| Author |
Across the Fence:  One of the last "acceptable" prejudices...  |
|
Peanut
True Blue Farmgirl
603 Posts
Jennifer
Waverly
Virginia
USA
603 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 18 2008 : 05:52:08 AM
|
Why do people think it's still alright to make slurs against rural dwellers? These are people who would rather cut off their own head than tell a joke about anyone of an ethnic group or cultural group but think nothing of making fun of someone who grew up/lives in a rural setting.
It really makes me upset. 
"What is a farm but a mute gospel?"
Ralph Waldo Emerson |
|
|
bohemiangel
True Blue Farmgirl
2087 Posts
Bridget
Ligonier
pa
USA
2087 Posts |
|
|
Carolinagirl
True Blue Farmgirl
486 Posts
Kim
Rutherfordton
NC
USA
486 Posts |
Posted - Feb 18 2008 : 12:35:47 PM
|
That's the common accepted prejudice about the South. I refuse to go to any of the shows in Pigeon Forge that promote the stereotype of the no-shoe-wearing, no teeth-having, overalled hillbilly playing a jug. In fact, I have a hard time going to Pigeon Forge at all for that reason. When people from "out of town" (meaning out of the South) visit PF, they see these stereotypes and believe that, since it's promoted there, that's how the South is.
Lewis Grizzard always said "I-95 goes both ways." |
 |
|
|
miss wilma
True Blue Farmgirl
3410 Posts
Wilma
Knob Lick
Ky
USA
3410 Posts |
Posted - Feb 18 2008 : 1:04:48 PM
|
Jennifer thank you for your post , I have lived in what some would call a poor rural community all my life, but you know it s funny how the city slickers all ways had to come here to find something to eat my brother wont eat a chicken wing to this day because the city kinfolk always ate all the good chicken up, We might have been poor but we had the manners not to make fun of people Maybe there were some people as poor and uneducated as they are protrayed but I think a few that makes fun should take a good look at their self, I know one thing it doesnt take very long for a good old uneducated southern person to know when they are looking at a idiot, If the south is so back woods how come the north keeps coming down, No offence to the North I love northern people but I do have enough southern mammers to not make fun them. I have no desire to watch those silly things either
Farm Girl #96
http://www.picturetrail.com/misswilmasplace
http://misswilma.blogspot.com/ |
|
|
|
levisgrammy
True Blue Farmgirl
9402 Posts
Denise
Beavercreek
Ohio
USA
9402 Posts |
Posted - Feb 18 2008 : 1:14:56 PM
|
Kim,
Please don't think that is limited to the south. I grew in the mts. of NY state and we were called hicks, hillbillies and lots of other things. It is just because people are too snobbish to get to know people so it's easier to cast a slur about people they know nothing about.
BTW, that can go both ways. I have seen people whom I thought would never be that way end up being snobs to those who consider themselves the better class.
So one is no better than the other.
farmgirl sister #43
Kind hearts are gardens
Kind thoughts are roots
Kind words are blossoms
Kind deeds are Fruits
www.torismimi.blogspot.com
www.torisgram.etsy.com |
|
|
|
CountryBorn
True Blue Farmgirl
1545 Posts
Mary Jane
New York
USA
1545 Posts |
Posted - Feb 18 2008 : 1:38:45 PM
|
I agree with you Denise. I was born in what people considered the boondocks and I loved it and I still live in a rural area and I love it. But, I put up with so much crap from my MIL because of where we choose to live. I think she was ashamed of us because we didn't have a blacktop driveway(can you imagine what it would cost to pave an 1800ft driveway!!!) She was always making digs at us with a laugh of course. But we knew she meant it. She also thought we were the poor ones in her family. It was a hoot really. But, I guess I was a bit snobbish too, because I couldn't understand how anyone could live in what I call the blacktop jungle!But,I never said anything to her. Now if people make comments I laugh at them, that really irratates the daylights out of them.Why can't people just live and let live? Why does it bother some people so much where others live? They don't have to live there so what's it to them?
MJ
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. Freya Stark |
|
|
|
CountryBorn
True Blue Farmgirl
1545 Posts
Mary Jane
New York
USA
1545 Posts |
Posted - Feb 18 2008 : 1:42:23 PM
|
Oh, one more thing,I also hate it when people automatically think if you live in a mobile home you are "trailer trash" that really irratates me to no end. I have lived in many of them and I have always loved them. That is still so much an acceptable prejudice or should I say prejudgement.
MJ
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. Freya Stark |
|
|
|
kydeere40744
True Blue Farmgirl
1132 Posts
Jessica
Kentucky
USA
1132 Posts |
Posted - Feb 18 2008 : 2:47:09 PM
|
MJ you remind me of my raising. We lived down the long gravel driveway on our farm. Very few actually had blacktop and pretty much everyone does now. Now I can tell you a lot of 4wheeling journeys getting up the very long backroad that was graveled and full of potholes going to a couple of friends.
I think nowadays people hear Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy, etc and think that is the true rural way. Kim mentioned Pigeon Forge too. You wouldn't believe when I was a Resident Assistant in a dorm in college (in charge of a floor of students), when Freshmen dropped off their kids. Most of them came from Appalachian region, but some of them were obviously not. They were shocked that we had all our teeth, are cleaned up, and don't run around barefoot. I can remember one family who I had a long conversation with. They said that they thought that was the way it was, but definitely will let others know it isn't the way here. Also..they said you won't meet anyone that will provide a warm welcome like someone from the country. Their daughter and I grew up to be great friends and still stay in touch. She now works in the Appalachian region as a nurse helping others.
Next time someone drops a line about being raised country, be sure to give them a slice of ole vinegar pie as we say...
~Jessica in Kentucky & Farmgirl Sisterhood #137~
Be sure to visit my blog & Crafty Clipart for some of my photographs:
http://bluegrassprincess.blogspot.com/
http://www.craftyclipart.com |
|
|
|
one_dog_per_acre
True Blue Farmgirl
1572 Posts
Trish
Sandpoint
ID
USA
1572 Posts |
Posted - Feb 18 2008 : 2:50:03 PM
|
I was raised in the country, in Southern Oregon, and lived most of my adult life in large cities. Now we live in the panhandle of Idaho, and I am sure glad to be out of that rat race. The people here are so nice, helpful, and polite. I can't tell you how many people in the city would let me struggle to wheel my best friend, in her wheelchair and open a big store door. That would NEVER happen in Bonners Ferry, where men act like real men. People in the city should really be thankful that there are folks in the country who want to raise their food, harvest trees for their newspapers, etc; etc.
Farmgirl Sister #91
Make cupcakes not war! |
|
|
|
JessieMae
True Blue Farmgirl
702 Posts
Jessie
Raleigh
North Carolina
USA
702 Posts |
Posted - Feb 18 2008 : 3:45:00 PM
|
Please keep in mind, ladies, that this door swings both ways.
Is "city slicker" less derogatory than "hillbilly?" Both are unkind and unfair.
I've lived in the North my whole life, while my mother's family is all from the South. When I was a girl visiting there, I often felt like a social pariah. Some Southerners use their "southern manners" like a weapon used to browbeat others into feeling ashamed for being from up North. Like, my southern cousins used to roll their eyes and correct me for saying, "Yes, please," instead of, "Yes, ma'am." Aren't both polite? Aren't both respectful?
We're all proud of where we come from. No region is better than any other region. They're just all different is all. Nasty rural people roll their eye and mutter, "City slickers." Nasty city people roll their eyes and mutter, "Hillbillies." Nasty Northerners make stereotypes about Southerners. Nasty Southerners make stereotypes about Northerners. Mean people are everywhere.
I admit I'm overly sensitive about this. My father thought my mother's family acted like extras from "Hee-Haw." My mother thought my father's family was full of uptight jerks. I spent my whole life caught in the middle...loving both sides of a family that looked at me like an oddity that didn’t fit in on either side! |
|
|
|
miss wilma
True Blue Farmgirl
3410 Posts
Wilma
Knob Lick
Ky
USA
3410 Posts |
Posted - Feb 18 2008 : 4:14:49 PM
|
Jessie I think you have a very good point, today at the drs office there was a lady there from another county, she talked very different from just a neighboring county, but you know I would never have thought to mock her, What I saw was a very beautiful loving lady that I would have loved to have been close friends with, No one should be ashamed about where they are from. We should just be our natural selves, pretendig to be otherwise is when we make a fool of ourselves. I know one thing if I am going to Boston I will have to do a lot of practicing.And one more thing some of the sweetest people I know live in trailors and it makes me mad to hear trailor trash.I was born in a little two room house but my little 15 and 17 year old parents were proud because it was paid for
Farm Girl #96
http://www.picturetrail.com/misswilmasplace
http://misswilma.blogspot.com/ |
|
|
|
Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Feb 18 2008 : 10:04:24 PM
|
I agree, people are people the world around. It is great to have pride in where you come from, but one thing I try to keep in my thoughts is that what fits for one person doesn't always fit for another.
For example, I LOVE using cloth diapers for my baby, but I have several friends who thought we were crazy for doing cloth diapering. They enjoy their disposables. I figure that I am right for my reasons (Economy, environment) and they are right for their reasons (convience and saved laundry time). I think it is the same with people. I personally am yearning for the time when I can lead a more rural life where I will have time to get to know my neighbors, but I know lots of people that love driving fancy cars and working in corporate environments.
I think the biggest thing we need to remember is how a simple classification word to us, might be hurtful to others. But, I think it is comforting to know that no matter where someone is raised or with how much money they were raised with, they can still choose to be a kind and loving person.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
Please come visit Nora and I our our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
|
|
|
Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Feb 19 2008 : 04:01:37 AM
|
I only judge if someone meets the "profile". There are rednecks, white trash and good 'ole boys. We County Folk are of a different cut, so you may want to clairify to the city Slickers next time they start bashing. There are distinct differences!
Rednecks keep an untidy house and have more than 3 trashy looking vehicles. Two barely run and the one that does sounds like a Harley-which they race up and down the roads on the weekends while trying to fix the thing.
There are typically dogs uncared for in the yard. They possess more than 2 firearms. Just because. They
litter in the woods and have a general disregard for peple and animals and nautre. These people still toss around the "N" word. They cross into the white trash rhelm when their teeth are missing, they abuse aniamls and women and have more than 3 kids so they can abuse the system. Typically they'll have a police record too and have at least one charge of drug abuse (hece the missing teeth).
Good 'ole boys are like my hubby. They have at lest a highschool eduaction, they go to church on Sundays, they have held a steady job. They like to hunt but would rather be doing someting else.
They have pets and at least neuther them. They keep a tidy yard but tend toward organized chaos in the house.
All 3 classes like their beer, the type varies. Same for sports.
Country folk live off the land, have a great respect for it and take pride in handing it down to their kids. They use up everything and try not to waste much. Some live off grid and are self sustaining.
These folks are to be applauded. Their education far surpasses mere book knowledge.
They will give you the shirts off their backs and send one along too.
|
|
|
|
CountryBorn
True Blue Farmgirl
1545 Posts
Mary Jane
New York
USA
1545 Posts |
Posted - Feb 19 2008 : 06:26:56 AM
|
Anna, if that is the definition of Redneck, we have a lot of them up north too!!LOL! See, it all still boils down to what my Mom and Grandma taught me. Live and let live and having everyone be the same would make the world such a boring place.
MJ
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. Freya Stark |
|
|
|
abbasgurl
True Blue Farmgirl
1262 Posts
Rhonda
USA
1262 Posts |
Posted - Feb 19 2008 : 09:35:10 AM
|
I recently watched a documentary about coal miners. The term "Redneck" was said to have originated during the "Redneck War" in 1921. Coal miners wore red neckerchiefs to identify themselves to each other during the fighting. These same red clothes were worn in the mines to filter dust. How strange that this has become such a derogatory term!
When I hear the term "hillbilly" I think of bluegrass music and home cooking! I guess beauty IS in the eye of the beholder.
Let's face it... low down people exist everywhere in every place, race and economic class. But don't forget, that goes for good people too! Smile and be genuinely good to people and we'll encounter a lot less prejudice.
I've been called a hayseed and a city slicker...all depends on which patch of grass/pavement I am standin' on! LOL
Rhonda
I will sing at the top of my lungs, and I will dance even if I'm the only one...
http://www.kattywhompus.etsy.com |
|
|
|
one_dog_per_acre
True Blue Farmgirl
1572 Posts
Trish
Sandpoint
ID
USA
1572 Posts |
Posted - Feb 19 2008 : 10:54:40 AM
|
I guess it's different up here, as far as definitions. To us a redneck is a republican that doesn't vote, that's what my daddy taught me. I was raised by a biker and a mountain mama ex-go go dancer. I've never met anyone with a harley that was a redneck. Good guys wear black!
Farmgirl Sister #91
Make cupcakes not war! |
|
|
|
chicken necker
True Blue Farmgirl
509 Posts
Sherry
Eastern Shore
Maryland
USA
509 Posts |
Posted - Feb 19 2008 : 11:10:00 AM
|
ROFL! Any one whose read my first few posts here knows why I have to respond to this one!
"You call me a chicken necker like it's a bad thing!"
I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by. ~anon |
|
|
|
Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Feb 19 2008 : 12:14:43 PM
|
"Rednecks keep an untidy house and have more than 3 trashy looking vehicles. Two barely run and the one that does sounds like a Harley-which they race up and down the roads on the weekends while trying to fix the thing."
Um...I would have to plead guilty on these two counts. But we live in a Northern city. And we also recycle, compost, buy organic when possible, etc.
I have to agree with Jessie Mae, who pointed out that rural people can be just as cruel in their stereotypes about urban people, and southerners about northerners. Actually, I think both us city-dwellers and country folk get it the worst from the suburbanites in the middle. But let's try to remember: we can't always choose the circumstances we live in, there are good people trying to live the best they can in the cities, the country, the suburbs, and the small towns.
|
|
|
|
Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Feb 20 2008 : 03:28:12 AM
|
When I was growing up the FFA kids were always shunned and has their own little group they hung out with. Since I was on the college prep route, we barely crossed paths.
Had there been more time, I'd have loved to do both.
I come from farm stock, so its only natureal. That's probably why I get such a big kick out of visiting the state fair every year.
It's not for the rides, it's to see the stock shows and all the hard work kids have put into their animals. |
|
|
|
Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Feb 20 2008 : 03:34:57 AM
|
True about the stereo-type going in the reverse.
Beings I'm from the North, I'm very sensitive when talking in a group of "locals".
I feel funny to have to "dumb" myself down just to be understood sometimes. Sorry, but I'm not about to throw away 6 years of college. This happens mostly when speaking to older men....who sometimes in these parts don't hold women in very high regard anyway.
As long as people are good to me, I'm good back to them.
And, sometimes too, people forget I'm from the North, especially when we are swapping garden stores and how we cook our greens.
Occasionally when I can't understand hubby, I ask him to pinch his nose and "Yankee-ify" it for me.
|
|
|
|
jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Feb 20 2008 : 04:40:54 AM
|
I read a very interesting book recently. It was a true story from the early 1940's of a woman newly graduated from an elite college in New York, born and raised in New York state, who went to live for one year at John Campbell Folk Art School in North Carolina. Her purpose for that time was to teach Appalachian residents certain skills and to also learn their skills from them. The vintage photos in the book are lovely, and show the people, the church they attended in Brasstown North Carolina, and the mountain people who worked at the school. They all look so neat and nicely dressed, and friendly. The author ended up marrying a mountain boy after the war, staying in North Carolina and raising 4 children in a little mountain home, and she loved it. In fact, she is still alive today and still in North Carolina. This was an era when many people did not have cars yet and walked to their church and to the folk school, and did not have a lot of money. But the book shows how dignified the locals were, how kind, and how hard-working and caring. They wanted to share their knowledge of country living and wanted to learn new ways of making their community better. I really enjoyed that peek into the past.
The title is called "My Journey to Appalachia - A year at the Folk Art School" by Eleanor Lambert Wilson. When I finished this book, I felt reassured once more that good folks are and always have been everywhere.
Farmgirl Sister # 31
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
Edited by - jpbluesky on Feb 20 2008 04:45:39 AM |
|
|
|
CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Feb 20 2008 : 06:00:12 AM
|
it's been interesting reading everyone's feelings and experiences on this subject. my beliefs lie with those who have commented that people are people (kind and mean) no matter where we live .. there are prejudices in EVERY corner of the usa .. be it north, south, east or west. and i believe that 'mean-spiritedness' (and ignorance .. and by 'ignorance' i mean: lack of knowlege of a particular subject) knows no single area of this country .. or indeed THE WORLD!
i find that often people FROM one of these areas .. most often tells jokes about their 'own' people .. often using terms that perpetuate these stereotypes or beliefs.
i ALSO believe that to find humor in our OWN foibles (real or imagined) often happens .. commedians OFTEN do this. now it would be interesting to hear what we each 'think' is behind this fact. and why so many from an area being 'joked' about are often laughing the loudest.
having lived in all four regions of our country .. i don't see any difference in kind people .. (nor in mean-spirited ones - who truly have no FIRST-HAND knowledge of living in another part of the country). The good book sez sumpthin' about not TOSSING ROCKS out our own GLASS window!
I try to be careful not to 'categorize' others as being from 'the city, the country, the mountains, the seaside' as being any 'lesser' than someone from one of the other areas .. if we judge another area of human beings in a negative way ... as a 'group' we then become the very 'people' we are complaining about! i've also found it very simple and extremely easy to be accepted and liked in every area of the country i have lived in. just be KIND-hearted and not MEAN-spirited. that's the simple path to all being ONE.
True Friends * Frannie
HEAR MY STORIES
come, visit my:
"GATHERING ROOM" ..
http://freedomvalleyfarm.blogspot.com
adopt a 'rag-chile'
http://sistermercysfoundlinhome.blogspot.com
treasures .. new and olde .. up for adoption:
http://mudpiemanormercantile.blogspot.com
|
|
|
|
Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Feb 20 2008 : 06:26:05 AM
|
Do you know what I love to do? I love to think about the positives. Here's a humorous story about this small Wyoming girl going to the "Big City" (NYC) when I was in High School.
I went to NYC on an art trip with about 10 other people. We had a _blast_ for 4 day and 3 nights and all came home with a roaring strep throat infection, but that's another story. While we were there, our French foreign exchange student, Emily, wanted to get her tongue pierced. Now in Wyoming and Montana, usually you go to a tattoo parlor for any major body piercings. One of the afternoons, our art Teacher let us split up into groups of 5 and 6 to explore downtown a little. So off my group set to find a piercing studio. We looked and looked and couldn't find anything. But we did see a tattoo parlor with lots of big burly guys hanging around out front.
By this time, I was tired of looking, and knew we were going to run out of time if we couldn't find one soon. So I told my friends that I was going to ask the bikers. Of course they couldn't believe I would do such a thing, and wasn't it dangerous etc etc. I ignored them and went up to one of the guys and said "Excuse me, does this shop to piercings? My friend over there wants to get her tongue pierced." The man was very helpful in giving us directions to the mall that had a shop that specialized in piercings as that shop only did tattoos.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
Please come visit Nora and I our our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
|
|
|
gafarmwoman
True Blue Farmgirl
244 Posts
Pam
Georgia
USA
244 Posts |
Posted - Feb 20 2008 : 06:56:08 AM
|
Being from about far south as you can get and growing up in rural Georgia. I know prejudice. Living through segregation into integration. I know prejudice. I watched as my neighbors came and waited on the school bus in front of our house. They were African American. Their school was way across the county in a not so nice building. Their school bus was a run down 20 year old looking bus. They walked about a mile to wait on that old school bus in all types of weather.
I have 6 brothers and sisters and we grew up without a indoor bathroom. We were all clean, our house was clean, we went to church every Sunday. But I know prejudice. It is not a pretty face.
Every single person whether they admit it or not, at one time in their life has shown that side of their face. Because we are all human. I know growing up in rural Georgia, poor within a large loving family you were still considered to be low class if you lived on a dirt road, you wore homemade dresses and didn't have as many material things as others.
I once read about a person who was declared clinically dead but was revived. She said that before she could go through the white light she felt the feelings of others she had spoke bad to. Felt the way they felt as she spoke the hurtful words to them. I have always remembered that and try my best not to hurt by words.
I can honestly say growing up poor made me who I am today. Which I think is a strong, hardworking, loving woman who can and did accomplish anything she set her country mind to do.
You can never have enough friends.
Please come and sit a spell with me at Life on a Southern Farm
http://georgiafarmwoman.blogspot.com |
|
|
|
Carolinagirl
True Blue Farmgirl
486 Posts
Kim
Rutherfordton
NC
USA
486 Posts |
Posted - Feb 20 2008 : 07:38:32 AM
|
I think that people show their prejudices when they think they are right. It's fairly evident here on the board, in matters of education, childbearing and rearing, ways of living. People think it's okay to put others down if they truly believe they are doing it "the right way."
That's what I see a lot with people who come from somewhere else into the South. They want to change how things are done- in a variety of different ways- because they "know better." I realize that I'm making a broad generalization, but my experiences with people from somewhere else who come here, especially people from cities, want to change the very things that make them move to rural areas. I've been out of the South, and out of the country, and I can't imagine telling someone in another place how they should change to meet my standards.
As an aside, there are colleges across the South, including the tech college I went to before I transferred to USC (South Carolina), that offered courses to GET RID OF THE SOUTHERN ACCENT! Oh My God!
Also, I wanted to point out that I didn't pick one particular category of people to point my finger at in perpetuating stereotypes about Southerners. In all honesty, a lot of my experiences have been with Northern people, but I don't limit my observations to them. Hollywood, and even Southerners themselves are horrible about stereotypes about the South and its people.
Kim |
|
|
|
Carolinagirl
True Blue Farmgirl
486 Posts
Kim
Rutherfordton
NC
USA
486 Posts |
Posted - Feb 20 2008 : 07:42:19 AM
|
Anna- I'm not sure what you mean by dumbing yourself down. I've got five years of college, and I don't dumb myself down to talk with different people. True, you have to speak to others in a way that they can communicate with you, but people in the South aren't dumb, or aren't any dumber than anyone else. We talk slower, but we think just as fast. :) As a reporter, I've had to learn to communicate with a variety of people from all across society, from government officials to the guy who lives beside the dump. The only ones that I've been irritated by are the irrational ones that refuse to communicate at all.
Kim |
|
|
|
Across the Fence: One of the last "acceptable" prejudices... |
|
One of the last "acceptable" prejudices...
Topic Locked
