Rednecks...why does everyone automatically assume

It don't think it's anything personal. When people hear your from a certain state or if you have an accent sometimes there are stereotypes attached to that region.

I'm from New England (RI/MASS border) and when people hear my accent or find out where I'm from they'll think of the mob, or that I'm stuck up and snobby. It's just a stereotype.

See where I'm from, it's ok to be a redneck lol. In high school, our "clique" was dubbed shit kickers. Who cares? But we're not trashy. That what I'm saying. I guess being country/redneck, is where I get the annoyance with the rustic weddings lol.

And my sons father is a hillbilly. Bred born and fed from a coal mining family and a long list of waitresses and nurses aides. Do they consider themselves trashy? Hell no. My ex mil lives in a $150k house(on the KY/West Virg line, that's high! Lol!)...but that's a geographical thing as well. She got married at 16, was 18 when she had her first, 20 when she had XH. She got married bc her momma told XFIL that he ruined her, and no shit with a gun in his face, they were at the church the next day, married after Wednesday night service!!!

Call her trashy, and she will walk your ass up a hill all day, whoopin you like Mohammed Ali! And she answers to redneck. But call her trashy, and omg. Run.

Same with me. Being country is in your blood. You either are or you ain't. You can't be something you're not. And in FFA, we had preppie bitches and cheerleaders, so that'll tell you the area I grew up in. FFA was more important than some sports, and athletes felt the same.

But damn, didn't realize this thread would blow up lol.

@FordGrl, wish I have thought of your screen name! But cheetah is how you pronounce FHs last name, so I liked it better ;-)

Besides, every guy I know prefers a country/redneck girl. We know how to change our own oil, what beer/alcohol to buy and why, and give us a cherry picker or an A frame, we don't need no damned mechanic :-) according to fh, a real woman knows the difference between a spark plug an a glow plug, and why tony llama boots are so expensive, lmao dork!!!

Stereotypes = ignorance

Ugh why do we have to label everything.

We are proud rednecks, but we aren't trashy. Where I'm from redneck is jut a little more country than just "country". If someone calls me a redneck, I don't take offense to it unless it is said in a negative way.

Anytime you lump people together in groups, its ignorance.

It started with "The Beverly Hillbillies" (possum stew, rocking chairs on the back of broken down trucks, moonshine, no formal education) and has evolved into "Honey Boo Boo" (maybe they're nice people, but their personal habits......). A lot of it has to do with the media's desire to produce stuff that will make everyone point and laugh.

I've met some highly intelligent, refined, and polite individuals who self-identify as country. I've also met people who throw a communal dish towel on the dinner table instead of putting out individual napkins. The more shocked I was by their behavior, the more they played it up. It's about individuals, not demographics.

Actually redneck and white trash are pretty synonymous in terms of definitions. Redneck is a derogatory slang term that is used to reference poor, white, and generally uneducated farmers (generally from the South). The term itself is a reference to the sun burn someone would get from working the fields all day.

More recently I think has begun to reference people more politically in terms of being bigoted, non-liberal, non-accepting of urbanism and modern ways.

I understand that some people have "reclaimed" the word and label themselves redneck with pride. However, the fact that the word literally started as a derogatory slang word would be why for many people it is still a derogatory slang word.

Not that it's right for people to stereotype.

......where I am there's a difference between country and blue collar and "redneck". There are a lot of country and blue collar farmers and people here. They are not trashy. The ones who call themselves rednecks are the same ones who stick confederate flags on their trucks and yell out white power at me, let their houses become rundown and never cut their lawns, don't give a crap about dress codes for anything, and brag about how much free medical care they get through the state, so yes I see redneck as trashy generally speaking. This may be a regional difference of terminology thing.

What Hannah said. But hey, if people embrace it great. It's not a term I use so I'm not really worried.

question for those of you that consider yourself rednecks... Jeff Foxworthy, funny or mean spirited? I just ask because it seems to fuel the stereotype

I am finding this thread interesting and educational. I live in a big city where I do not see many who would be considered "country" and definitely no one that I would consider redneck.

Redneck in my area is just a term thrown around based more on location than how the person acts... It isn't usually used super negatively, more jokingly.

@Pan S I have a confederate flag tattoo on my back. Doesn't make me trashy. I also don't believe in white power either.

I won't discuss my beliefs in regards to respecting others. But still.

And the Robertson family, is a perfect example. Hatfields and McCoys were hillbillies, but they weren't trashy folk. All 3 of those families are actually quite wealthy, with the latter 2 being wealthy without television. (I'm under impression Duck Dynasty gained momentum when they became more popular for their product, not just general wealth).

But then, I think city folk are snotty, so I see where the stereo types come from. I get the CRAZIEST looks when I deem to shop at the Galleria(their Fossil store is my most favorite, am there's an engraving shop there I love!). But I still get funny looks.

Omg and my biggest pet peeve lately is Miss Me jeans. And burlap. And lace. Bc I'm trying to figure out wtf lace and burlap have to do with a rustic lodge. Bc you know, men love their doilies out at the hunting cabin!

Oh and the only thing we drink out of mason jars is moonshine. Seriously. I buy those tempered freezable glasses for my shots and drink my beer out the bottle. Budweiser no less, bc light beer is for p***ies, and I tell fh that all the time. The best wine is made out of Tow, TX, when I dare attempt to drink it. It's also just $4/bottle. I've pushed more broke down trucks than I've driven.

But y'all just remember this. Southern folk, be they country, redneck, or Even white trash? They won't leave your ass sittin on the side if the road, ever. I've literally given my last dollar more times than I can count, and have bought more clothes for othe people's kids than I have my own.

Even a white trash person will attempt to wipe out a glass and offer you some water if you needed it. We wave to people we don't know, I'll hold a door open for a man. And when it comes to etiquette, well we know a hostess eats last, the men are served first(breadwinners), then the children. We plate ourselves last, and if your smart, you'll eat while you're cookin, bc good chance you're on a budget and second helpings aren't possible all the time.

You serve lemons on your tea, lemonade and water. The best tea comes from a glass jug sitting in the sun all day.

Oh and mason jars ain't classy. They were the servants china.

So my question is....if it's okay to be redneck and country (I live in a rural area, I get it), is it okay to call people ghetto? I used to teach in low-income city areas, and those folks were just as pleasant and nice and doing the best that they could for their families. And treating we that worked in the school very well. And I was treated very well in their neighborhoods and at their local stores. As much the same as rural folks treat others.

I tend to think that we don't want to stereotype inner city low income folks either.

@Monique, my idea of ghetto is Bebe's kids on Maury ;-)

Hehehe...but, I have met some ghetto people since moving to Houston. I can't give my definition of ghetto, bc it would be ugly. However it has to do with iPhones, Cadillacs and govt assistance in the same house. Just saying!!!

Well, the people I know who refer to themselves as redneck are trashy so because of my personal experiences with that term and the actual definitions I view it negatively. Much the same way some women call themselves bitches, sluts, and hoes because they think it's empowering but I still find those terms offensive and negative. The same said persons who yelled white power at me from their truck were also the same people who threw little bits of food at me at lunch in school because I was the lone Asian girl, so yeah we'll just have to agree to allow the other to have their own view of the word. It's your right to refer to yourself in whatever way you want. If it's not negative where you are than that's great.

That said rednecks are the snobbiest people I have ever met according to the definition of snob: One who affects an offensive air of self-satisfied superiority in matters of taste or intellect.

Bottom line, if a term is used (such as on an open forum) that even one person is offended by or does not like; it needs to stop.

Just because members of a certain group call one another the term or if you know someone that doesn't mind being called something it is not an excuse or license to refuse to apologize when someone is hurt by it.

@Pan S, wow that is horribly fkd up, and I can only imagine how that was for you.

I just know when we got called shit kickers in school, we had a couple black guys and a black girl that hung out with us. But I can't recall doing anything against someone in SCHOOL based on their, uhhhh crap, would it be called race? Bc to me, Asian, Chinese, or those from the orient are a different culture, not so much a different race :-/

Dang sorry about that

All I can say is "WOW" to all the comments on this post. Their is absolutely nothing wrong with being a Redneck. I personally am a Southern Country Redneck Hillbilly and I'm proud of it and am NOT even remotely close to being "trashy". (Before you judge that, I grew up in Richmond, VA; FYI). Being any or all of the "labels", is completely fine and has absolutely nothing to do with having or not having money or where you even live. It has to do more with the things you enjoy doing during your personal time, with your family, and what your real beliefs are.

Just saying, Don't believe everything you see on the television or read about people that Hollywood or the government label as a whole, because 99% of that is a lie. Before you judge all based on a few experiences, go to different parts of the country, whether it be the South, North, East or West; you will find all sorts of people with all different labels and they are all Good People.

Hahaha lynzey.