Western lifestyle

Western lifestyle or cowboy culture is the lifestyle, or behaviourisms, of, and resulting from the influence of, the (often romanticized) attitudes, ethics and history of the American Western cowboy and cowgirl. In the present day these influences affect this sector of the population's choice of recreation, clothing, and consumption of goods. Today, the Western lifestyle is considered a subculture and includes strong influences from Native American and Mexican American, as well as aspects of African American and Asian American cultures.

The origins of cowboy culture go back to the Spanish who settled in New Mexico and later Texas bringing cattle. Prior to the 19th century, ranchers were primarily Spanish while those working it were Indigenous. By the late 1800s, one in three cowboys were Mexican and brought to the lifestyle its iconic symbols of hats, bandanas, spurs, stirrups, lariat, and lasso. With westward movement brought many distinct ethnicities all with their own cultural traditions. Welsh Americans, as one example, had a history in Wales of cattle and sheep droving, that incorporated well into ranch work.

A common misconception is in relating Country to Western or vice versa. While the two may have similarities such as the music being based on folk singing, they are in fact uniquely different. For example, the sound of Country originates from Appalachia where immigrants of the British Isles settled in the hills of the south-east United States. Prior to the coining of the phrase "Country & Western" in 1956, Country was in large part known as Hillbilly music. On the other side, Western music derives from the area west of the Appalachia and ties into cowboy culture originally from Mexico but today spreads in the western states and parts of Western Canada. In the mid-20th century fusion of the two genres occurred with many musicians applying aspects of both genres into their song repertoire.

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