpack idea. It's a similar character, but poked fun at rather than worshipped and toadied to.