Is it politically acceptable to mock hillbillies and rednecks on campus?

benbradley

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[Thread title taken straight from the title of the article]

Looking on the map, this campus is about an hour's drive from the location where the movie "Deliverance" was filmed. Just an odd fact I thought I'd toss out for no reason at all...
A posting on a University of North Georgia faculty forum deriding a barefoot student as a "hillbilly" is sparking quite a debate in academia this week. (You can see here and here.)
...
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-scho...itically-acceptable-deride-hillbillies-and-r/
 

emax100

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[Thread title taken straight from the title of the article]

Looking on the map, this campus is about an hour's drive from the location where the movie "Deliverance" was filmed. Just an odd fact I thought I'd toss out for no reason at all...

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-scho...itically-acceptable-deride-hillbillies-and-r/

If, hypothetically speaking, it is acceptable to make fun of hillbillies and rednecks like this, than the other cultural groups on campus should in theory all be fair game. In that case, if people on campus do not like that,, they should work to change their campus culture through organizing themselves and starting their own student and faculty movements.
 

Albedo

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I don't see why classism should be any more acceptable than racism or sexism. And yet it is. Middle-class people seem comfortable throwing around classist slurs like hillbilly and redneck, and equivalent terms overseas like chav and bogan, where they'd never dream of using racist or sexist slurs. The faculty member should be reprimanded, IMO.
 

emax100

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I don't see why classism should be any more acceptable than racism or sexism. And yet it is. Middle-class people seem comfortable throwing around classist slurs like hillbilly and redneck, and equivalent terms overseas like chav and bogan, where they'd never dream of using racist or sexist slurs. The faculty member should be reprimanded, IMO.
You are right that classism should rejected as racism and sexism are. Sadly, the chances that action will be taken against this faculty member for going after rednecks are very slim to none.
 

ShaunHorton

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It might just be me, but I always saw the "redneck" moniker as more of a lifestyle choice (lifestyle being in terms of goth, hippie, etc.) than as a classism. I actually know, personally, several people I would call a redneck that financially would be middle-class. Not only that, but they're actually proud to bear the title.

Not that I'm saying that in any way makes it okay to single them out for verbal or social abuses or stigmatisms, but it strikes me odd that people would consider calling people out as a redneck along the same lines as calling people out for being gay or black.
 
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kuwisdelu

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Not sure why someone would call someone a "hillbilly" for not wanting to wear shoes.

If the professor had called him a "dirty hippie", would we be having this discussion?

Certainly any kind of disparaging name-calling is bad.

I agree the professor is in the wrong... But reading through the comments on those articles... The feelings of white persecution are making it truly difficult for me to sympathize with those who are offended the most by this.

The "last acceptable prejudice" my ass.
 
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Devil Ledbetter

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Will no one think of the wealthy white males who have almost no one left to mock now that people of color, religions, the overweight and women have been deemed off limits? And now we're going to prevent them from mocking the poor and undereducated?

Oh, the humanity!

/Sarcasm

I prefer Hill William, thankyouverymuch.
 

Don

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Will no one think of the wealthy white males who have almost no one left to mock now that people of color, religions, the overweight and women have been deemed off limits? And now we're going to prevent them from mocking the poor and undereducated?

Oh, the humanity!

/Sarcasm

I prefer Hill William, thankyouverymuch.
We can always mock wealthy white males. That'll never be off-limits.
 

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I try to avoid labels of any kind now adays just because it is such a PC minefield. Growing up, my older (bravado-lousy) brothers used all kinds of labels in their jocular conversations. But our parents would reprimand us any time they overheard it.

As for hillbilly, I get the sense that --just like the very first of the Geico Caveman commercials-- some people (not a lot but some) seem to think that the identification of "hillbilly" refers to a group of people who simply don't exist anymore. And so if they don't exist anymore, that makes them fair game (by some reasoning at least).
 

Filigree

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Hmm, does that mean society at large should look down upon and reprimand people who apply those negative stereotypical labels to themselves? ('You might be a Redneck if... ',' Honey Boo Boo', etc.) I can appreciate any group reclaiming a negative term, but my esteem lessens a bit whenever out-group individuals are shouted down for using the same terms.
 

Devil Ledbetter

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A few years ago I got my fingers bent back here hard (by Dino) for using the term redneck. And you know what? He was absolutely right. I had no idea it was offensive, and once I found it it was, I never used it again.
 

Devil Ledbetter

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Hmm, does that mean society at large should look down upon and reprimand people who apply those negative stereotypical labels to themselves? ('You might be a Redneck if... ',' Honey Boo Boo', etc.) I can appreciate any group reclaiming a negative term, but my esteem lessens a bit whenever out-group individuals are shouted down for using the same terms.
It's my understanding (and I could be wrong) that it's more than just reclaiming. A minority group may apply a slur to itself to take the sting or the power out of it. If they want to do that, that's their right and it doesn't extend to those outside of their minority group.

So no, society doesn't have any business policing the language members of a minority group apply to themselves. "If we can't say it anymore then neither can you" is the sound of the majority putting itself inappropriately in charge of minorities.
 

raburrell

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Most of the time when I hear those terms, they're self-referential & to me that's okay - call yourself whatever you want. An outsider mocking them using the same terms, not so much.
 

kaitie

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I'm with the person who has always seen it as a description of a person's actions rather than a person's wealth. To me, a redneck is a person who is willfully ignorant. The person who doesn't trust education or science or authorities, who spreads around ignorant lies as if they're fact even after they've been disproven, and who is proud of their status as the anti-education/knowledge person.

I might have a different definition than other people, but in my head that's what it means. A person can be middle class or wealthy and still be a redneck in my mind, and the vast majority of poor people I know wouldn't be classed in this category.
 

robeiae

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Most of the time when I hear those terms, they're self-referential & to me that's okay - call yourself whatever you want.
True enough, with regard to redneck I think. It has become more of a lifestyle thing, as ShaunHorton notes.

Right now, I'm sitting in Starbucks at a table with a guy I know whose kids are in school with mine and who happens to be a fireman. I think he studying for some sort of advanced rescue diving certification. We're both drinking overpriced coffee-drinks and eating overpriced breakfast foods. We live in an upper middle class area. And we both look like rednecks. We dress like rednecks. We engage in activities that I'm sure most people would expect rednecks to engage in. Neither one of us would object to the label, really.

And I think it's gotten to the point where it's tough to actually use redneck in a derogatory fashion and get much of a rise out of a target, at least around here.

Hillbilly is, however, a different matter entirely imo. There's generally a real nastiness behind its usage, more often than not.
 

benluby

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I'm with the person who has always seen it as a description of a person's actions rather than a person's wealth. To me, a redneck is a person who is willfully ignorant. The person who doesn't trust education or science or authorities, who spreads around ignorant lies as if they're fact even after they've been disproven, and who is proud of their status as the anti-education/knowledge person.

I might have a different definition than other people, but in my head that's what it means. A person can be middle class or wealthy and still be a redneck in my mind, and the vast majority of poor people I know wouldn't be classed in this category.

Classifying willfully ignorant as redneck is insulting to the rednecks.
That's the same as saying those that swallow everything the mainstream media puts out as fact as liberal or progressive.
A redneck is simply someone who doesn't care about how others usually view them, and enjoy simpler things, such as fishing and hunting, and small town/country life to city living.
They're not big fans of fancy gatherings where people hobnob and show off how refined they are.
If a redneck likes you, then they like you. No false airs. If they think you're not worth the time of day, they won't give it to you.
 

robeiae

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I'm with the person who has always seen it as a description of a person's actions rather than a person's wealth. To me, a redneck is a person who is willfully ignorant. The person who doesn't trust education or science or authorities, who spreads around ignorant lies as if they're fact even after they've been disproven, and who is proud of their status as the anti-education/knowledge person.

I might have a different definition than other people, but in my head that's what it means. A person can be middle class or wealthy and still be a redneck in my mind, and the vast majority of poor people I know wouldn't be classed in this category.

Classifying willfully ignorant as redneck is insulting to the rednecks.
That's the same as saying those that swallow everything the mainstream media puts out as fact as liberal or progressive.
A redneck is simply someone who doesn't care about how others usually view them, and enjoy simpler things, such as fishing and hunting, and small town/country life to city living.
They're not big fans of fancy gatherings where people hobnob and show off how refined they are.
If a redneck likes you, then they like you. No false airs. If they think you're not worth the time of day, they won't give it to you.
Speaking as someone who would accept the label of redneck without batting an eye, I think the term is about lifestyle more than anything else. It's about hunting, fishing, bbqing, watching NASCAR, being outdoors, fixing stuff oneself rather than paying someone else, etc, etc.

I don't think it's really about ignorance or about being more authentic, because those are judgments that go beyond appearance. People are called rednecks because of how they look and dress, because of where they're seen, not because of deeper issues, imo.
 

benluby

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Speaking as someone who would accept the label of redneck without batting an eye, I think the term is about lifestyle more than anything else. It's about hunting, fishing, bbqing, watching NASCAR, being outdoors, fixing stuff oneself rather than paying someone else, etc, etc.

I don't think it's really about ignorance or about being more authentic, because those are judgments that go beyond appearance. People are called rednecks because of how they look and dress, because of where they're seen, not because of deeper issues, imo.


Well said Robeiae. My optometrist and I, during my exam, and during my wife's, all discussed various firearms and best holsters/calibers.
His flannel shirt just added to making it a great trip, and he is our official family optometrist from now on. When you enter the waiting room and find guns and ammo on the table to read? Yeah, he's a good red necky kind of guy who is absolutely brilliant.
 

Don

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I think ben meant Guns and Ammo, the magazine. I'm sure his optometrist doesn't leave guns and ammo laying around on the table in the reception room. At least not during normal business hours. Late on a Friday afternoon might be an exception, if a fun weekend is planned.

I thought that might be worth clarifying. :)
 

WriteMinded

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Classifying willfully ignorant as redneck is insulting to the rednecks.
That's the same as saying those that swallow everything the mainstream media puts out as fact as liberal or progressive.
A redneck is simply someone who doesn't care about how others usually view them, and enjoy simpler things, such as fishing and hunting, and small town/country life to city living.
They're not big fans of fancy gatherings where people hobnob and show off how refined they are.
If a redneck likes you, then they like you. No false airs. If they think you're not worth the time of day, they won't give it to you.
Yep. Y'all can call me a redneck any ol' time, 'cause that's what I am.
 

Albedo

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I'm not American so I might be wrong, but hasn't 'hillbilly' always been a pejorative term for poor Appalachians? There may be some wealthy self-identifying 'rednecks', but I doubt many people stereotyped as hillbillies share all the privileges of most white middle class Americans. Even those with the temerity to go to college with nice, normal, shoe-wearing people.


Someone mentioned Honey Boo Boo. I got really uncomfortable, the one time I watched that show. I found it entertaining enough, being centred around some smart, if poorly educated, women and girls, who were clearly talented natural entertainers. But knowing I was meant to be laughing at them, for being poor, female and garrulous? That made me feel ill.
 

raburrell

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Funny - I fix my own broken things and like to be outdoors too. And if I don't like you, there's a good chance you know it. <-- eta: meant tongue in cheek.

None of those things are exclusive to rednecks. Reverse snobbery applies here as well.
 
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kaitie

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Speaking as someone who would accept the label of redneck without batting an eye, I think the term is about lifestyle more than anything else. It's about hunting, fishing, bbqing, watching NASCAR, being outdoors, fixing stuff oneself rather than paying someone else, etc, etc.

I don't think it's really about ignorance or about being more authentic, because those are judgments that go beyond appearance. People are called rednecks because of how they look and dress, because of where they're seen, not because of deeper issues, imo.

I would accept this. As I said, my definition probably didn't fit others. That's also the reason I don't go around calling people rednecks. ;) Where I'm from, it was synonymous with being uneducated and happy about it more than a lifestyle choice. I prefaced my statement with my definition because I knew that it probably didn't fit what most people use it as.
 

robeiae

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Funny - I fix my own broken things and like to be outdoors too. And if I don't like you, there's a good chance you know it.

None of those things are exclusive to rednecks. Reverse snobbery applies here as well.
Pardon, but I specifically detached the last--the idea of rednecks being more authentic or the like--from my description. And I guess I should have highlighted appearance a little more, because that's still the top issue imo.
 

raburrell

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Pardon, but I specifically detached the last--the idea of rednecks being more authentic or the like--from my description. And I guess I should have highlighted appearance a little more, because that's still the top issue imo.

I should've added a ;) - was mostly said tongue in cheek. :)

That said, I agree with you, it's largely become a self-identifying cultural interest thing :)