Bassett 1

Adrian Bassett
WRIT 1301.02
Ethnography First Draft
March 22, 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 make help
identify a person into a certain culture. Attention to detail can help decipher what subculture(s) a
person may belong to. Texans are no exception. By breaking down and observing the
characteristics of a person, we can determine whether the person is a Texan or not.
I started to observe people and see if they can fit the characteristics of the Texans that I
had gathered in my profile. I started to take note what I observed as what I noticed that gave
them away as being apart of the Texan subculture. I compared them to blogs I found of Texans
who describe their life and Texan characteristics to see if they gave off and fit into the Texas
vibe.
Walk
Watching people pass by the first thing I see is their walk. Most people have a distinct
walk especially different types of subcultures. 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.
Clothes

Bassett 2
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. 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
are 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.
Attitude
The last thing that I picked up was their 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

Bassett 3
when they talked about their home state or the state that they called home. Most of them lit up
when they talked about Texas and they were proud to be from here.
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.

Works Cited
Ramirez, Katie. Personal Interview. 21 Feb 2016
Unnamed People Around Town. Observations. 14-18 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

Bassett 4