Cultural Signifiers

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

In 2008, there was a lot of talk about Clinton winning "beer track" voters and Obama winning "wine track" voters. That leads me to crack the joke that Sanders' 2020 constituency was mainly composed of kombucha track voters.

I wonder who won the spirits track voters.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

I think listening it certain kinds of music is a dead giveaway. For an obvious example, Sleater-Kinney’s fans are almost always left-leaning due to their politics and Carrie’s preferences towards women. The fact they are from the Pacific Northwest doubles down on this. Their fans tend to also be people who like other female indie musicians, middle to upper class, white, female, and often LGBTQ. Sleater-Kinney is also pro choice as well and supports black lives matter.   

Literally who the hell is Sleater-Kinney

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

I think listening it certain kinds of music is a dead giveaway. For an obvious example, Sleater-Kinney’s fans are almost always left-leaning due to their politics and Carrie’s preferences towards women. The fact they are from the Pacific Northwest doubles down on this. Their fans tend to also be people who like other female indie musicians, middle to upper class, white, female, and often LGBTQ. Sleater-Kinney is also pro choice as well and supports black lives matter.   

Literally who the hell is Sleater-Kinney

Seriously?

I checked the name on Google after writing that, but I literally have never heard "Sleater-Kinney" anywhere else in my life.

(by the way, I am not sure musical acts are necessarily cultural signifiers, for example plenty of left-leaning people listen to Kanye)

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

I think listening it certain kinds of music is a dead giveaway. For an obvious example, Sleater-Kinney’s fans are almost always left-leaning due to their politics and Carrie’s preferences towards women. The fact they are from the Pacific Northwest doubles down on this. Their fans tend to also be people who like other female indie musicians, middle to upper class, white, female, and often LGBTQ. Sleater-Kinney is also pro choice as well and supports black lives matter.   

Literally who the hell is Sleater-Kinney

Seriously?

I checked the name on Google after writing that, but I literally have never heard "Sleater-Kinney" anywhere else in my life.

(by the way, I am not sure musical acts are necessarily cultural signifiers, for example plenty of left-leaning people listen to Kanye)

I was kind of joking about Sleater-Kinney. They’re not exactly a household name but neither are they particularly obscure, but I understand that someone like yourself who (correct me if I’m wrong) is more into metal and prog hasn’t heard of them.

As to music, I think it can have some correlation to political views. Hip-hop suggests more liberal views, or at least more pro-Democrat, as the listener base is African-Americans and younger whites. Similarly alt rock/indie also leans left and country right. Classic rock is harder to pin down; it is most popular among white male boomers (a generally Republican group), but it does enjoy very wide and ubiqitous popularity.

Obviously it is lazy to assume someone’s political views based off of musical tastes and there are loads of exceptions, but there are some implications to be made both from demographics of listeners and the general attitude/philosophy of the music.

I think your analysis is correct.

In any case I am not actually into metal, I just have a massive Metallica crush. I am more into prog rock, though.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

For music, the conservative equivalent is obviously country, especially since it's not just listened to in the South anymore.

For brands, I agree with Chick-fil-A as a proxy for the group that OP stated.  Living in perhaps the epicenter of those types of voters, you would be amazed at how long the lines at Chick-fil-A get (they often back up traffic on nearby streets).  Another cultural signifier I would add on the right is college football.  There's a reason that Trump has taken such an aggressive stance in favor of college football being played.  It might not get as much attention, but college football's fanbase is basically just as conservative as NASCAR's or golf's.

https://www.businessinsider.com/politics-sports-you-like-2013-3

Isn't Cracker Barrel a big culinary cultural signifier for White Southerners as well?

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Cracker Barrel vs. Whole Foods is maybe the most commonly talked about cultural signifier among chains.

What about those of us who have never been in either of these places in their life?

There is a word for that (and I think you know it very well): communitarians.

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All of these "cultural signifiers" seem to only apply to White people (Whole Foods are noticeably absent from minority areas) which may be problematic since, under the current alignment, the Democrats' national electorate is probably minority-majority

Good observation. Although the Democratic electorate is likely closer to 55% or 60% White.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

All of these "cultural signifiers" seem to only apply to White people (Whole Foods are noticeably absent from minority areas) which may be problematic since, under the current alignment, the Democrats' national electorate is probably minority-majority

Yes, because your party is so racist and nativist that nearly everyone else self-selects out of it by default.

Can we not?

This is worse than Fuzzy Bear shouting BLM out of context.