what does it mean?

[cos]

Please comment on this post before you read anyone else's comments.

This weekend, I saw a bumper sticker that said,
Straight, White, English-Speaking
Proud American
For a moment, I was offended ... then I started thinking of several different possible intentions, meanings, and contexts for this slogan. After a bit of confusion, I settled on curiosity. What does it mean? What did the people who sold it intend for it to convey, and what did the person who put it on their car intend to say by it? I can think of several different possibilities or nuances, and maybe there are more.

So tell me, what do you read in this bumper sticker slogan? And if, like me, you see several possibilities, which one came first, before you thought about it?

Comments

[cheshyre]

Well, there are gay pride marches, black pride rallies, hispanic pride parades...
The specific use of the word "proud" makes me feel like this person is setting himself up against all of them.

Gives me a slightly bad taste in my mouth...

I'm curious, was it an American car or an import?

[cutieperson]

diversity is bad/evil.

[missionista.livejournal.com]

First idea: first line from a personal ad

Second idea: anti-P.C. person with obnoxious and kinda dumb bumper sticker.

[damned-colonial.livejournal.com]

Hrm, first assumption is "this person is a bigoted asswad".

[mangosteen]

Oh, the first one is "That's right, I'm the normal one here."

After that, it could mean:
"I'm not afraid to admit that I'm part of the majority."
"I am the definition of a Proud American"
"I'm not ashamed of who I am."

Alternately, if the person in the car wasn't any of the above, it could be done for sheer irony.

[plymouth.livejournal.com]

1st interpretation: I'm all superior and eletist.
2nd interpretation: we're the new minorty and as such we're allowed to have pride too.

My ex and I used to joke about how there were so many cultural and minority groups at our school that someone should start WASPS@MIT.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Y'know, my first response would be to look for OTHER bumper stickers on the car, to judge it. If that bumper sticker sat next to a Confederate flag, it would mean something very different than if it sat next to a rainbow flag.

[crs.livejournal.com]

First thought: "What a bigot."

Weird how that works. Sounds like I had the same reaction as you... I hope I would have thought more about it after that step, anyway, without your prompting...

[ellipticcurve.livejournal.com]

I'm with the "bigoted @$$" camp. It seems to me a rather petulant expression of "all the OTHER people get to be hyphenated Americans".

queer, white, english and spanish speaking, ashamed american

[amber-phoenix.livejournal.com]

which one came out first? "asshole frat boy" this shows my own biases pretty immediately.

after contemplating for a while, i read it as "in the minority" or "feeling defensive about my race and heritage", which i suppose i can have some empathy for.

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

Hm.
First reading seems a little defensive, kinda a reaction to feeling like everyone else gets to be proud of their minority status, but those who are in the "privileged majority" only get shit for it. Particularly if they're straight, white, male, and english speaking.

I can see it as trying to be nasty, too, but it doesn't have to be. And there is a rising feeling of "hey, how come everyone else gets slack but not me?"

Interestingly, this bumper sticker does not by definition leave out Latinos, as long as they learned English at some point. (Honestly, after the time I spent on the SouthWest border, and the fact that I could practice my Spanish with every hotel maid I've ever encountered, including in Vermont, I've got some strong feelings about people needing to learn English)

I think I remember some buttons at this past Arisia: "Straight, Monogamous, Vanilla." Some of them added "but thanks, though." A number of people were offended by those buttons, too. Interestingly, in that environment the assumption was that people might well be bi/poly/switch, and I think those who weren't began to feel the need to advertize.

[rigel.livejournal.com]

My first thought: I am proud of who and what I am, regardless of / including my social place of privilege.

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

So... why is it "setting himself up against all of them," if this person wants to be proud, too?

[epilady.livejournal.com]

"I feel backed into a corner because the diversification of America is taking away 1/10th of my former privilege and boy, that steams me up!"

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

Why do you have to be minority to be proud?

I think part of the atmosphere that brings the bumpersticker, though, is that were you to start WASPS@MIT you'd probably be accused of racism and white supremacy.

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

You put it rather better than I did.

[goljerp]

The first thing that I thought of was that the unspoken end of the message was ", and I like beating up anyone who isn't all of the above". Or at least, "and it's OK to discriminate against anyone who isn't all of the above".

I suppose it's possible that someone would buy it without the implied addition at the end... but I dunno. I mean, I am Straight, White, English-Speaking, and American. I'm not terribly proud right now, considering the stuff that our president and military are doing in our names. But even in the days that I was unreservedly proud to be an american, I felt no urge to put a bumper sticker like that on my car.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

*laugh* Yes!

My secondary reactions right now also have a lot to do with the fact that just the other night, I was discussing this topic with some friends. Specifically, I noted the absurdity (to me) of being "proud" of something that you were simply born with. What is pride? Why does it apply to inborn traits?

It is my belief that "Proud to be X" is only relevant (in a positive way) to groups that have been marginalized, told to be ashamed because they are X, that sort of thing. It isn't about thinking there is something inherently better about X, but rather about affirming that it is not something to be ashamed of. I guess "I'm X and that's OK" would be more accurate technically, but it doesn't actually convey the feeling as accurately as "I'm X and I'm proud." Interesting, that.

In any case, the list on the bumper sticker above not qualify, imho.

[redheadedmuse.livejournal.com]

I guess my first impulse is to think that the person who put made the sticker and the person who put it on their car are both homophobic racists who happen to hold US passports, and wanted to publicize this information.

Maybe it's the headlines lately, but I'm having trouble seeing the alternate meanings you allude to.

[plymouth.livejournal.com]

Why do you have to be minority to be proud?

I didn't say one did. I'm just interpreting the sticker.

[fidgetmonster.livejournal.com]

yeah, i was offended too when i read it, but then it sort of struck me like a sticker my ex-boss had on his car that just said "college". like, it's supposed to be funny because this person can't put a pride flag or yo quiero jesus or fish or any other sticker on their car because they are too mainstream. it's um, treading a fine line of humour though, if that's the case.

[plymouth.livejournal.com]

How about "I'm happy to be X"? That sounds a little more positive to me than "I'm X and that's OK".

[skreeky]

Before I read anyone else's comments, I'm finding it hard to come up with any reason for pointing out these characteristics about oneself on a bumper sticker, that does not offend me.

[epilady.livejournal.com]

Jonathan Ned Katz talks about "pride" in his text The Invention of Heterosexuality , quoting someone else's interesting point that the opposite of "pride" is "shame." When someone asserts they are "proud" of a cultural identity, they are often masking prior (or still existing) shame. There would be no need for "gay pride" if being gay was not something formerly considered shameful.

So let him be as "proud" as he wants to be facing extinction. Good riddance!

[skreeky]

I have one of those buttons. It's because I got sick of the assumption that I was bi, the assumption that I was kinky, and the assumption that I was poly, immediately followed by the implication that there was something wrong with me for being so boooooooring when I turned out to be none of the above.

I note that I do NOT use it in any context where the original three assumptions are not made. Not in public. Certainly not on my car.