IntroductionOne of the largest imagined communities in our nation-state, the United States of America, has culminated throughout history to now identify 72.4% of our population current (“State and County Quick Facts”). Whiteness, America's widely imagined identity, is considered both a class and a racial identifier. Its “culture,” like all cultures, is highly dynamic and varied in space and time. My goal is to falsify or reinforce the stereotypical norm of white Southern culture and their supposed adoration of Western clothing, country music and beer. To do this, I studied the community that frequents the establishment, Midnight Rodeo, a country western dance hall and bar Throughout the course, we were presented with representations of both Native and outside anthropological practices through lecture presentations and outside readings of assigned ethnographies. . When selecting my topic and research site, I took both of these processes into consideration and aimed to combine them. I chose to research the idealized norm of whiteness in the Southern United States and theorize this “unmarked” category in terms of culturally constructed ideas of race, gender, and social stratification. As a racially classified “white” who owns a pair of cowboy boots, I have been able to study southern white culture from an insider's perspective. However, having grown up in the North and simply learning, through research, the ins and outs of “Southern culture,” I have experienced the obstacles and rewards of being a cultural outsider. I was able to practice objectivity while receiving inside information, but I may have lost some insights by not growing up in the culture and having certain aspects of ides......middle of paper......norms for this specific community, including a general love of country music, dancing, and beer, however what varies are their experiences based on the intersectionality of individuals' race, class, and gender. Works Cited Bensaddi, Judith. “A story”. The Southern Literary Messenger. Ed. White. Richmond: White, 1839. 469-501. Print.Charles, James. Redefining Southern Culture: Mind and Identity in the Modern South. Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1999. Print.Gregory, James. The Southern Diaspora: How the Great Migrations of Black and White Southerners Transformed America. United States of America: The University of North Carolina Press, 2005. Print. Shanklin, Eugenia. Anthropology and race. United States of America: Wadsworth Pub. Co., 1994. Print. “Quick Facts on State and County.” Census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau, 2010. Web. Nov. 26. 2011.