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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZVCertAHkc

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2012/08/here_comes_honey_boo_boo_and_the_history_of_the_hillbilly_in_america_.html

I think the author chose this form to establish how Barbie herself has kind of changed how people think of history in itself because of the multiple forms she has taken on since her creation. She plays the part of standard, perfect Barbie, to a Barbie that represents different cultures and ethnicities with respect to different events in history as well as the present. Steinberg directly states, “Maybe I am taking an artist’s license in rewriting scriptures. It only seemed appropriate, as Mattel has been rewriting history and children’s play for years” (18). Just like many children, especially in the ‘90s, were raised reading and learning through the Bible, many also learned through Barbie. Barbie is timeless, just like the Bible.

Steinberg’s rendition “Book of the Generations of Barbie” begins with the institution of Barbie herself, followed with how she evolved through time, with the introduction of elements including different races, ethnicities, and cultures. Steinberg describes Barbie as the perfect image of the American dream – “the bitch has everything.” She shows kids that if you work hard enough, you can achieve anything, an almost unrealistic persona. Steinberg also critiques that the “normal” Barbie has no additional label or description, whereas other versions of the children’s doll has specific names paired with their editions, for example: Indian Barbie, Jamaican Barbie, Police Officer Barbie, Sergeant Barbie… These labels signify, as Steinberg points out, that Barbie without a label should be viewed as the normal or standard for our society.

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From Harney’s “A Strange Land and a Peculiar People” and Frost’s “Our Contemporary Ancestors in the Southern Mountains,” I can agree that ways they discussed Appalachian people could be problematic.

Harney describes people of his journey to have “quaint speech and patient poverty” (1). He explains how isolated the people are due to geography: progression of community suffered, along with vernacular of the people. Harney also criticizes how the “influence of the moon” is still believed to be responsible for vegetation, and the methods of which they go about farming, specifically with iron. He states, “In all such cases the failures are unrecorded, while the successes are noted, wondered at and published. By shooting arrows all day, even a blind man may hit the mark sometimes” (3). He argues that glorifying unique methods is invalid if they don’t work majority of the time.

Frost argues that the remoteness of Appalachian societies resulted from people “unconsciously [stepping] aside from the great avenues of commerce and thought” (1).  He uses “illiterate, moonshiners, homicides… poor white trash” to describe people he encounters, and states these societies provide ways of “measuring [our] progress of the moving world” (3). He criticizes the “absence of convenience” in everything they make or do (2). He does, however, point out the sense of “initiative” people hold to live functionally, especially if venturing to modern-day America (8).

Both Harney and Frost refer to the people of Appalachia almost as if they’re a different species and are not respectful of the peoples’ ways of everyday life.

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