Apr 05 2009
Stereotypes by State: an introduction
Reeling from the runaway success of exploring European stereotypes back in early February, I attempted to do a similar treatment for stereotypes in the USA and Malaysia, but only managed a proposal for the Asian heaven and hell stereotype, because I very quickly found that without a humorous structure as a base (and limit!), it was all too easy to start delving more deeply into race, politics and the like than I was comfortable with, taking me to places I did not want to go.
 Laughter by wvermeulen |
Then recently, inspiration!
There are so many jokes floating around out there, communicated via email, at the dinner table, over coffee, etc, that poke fun at people from one state or another in the US. With the assumption that these jokes fall firmly in the public domain, I will be going through a few every Sunday, using them as a launching pad to explore the stereotypes associated with every state within the United States of America.
Alabama will be the first. The fun starts next Sunday.. stay tuned! 
A tip of the hat to the following sites for helping make this happen:
- Rec.Humor.Funny: Rejected State Mottos
- Aha! Jokes: State Jokes
