Hopefully you caught my Blake Shelton reference here....
Say what you will about dumb blonde jokes, country folks get
hit with just as much force when it comes to degrading comments about their
intelligence. Join me as we journey through one of the major ways in which this
cultural group is misrepresented in the United States.
What I want to focus on is the stereotype that rednecks are
dumb and uneducated. People classify them as a group with thick unintelligible
backwoods accents, who marry their cousins and sisters and brothers, and live
in Podunk towns and hunt and constantly chomp on tobacco under their scraggly
dirty beards. Take this YouTube
video for example, it’s titled “15 Rednecks Gone Wild Labor Day 2013.” It is
two minutes of “rednecks” drunk out of their mind, girls in bathing suits, and
swimming in creeks. Not the classiest people around. (http://youtu.be/VPvJ4ShEkqI BEWARE: the
f word is used…. Sorry.)
According to one Urban Dictionary definition a redneck is: “a
white individual from the southern united states who generally drinks a lot of
cheap beer, likes Nascar, hunting (or killing random squirrels that cross their
path), Bush, the confederate flag and big trucks. They usually are very closed
minded to anything that their redneck background isn’t familiar with including
gays, blacks, Muslims/Jews/Athiests, interracial marriage, Goths, liberals or
any other minority.(yes, sadly liberals are now a minority.) they get their
name from their white skin and how they easily burn in the sun when they aren’t
out drinking, making their necks red.”
Take this purchasable Halloween costume as another example
of how backwoods country folk are represented:
The fact that they’re even labeled “rednecks” is degrading
to their intelligence and character as well. This single story is harmful because not
everybody that comes from a small town or has a southern accent or loves to
hunt and wear camouflage is uneducated and dumpy.
It’s limiting because in regards to employment or seeking a career this
stereotype may stick and make opportunities harder to achieve.
Based off the three artifacts I chose, it’s evident what
society has done to label country people and the stereotypes that have been
pressed upon them. Essentially they’re viewed as uneducated and trashy and just
plain stupid.
I agree that the redneck "single story" that has been created closes a lot of doors for so many people who have an accent or enjoy some of the activities that have been classified as redneck activities. With the growing amount of redneck reality shows on television, this single story is a growing problem.
ReplyDeleteThis has totally become a huge problem in the last few years.
ReplyDeleteThis was great to read. My husband is from Kentucky and the people he calls "rednecks" are actually decent people. They aren't gross lazy people who can't seem to take care of themselves. It's more about an attitude in his eyes than an appearance.
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ReplyDeleteOne of my coworkers over the summer had the reddest, darkest skin I have ever seen on a caucasian, and it's because he was always outside working all day. (Also he didn't wear sunscreen.) But he was a true backwoods Missourian, meaning he loved the outdoors. I find that most of the "rednecks" I know are not lacking in common sense, a lot simply prefer honest, hardworking jobs and like being able to spend time out in nature. And I don't feel there's anything negative about that.
ReplyDeleteYou've highlighted a real, growing problem in the media today. I feel like most people think it's now the "cool" thing to hate "rednecks" because they're perceived as narrow-minded and stupid. But, everyone I've met from the deep south has been intelligent, hardworking, and more than anything, extremely kind. That's more than I can say for a lot of people I've met from other places. Plus, their accents are adorable! Just saying.
ReplyDeleteThe poor rednecks. They just need a different nickname. Redneck has a bad connotation, and I love sweet southern people!
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