Cowboys Are:

[THUNDER HANDS]

In general terms.... (not the Dallas Cowboys football team) ...

[Fenris]

1. Gay, according to "The American West: A New Interpetive History"

By Robert V. Hine and John Mack Faragher.

[GOPisEvil]

2. "Real" cowboys or "drugstore" cowboys?

The folks that own farms and ranches and work the land are good people. Drugstore cowboys have always mystified me. I never understood wearing a costume every day of the year, but to each their own.

[joeybee12]

3. Voted other--it's a combination--cute, stupid, unintentionally cruel (they

can't be intentionally cruel because they're so dumb), and probably gay or they like to experiment.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

4. gay, or just don't have anyone else around?

Sorta like in jail...

[joeybee12]

17. More like the jail type...

...although the gay rodeos are very popular, so maybe they're more gay than option-limited.

[LynneSin]

5. If you're talking about the Dallas Cowboys - they SUCK ASS

nuff said

[VelmaD]

15. Alright Lynne...don't make me...

come paddle your butt. :evilgrin:

[mac56]

6. Remember the SNL song?

Woody Harrelson, Phil Hartman, and Dana Carvey?

"Ki-yi-yippie-yi-oh-ki-ay -
We're three very lonesome cowboys."

"There's a woodchuck in my bedroll
And he's startin' to make my head roll..."

[MissMillie]

7. a football team (n/t)

.

[LWolf]

8. I assume you mean real cowboys?

They are as diverse as the rest of the population. I wouldn't categorize them one way or the other.

I've known some mean-spirited cowboys. And I've known some great cowboys.

My favorite live cowboy, currently, is a Zen Buddhist.

[Aristus]

9. Other: Cowboys are basically a myth built up around working-class

guys who would probably have sneered at the bullshit things that have been attributed to them. The whole Hollywood notion of cowboys being white-hat knights on horseback is baloney. (Although the last thirty years or so of westerns have debunked that myth.) Cowboys work long hours, doing a tough job under harsh conditions for bad food and lousy wages. They are not an "icon of the West, independent, free-spirited, beholden to none." Cowboys were and are employees. Employees of ranch owners, who were frequently absentee bosses, running their concerns remotely from Chicago and even New York City.

Don't even get me started on drugstore cowboys. Guys like that are pathetic. "Ahm a COWBOAH!" Really? What makes you a cowboy? You work in an aluminum-siding factory, live in a trailer, drive a pick-up truck and chew Skoal. Which of those things makes you a cowboy?

Well, you can see I kind of carry a big stick on the subject. :eyes:

[GOPisEvil]

10. Those "real" cowboys weren't white in large part, either.

Many of them, perhaps even a majority of them were Hispanic or African-American.

Once again, we agree on drugstore cowboys. My favorite response to a drugstore cowboy almost resulted in a friend of mine getting into a fight. We were out one night the day after Halloween, having fun. We went to a convenience store to get something or another. A drugstore cowboy walked in as we were walking out. My friend says, "Halloween was yesterday. Why are you still dressed like a cowboy?" I thought that guy was gonna kill us!

[bmbmd]

11. I know many honest-to-God cowboys

and I love'em to death. May not agree with all they say or do, but admire their honesty and integrity and work ethic. One of my dearest friends is a cow-punching bronc busting reformed hard drinker and dipper-I miss him a lot.

[Lisa0825]

12. Living in the Houston area, I see cowboy wannabes everyday...

and I find them extremely annoying. I don't know any real cowboys, but I answered based on those who *think* they are cowboys.

[Ilsa]

13. Real cowboys are tough. Windshield cowboys

like the phony in the WH are a blight on the name of working cowboys.

[Duckiesplaything]

14. There are very few real cowboys left.

Most just like to play cowboy, were the boots and the hat, maybe ride a wild (captive raised) pony. And of course were the tight pants that the ladys go crazy over.....YEEEE Freakin HAAAAW!!!

[Whitacre D_WI]

16. Cowboys Are Square.

[DrWeird]

18. Dead.

The posers today remind me of the renaissance festival holding creative anachronists. They're as geeky as trekkies IMHO.