In the three large undergraduate sections of an introductory political science class I am teaching this semester, we are currently debating the impact of political culture in Texas. As a precursor to that debate, I asked students to examine Texas culture and cultural identity in general. One point I made about identity was that feelings of authenticity in a given identity can depend upon the distance one perceives between oneself and the perceived ideal prototype of that group. With that idea of prototypes in mind, I asked students if they thought whether we could identify a prototype of someone who perfectly exemplified Texas culture. They seemed optimistic about the prospect, so I gave them the task of identifying different visible aspects or indicators of popular culture in Texas. To make it more fun, I focused on six questions surrounding dress, television, music, food, drink, and leisure activities. Students then got together in small groups and created the prototypical Texan by indicating the perfect response for each of these questions. I then recorded all their responses, selected the five most common responses for each question, till I had the stereotypical or prototypical Texan according to ~180 Texan undergraduates.
This data in hand, it struck me that I could use it to create a silly but fun quiz where people could assess themselves against what is supposedly the prototypical Texan. Folks in the Lone Star State can finally find out how Texan they really are! Or at least how Texan they are according to my undergrads. Of course, these are obviously not a good representation of the demographics of the entire state. I have an over-sample of East Texans, of young people, of African Americans, and an under-sample of Latinos. But let’s not let a small unrepresentative sample get in the way of our fun; on to the quiz!
For each of the 6 categories below, select the answer that most represents you, record that answer, and then scroll down to the bottom to see the score-card.
Quiz
A) What are you most likely to be wearing when you step out of the house?
- Overalls
- Work Wear (e.g. Steel-Toed Boots)
- Shorts & Tank Top
- Jeans & Tees
- Western/Cowboy
B) What are you most likely to watch on a given evening?
- Cooking Shows
- Yellowstone
- Fox News
- Rodeo
- Football
C) What music is most likely to be playing at your house?
- Anything by Beyonce
- Classic Rock
- Rap
- Latin
- Country
D) What are you most likely going to be eating for your next meal?
- Crawfish
- Whataburger
- Mexican
- Buc-ees
- BBQ
E) What’s the next drink you will most likely have in your cup?
- Whiskey
- Diet Coke
- Sweet Tea
- Dr. Pepper
- Beer
F) What are you most likely to be doing this weekend?
- Going shopping at H-E-B
- Having a cookout or grilling
- Fishing
- Going to Church
- Watching Football/Tailgating
Scoring
Okay, it’s pretty easy because I arranged each question’s order in terms of the commonness of the response. 5 is the most common response for each question, and 1 is the least common response. So give yourself 5 points if you selected 5 for a question, 4 points if you selected 4 for a question, and so on. Then add up all six of your responses and see which category below fits you.
Categories
0 - 12 points: Zohran Mamdani Level. You're about as Texan as the current governor of New York.
13 - 20 points: Steve Martin Level. The famous comedian lived in Texas the first five years of his life. You're about as Texan as him.
21 - 25 points: Chuck Norris Level. The martial arts turned movie star may not have been born in Texas, but tell that to Walker Texas Ranger. You've got the same steely stare to silence any opposition about your Texas bonafides.
26 - 36 points: Cabeza de Vaca Level. Imagine being shipwrecked on Galveston, enslaved for four years there, escaping, then wandering the Texas hinterland for another eight years. You may feel like you've got a pretty good lay of the land at that point; it is clear you know Texas.
In fact, if you scored at the Cabeza de Vaca level, you may look a little like the gentleman pictured below. I had AI create a visual representation of the prototypical Texan according to the most common responses of my students. Why he looks like Bryan Cranston (who is not Texan) is unclear to me, but he checks the other boxes. Beer in one hand, pork rib in the other, a big helping of meat on the plate. And he apparently likes country music so much he’s got his own private playlist going at the restaurant. My guess is they’re playing country-pop at the bar and he wants to listen to Hank Williams, hence the headphones. Notice too his custom cowboy hat. It has a slot where headphones can slide through, so a person can wear headphones and a hat at the same time. Ingenious!
