I hate cowboys, and cowboy hats!

…..… and country music because, well because it sucks .

I have an Oztroylian hat that I like. It doesn't have corks on string round the edge.

WHAT THEY THINK THEY LOOK LIKE:

HOW THEY REALLY LOOK

I tried to avoid commenting here for personal reasons (Stress/shame). Some of you may have anticipated a response from me. I do feel an obligation to respond but it is not a thing I do with joy or even satisfaction because each day I live and experience the echos of an existing legacy I do not want to acknowledge.

Maybe cowboy hats are supremely American...maybe not?.

The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of special significance and legend.[1] A subtype, called a wrangler, specifically tends the horses used to work cattle. Link

Sources I looked at credited Mexico as the "Cowboys" But that doesn't necessarily include the hat. If I were a gambler I'd put money on Mexico.

Yes, appearances can be deceiving. They can also be revealing as Fred originally concluded/suggested.

The cowboy played an important role during the era of U.S. westward expansion...

In the mid-1800s, the United States built railroads that reached further west, and cowboys played a central part in the nation’s “Manifest Destiny”[the bigoted Christian religious justification that it was "Divine Will" that Euro-Americans are/were entitled and privileged to commit acts of genocide on the Indigenous] as Westward expansion led to an ever-shifting frontier. History.com

These would be the same/similar humans for whom we here generally hold in disdain as religious fundamentalists and those we consider to have committed "Crimes against Humanity" today. Did I digress?

I guess it depends on your point of view, and your willingness to accept facts and truths that may counter your programming and indoctrination. But let me pose a few questions, please.

1. Would wearing KKK hoods as a symbol of your identity and Nationalism be acceptable to the citizenry?

2. Would wearing Nazi helmets/caps and other swastika emblazoned clothing as a symbol of your identity and nationalism be acceptable to the citizenry?

3. Should the surviving members of nations subjected to ongoing colonization and multigenerational acts of genocide, accept and celebrate their oppression and continuing demise ala victims of Stockholm syndrome?

IMO the majority of the western film genre and the subsequent popularity of that clothing stylizing is a whitewashing, justification, mythical celebration of horrifying genocide. Imagine that the Nazis had prevailed and then used film and media for decades to brainwash, glorify and celebrate their evil and horrific acts of genocide. Wouldn't that be propaganda?

The Western has long been built on myths that both obscure and promote a history of racism, imperialism, toxic masculinity, and violent colonialism. For Westerns set in Texas, histories of slavery and dispossession are even more deeply buried. Yet the genre endures. Through period dramas and contemporary neo-Westerns, Hollywood continues to churn out films about the West. Even with contemporary pressures, the Western refuses to transform from a medium tied to profoundly conservative, nation-building narratives to one that’s truly capable of centering those long victimized and villainized: Indigenous, Latinx, Black, and women characters. Rooted in a country of contested visions, and a deep-seated tradition of denial, no film genre remains as quintessentially American, and Texan, as the Western, and none is quite so difficult to change. San Antonio Current

edited to add verification links/sources

Cowboy hats are supremely American. The John B. Stetson Company is from Philadelphia , Resistol was started in Garland, TX. by a Philadelphian, and I am a Philadelphian living in California with a half-a-dozen 10x straws and beavers which I wear almost every day. Appearance's can be deceiving.

Why can't I vaccinate you?

I don’t think it was this way until just recently. My trigger is now the American flag. I used to LOVE the flag and now when I see it hanging off of someone’s house or truck I automatically have an aversion. I really hate that this has happened to me, so I’m trying my best to deal with it.

The problem is MAGA ruining everything. I now have a negative reaction when I see my own American flag, when it USED to be a status symbol on $250 Ralph Lauren sweaters and jackets. Remember Brad Pitt blasting unto the screen in "Thelma and Louise"? Cowboy hats USED to be sexy. Trumpers, like Trump, just make everything disgusting and low-end by their association.

You are not wrong. If only it was "just a hat." My grandchild is being raised in this culture. Very strongly family-oriented, but it appears any natural curiosity or critical-thinking inclinations are being snuffed out.

When I say "family-oriented," an example would be this grandchild informing me, at about age 6, that I would be going to hell because I am divorced.😳

Sounds about right. 🤜🤛on D-BT selection...

Update on The Bioterrorist ex-friend in WI. Evacuation ordered for fires (plural) at his cabin. Smelled smoke, so he went to check on his neighbor. The neighbor was BURNING pine needles! Couldn't pay $25 to drop them off at the dump. Well, Wisconsin Dept of Natural Resources (DNR) spotted smoke from the stupid redneck MF neighbor, flew a plane over, then dispatched agents to check it out. Agent "educated" neighbor to high fire danger Fire (pine needles) was put out. No fine. BOTH HAD THE GALL TO COMPLAIN "'BOUT THE GOV'MINT" keeping too close an eye on everything.

JHC. Shaking my head...

"I'm never, ever, ever going back, to Butthole-ville..." (Drive-by Truckers)