The first results that come up from searching most anything on Google usually include a definition. After searching “hillbilly” and “redneck” into this search engine, you learn that a hillbilly is “an unsophisticated country person, associated originally with the remote regions of the Appalachians,” and a redneck is “a working-class white person, especially a politically reactionary one from a rural area” (Google). Off the bat, hillbilly is identified as “informal derogatory” in Google’s definition.
Stacy Kranitz’s article “What it Means to be a ‘Redneck’ or ‘Hillbilly’” is one of the first couple suggestions for both individual searches. Kranitz interviewed several locals of Appalachia about their opinions on the usage of these terms. Individuals expressed their dislike for the words being used by outsiders, as they don’t understand their “true meanings.”
However, the two words meanings vary depending on who you talk to, despite whether insider or outsider. While Google’s definition identifies “hillbilly” as derogatory, Colby of New Haven, WV, thinks differently. In his interview with Kranitz, he expresses that he likes hillbillies, and considers himself as one, and he implies that present day rednecks are fakes, or “yuppies.” He describes hillbillies as a down-to-earth, relaxed kind of folk: “people who don’t judge people.”
Scott McClanahan from Beckley, WV, defines the term redneck as “a state of action. You do things to be a redneck Shoot guns, drink domestic beer, support right-wing politics. White trash, hick, etc. are states of being. You are these things because of what you are.” He continues, “Hillbilly is a state of mine, though. It’s metaphysical and ephemeral and contradictory.”
Patrick Green of West Columbia, WV, identifies himself as a “true redneck” in his interview. He tells her, “A true redneck don’t give a shit about nothing but putting food on the table, working and getting drunk.” This definition of redneck differs from Scott’s, Colby’s, and the rest of the interviewees. Patrick’s interview recap concludes, “How would you describe ‘redneck’ to someone who has never heard the term? I’d think I’d have to say, ‘Go back to the city.’”
As this article supports, the definitions of these terms are ever-changing. They change as time passes, they change depending on who you’re asking and where you’re at. Some people use these terms to embrace themselves, and some people use these terms to make fun of others. We are influenced by things like newspaper articles, to comics, to reality TV shows, such as Honey Boo Boo, to YouTube videos.
(To relate YouTube videos to class discussions, we keep going back to the idea of a romper. In “GET ME A ROMPER,” a “redneck” embraces the idea of implementing the romper into a male’s wardrobe.)
It looks to me that from an outsider’s perspective, a person could potentially label someone as both a hillbilly and a redneck, but an “insider” probably would not. With these terms and definitions, there really doesn’t seem to be one definite for either, and they both have feelings of either hostility or pride from many.
Help received: google,
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/what-it-means-to-be-a-redneck-or-a-hillbilly-ang