What Is the Midwest?
Indiana is a part of a region called the Midwest. There are certain common traits among all Midwesterners, so it’s important to understand the whole region.
Depending on who’s talking, the Midwest includes Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
But that’s not really in the middle west of the country…
True, if you look at a modern map of the US, this region would be called the Northcentral, or something like that. But it got the name Midwest as European Americans were settling in this continent. When the United States was founded as a country, areas like Michigan and Indiana (which were not states at the time, but just territories) made up the western border of ‘claimed’ US land (unless you asked the Native Americans living here).
Generalizations
Before we get too far, I’ll be sharing a lot of generalizations of people from the Midwest. Don’t apply these to individuals–that’s called stereotyping. (More on the difference here.) I’m also mindful that a lot of what I’m saying is mostly a white American view on the Midwest. The black experience can be world’s apart and deserves its own write up.
The Farms
Most of the Midwest is farmland. Miles and miles and miles of farmland. The crops are mostly corn, soybeans, and wheat, and many farms also raise livestock (pigs and cows, largely).
Should you have the pleasure of driving down a state highway anywhere in the Midwest, most of what you’ll experience is seeing hundreds of acres of farmland, a town of 200–1,000 people every 15 minutes, and a city of more than 20,000 every 40 minutes.
The Cities
Chicago is our biggest city. Despite being several times larger than any other city in the region, Chicago is still a distinctly Midwestern big city in its feel and attitude.
The other notable cities in the Midwest are Columbus (OH), Indianapolis (IN), Detroit (MI), Milwaukee (WI), Kansas City (MO), and St. Louis (MO).
When most people in the US think of these cities, they think of hard-working people, blue-collar jobs, good food, and good music.
Values We Live By
The traits I’ll explain here are mostly the aspirational values of people from the Midwest. This is how we like to be known. For many people it is true, but you may find more exceptions and contradictions in real life.
Simplicity
Life ideally should be simple–wake up early, go to work, eat, sleep, go to church on Sunday, repeat. Even when in the middle of the city living a lavish lifestyle, the true Midwesterner has it in the back of his/her mind to sell everything and go live on a farm for a while to simplify things.
Simplicity is also seen as a lack of ambition. In certain parts of the US, it seems like everyone is trying to get rich. That is much less common in the Midwest. At least, you shouldn’t give the appearance of trying to get rich. Keep your goals reasonable and your life simple. Focus on the important parts of life like family, religion, (and sports).
Hard Work
To be a good person is to be a hard worker. If you are ever branded as lazy, you have earned immediate disdain. We despise inherited money and believe you should earn every penny you have. If someone can work hard, they have value. This also comes from our farming culture where hard manual work is a part of life. Even in the cities, when manufacturing jobs were plentiful, hard work was the expectation.
Respect for Authority
This comes from many angles. First, you’ll see it in the heavy respect for the police and military. These roles are revered, and children are taught to respect them from a young age.
The other way you see this is in the religiousness of the region. Most people still go to church, or at least believe that you should go to church. God is the ultimate authority and you should live your life in the way he has revealed. Those who work in the church have an instant level of respect among most people.
Modesty
Midwesterners don’t like to touch each other more than they have to. They prefer women to be as clothed as is culturally permissive, and nudity in nearly any context is uncomfortable.
Modesty is also related to ambition. Don’t be showy, don’t have a bunch of cars and a huge house. If you’ve got the money, save it or store it away in mutual funds–don’t flaunt it.
We also really like privacy. People are comfortable in their homes and are a bit startled if you come to ring the door unannounced. We put up “No trespassing” signs everywhere and have a firm sense of private property.
You should also avoid excess. Have fun at a party, but not too much. Stay out late, but not too late. The Midwesterner will usually be the one to say, “Ok, I’ve had enough”–whether a phone call, an outing with friends, or a date.
Avoid Conflict
Midwesterners might be the most indirect communicators in the country. We don’t usually say exactly what we are thinking because we don’t want to rock the boat. It’s better to just deal with it and move on. If someone is making a fool of themselves, it’s better to leave them be. We delay hard conversations as much as possible and are experts at sweeping issues under the rug.
Midwesterners tend to be pretty friendly people, but at the same time, they don’t like going deep in friendships. It is the kind of place where if you wave to a stranger on the road while driving your car, more often than not, that person will wave back. But, our need for privacy and avoiding conflict means it takes a lot to ever get past the “How ya doing? Pretty good, you?” level.
Wait and See
The true meaning of the term “conservative” is seen here. It’s not that we disagree with the ideas of very progressive people, it’s just that they haven’t been tested long enough and we don’t know what’s going to happen. If it works for you for 25 years without any major problems, then we will consider it.
Casual
Most people in the Midwest will dress and live in a very casual manner, doing whatever feels comfortable at the time. If you aren’t working, then you should be comfortable. There are very few formalities between people, and most people don’t get really dressed up for anything.
“I’m from the Midwest”
When someone appeals to being from the Midwest, they want you to know one of these things about them. Either that they are simple, modest, conservative, conflict-avoiding, hard-working, or someone who knows how to act under authority.
Religion, Family, Sports, and Politics
These are four of the most important parts of life for most people in the Midwest. As mentioned before, most people are either at church most Sundays, or grew up in a family that did. Most villages, towns, and cities have plenty of churches scattered throughout and the church plays a significant role in people’s lives. This area of the country is sometimes called The Bible Belt.
Most people live in nuclear families, and children don’t move too far away from their parents after graduating or settling down. It’s also common to see young married couples move back near their parents after having children. Holidays and weekends are largely for getting together with family. Families are much more loose in general than other cultures, but they are still important.
Sports is our second religion–specifically American football and basketball. Truth be told, weekends are for watching sports, often with family. Football season goes from September through January. Basketball season goes from November through March. People love watching football/basketball played at the high school, college, and professional level. Families with young children are generally running around throughout the week with their kids participating in all kinds of sports all through the year. Sports loyalties are extremely serious, and liking a particular sports team may be someone’s chief form of identity. Several Midwestern colleges play each other in a sports conference called the Big 10, which is very important to regional and state identities.
Politics are important, but they don’t matter too much because the vast majority of people are highly conservative in their views. Only in highly urban areas and places with a lot of post-industrial labor union support will you find liberal politics finding any root. The status quo is so rooted that if you start giving an opinion contrary to the party position, people all around you will get very uncomfortable.
Learn more
There’s more to find out about the Midwest, but this should give you a starter. Many people find the Midwestern life a nice contrast to attitudes on the coasts, but other people can’t wait to leave. Overall, it’s a very nice place, especially if you enjoy a relatively quiet, modest place to raise a family.
