"What does 'being American' mean, anyway?"
When I think of 'American,' I think of plaid shirts, apple pie, woodsmoke, and talltalltalltall pine trees up high in the mountains. I think of 'up at dawn, meal at midday, homework after dark by oil lamp, and bed under Mama's hand-me-down quilt shipped from back east.' Also, it means having a deep-set, unique tie to long black braids, colored corn, buckskin fringe, and beadwork. Open hills, untouchable horizons, muskets, and orange sunsets are ingrained into our sense of self, aren't they? When we were little grade-schoolers, we were told stories of Paul Bunyan and Davy Crocket. These were frontier men who encountered Injuns and fought bears in plaid shirts with Mother's buttermilk biscuits in their bellies. Also, lumberjacks! Dude, gotta have lumberjacks! Big, hairy, burly men in red plaid carrying axes and metal pails full of chicken!
Am I right?
On the other hand, when I think about being 'of the United States (or estados unidense, to borrow a Spanish phrase...because we don't have a word equal to "United States-ian...),' I think of covert political schemes, long, black highways, oil-wars overseas, and nosy attitudes towards other countries' politics and economies. Oh, and consumerism. A hell of a lot of consumerism. Gotta have dat iPod, yo.
And when I think about being 'of the US,' I think "border-control, border-control, border-control." Goooooooooootta keep them South-O'-The-Borders from jumpin' the river. Yep, yep, yep. (Not exactly the best association to make....)
It's weird that a person can have all of these associations with his or her own 'title' or 'nationality,' isn't it? It's like a teenager trying to be Scene, Prep, and Jock all in one go! Damn, no wonder we have issues.... >.> We have no idea who we really are! Or at least, this one member has no frickin' clue...
So how did we go from this:
and this:
...to this?
And naked women. Lots of which came up when I Google Image searched the word "american."
Tell me. What does 'American/US/United States-ian' mean to you? (This question is aimed at non-Americans and Estados Unidense, alike.)
And if you aren't from the US, what does being a part of your country mean to you? I wanna hear your views, too!! (Nosy United States-ian, that's me!)
(On a side note, my Sociology textbook told me that 98% of American children could identify Ronald McDonald, which means that that stupid clown is almost better recognized than Santa Claus! Damn corporations and their quests to take over the world... -grumble-)