On Tue, 6 Dec 1994, Yardena Rand wrote: > Are people who love Westerns really human beings? Is the worship of John > Wayne synonymous with racism, sexism, and imperialism? You tell me. I'm a > grad student in AmCiv and, as part of my investigation of America's > fascination with the movie Western, I have conducted a national survey of > people who love Westerns. Over 500 individuals from around the country, from > Florida to Alaska, have described themselves and told me why they love > Westerns and I want to know from *you* what you think they're like. Men, > women? White, of color? Liberal, conservative? Jot down your thoughts, > Pard's, and I'll tell you what I've [log in to unmask] I just took history of the Western (with Gaylyn Studlar) with a focus around John Ford, and I certainly don't think that the descriptions above could fit all of the audience, but I'm sure that there are a large number of bumbling-beer-guzzelng-just-a-little-too-lazy-to-ever-leave-the-couch- except-for-commercials-during-rush-limbaugh guys out there who are major western fans. This is not to say that there aren't (double negs. only count off two) a number of people who truly appreciate these films and certainly do not fit into the categories as listed above. Many of these films (mostly Ford's stuff) are not in and of themselves racist or sexist but must accurately reflect a time period where most men were. You've probably checked it out already, but a good book dealing with the myth of the West as a frontier is Gunfighter Nation. LAter, Ian