guthriedm15's blog

The people of the Appalachian region have often been depicted as backwards by the media, academic community and society in general. While Appalachian people may have peculiarities about them (like any other group of people), they are not backwards and lost like the world around them tries to say. Why then do the people around them portray them as backwards?

In the past, the group has been incorrectly portrayed certain church groups in order to muster support for the mission projects that they established in the area. Appalachian people were painted as ones that were lost in time that had little contact with the outside world and that still held onto the old time traditions of England. They were of “pure Anglo-Saxon” in culture and blood; their pure heritage made them worthy of mission effort and redemption to the church groups that came to the area. They used the misguided stereotype because they believed that the people needed help.

A man named William Goodell Frost also perpetuated the myth that these people were lost in time. In fact, he wrote a piece called Our Contemporary Ancestors that embraced the stereotype that had already been in place. They were real American people in culture and heritage because of their seclusion from the rest of the country. Because of this, he saw them as an asset to the country and acknowledged the need to have them assimilated into the rest of the American culture.  In short, Frost used the stereotype to achieve a goal that seemed to be good for the Appalachian people and the rest of America.

Through Ballard’s article, she shows us that she has wrestled with the idea of comedy and icons centered around stereotypical characters from the Appalachian area because that is where she is from. She seems to believe that it may be offensive to paint these pictures for the rest of society to see. She even brings up the fact that this sort of “oppression” would not be tolerated by any other minority within America.

At the conclusion of the article, Ballard finally admits that she understands “the joke” that icons like The Beverly Hillbillies paint for society. Ballard concludes that the characters “hold mirrors to the face of society” through wisdom, common sense and honesty. In a way, these depictions of people from the Appalachian area are not all bad; these depictions are even good in many ways.

I tend to agree with Ballard’s conclusion. The Appalachian stereotype has always hit home with me because I grew up in an area where I was surrounded by people like that; furthermore, many members of my family fit that stereotype. Interestingly, the people that may be directly offended by the hillbilly icon are the ones that are watching shows like The Beverly Hillbillies and buying “redneck” themed attire. They take pride in who they are. They understand the joke because they often fit that outward stereotype (not to imply that they are simple). Many of them, in my experience, do not see this sort of humor as oppression; put simply, they see the joke as funny.

Throughout history, education has been a large source of power over people that are uneducated. Because of the differences in culture and education, certain words and phrases have been used to stereotype groups of people. A couple of examples of this in America are the words “redneck” and “hillybilly”.

According to Wikipedia, rednecks are white people in the southern US that are often uneducated working class people. Merriam-Webster dictionary and Wiktionary both say similar things. If one was to Google images of the term “redneck”, pictures of men and women with mullets, individuals in overalls, and the Confederate Flag. Usually, the term “redneck” and the people that it portrays are used as punchlines in jokes and in online memes; however, this term is sometimes accepted by the very people that this word describes. Often time, the Confederate Flag is flown in these areas as a source of personal pride of one’s southern heritage (this is from personal experience).  Additionally, many country music songs embrace the term to describe the people that they get along with, or how they would describe themselves.

The term “hillbilly” is very similar in nature to the term “redneck”. They are used in very similar, derogatory ways in addition to the common self-identification that was described above.  “Hillbilly” is used to describe people that live in rural areas in the Appalachian area. Hillbillies often resist modernization and change in general. They are often uneducated and self-sufficient that live a life that is reminiscent of the hunter-gathers of the Stone Age (or so it’s portrayed). If one were to search for images, one would of men with “beer guts”, toothless smiles, and overalls.

These two terms are similar to other terms that have been used in the past to describe groups of people. While they began as derogatory terms, they have become terms that are embraced by the culture that they are used to stereotype. When the terms were strictly derogatory, it was a source of power. Now that it is often used by the “hillbillies” and “rednecks” themselves, it is again a source of another type of power. In either case, it’s clear to see that words are very powerful indeed.

When I heard the words “Appalachia”, or “Appalachian region”, my first thoughts are of the Blue Ridge Mountains and of the people that inhabit the mountains. Unfortunately, I am guilty of thinking of these people as “hillbillies” or “rednecks”. In my mind, these people are often uneducated, perhaps racist, and suited to live away from civilization as we know in order to live off of the land. These people are also hardy, polite, church-going people that are almost always absurdly conservative when it comes to their social and political views. These people seem to be stuck in the past because they resist change by their very nature.

While my opinion may seem blunt or slightly inappropriate, I believe that it’s partly justifiable because I grew up in a place that is much like the counties that have been considered to be part of Appalachia. My opinion of people like this has arisen because of the intimately close experiences I’ve had with them. The large majority of the people in my family remind me of the types of people that I have described. The people that attended my high school are like the people that I would associate with the Appalachian Region.

My childhood upbringing has played a crucial role in the development of the people from this area. I grew up surrounded by a family that fits the very stereotypes that I’ve mentioned. Much of my family is made up of people that go hunting on a regular basis, have no neighbors within a few miles, and resist any new change or technology and are what I would call “redneck”. Because of my family, I understand that these people are rough around the edges and gruff on the outside, but have many redeeming qualities about them. In my experience, these people are heavily independent,polite, and respectful.