Drahill - I don't think there's anything wrong with anything you do, but calling yourself a redneck isn't one of them. There's one crucial difference between a redneck and a good old boy or gal - intolerance. The former is, the latter aren't.

I am from Kentucky, and I can empathize. I have a kind of funny anecdote about the term 'redneck' though:

I have some family that lives in more rural parts of the state, and when I was a kid my mom overheard me telling a friend that my cousins were rednecks. She corrected me and said "no, rednecks are racist. You're cousins are hillbillies. Hillbillies are nice country people and they're not racist."
I'm guessing my mom just made up that distinction, but I still only really use the term redneck when I'm referring to someone that's racist or otherwise hateful.

Hey Drahill! I grew up in the Midwest and now live in Alabama and there are rednecks everywhere. Some are kind and open-minded and some are racist gun-enthusiasts and some are homophobic and have very nice manners and are sweet to their mommas. I can agree that "Redneck" tends to be a catchall representing ignorance that allegedly open-minded liberals feel comfortable throwing around as a way to write off a group of people as irrelevant.

It is unfair. Not everyone in a red state is an illiterate racist. Of course calling them illiterate racists is probably not going to make them sympathetic to more liberal causes.

Of course it goes both ways. I'd be careful throwing criticism at Starbucks drinkers, or any other stereotype for redneck-hating elitists. I've been known to park my '77 El Camino in front of a Starbucks and read Feministing.com articles while sipping Chai Tea Lattes in cowboy boots with Alan Jackson playing on my iPod. There's room to be both proud of your roots and a catalyst for change.

It's class warfare. It's rich and middle-class looking down at those who don't "have money". It's also them saying rednecks are unintelligent. I used to find it funny, but now it's annoying (at best).

Ugh nothing makes my blood boil faster than that stuff.

Oh, hi. Feminist liberal from TEXAS. I like it here too.

Well I'm kind of the opposite - I grew up in Buffalo and went to college in Georgia.

It goes both ways. I encountered a lot of people who were generally anti-New York (yet, ironically, were unable to understand how Buffalo was different from NYC, lol - seriously, when I moved from GA to Brooklyn people kept asking if I was excited to be going back home - I'd reply with, well no, I'm excited to be moving but I'm not going "back home").

I'd get a lot of "what do you know, you're just a Yankee." If I disagreed with someone's views and tried to offer a broader take on whatever issue, I'd be told that I couldn't because "that's how they were raised" - and yet, the fact that I was raised not to tolerate hatred, bigotry or narrowmindedness was not nearly as important.

So yeah, it's fine to be proud of your roots. I am. I still root for the Sabres, educate people on chicken wings, drink Canadian beer and say "pop" instead of "soda." I did all that while I was in GA, I do all that while I'm in Brooklyn. But it's not OK to say discriminatory or stereotyping things about someone who is from elsewhere.

I mean, yeah, there can be friendly chiding. For example, I was working with a guy from CA the other day and when he asked me to turn up the heater he make a joke about my not minding the cold because I was from Buffalo, so I replied, oh yeah, you're from L.A. - want me to turn it up to 80? But what I encountered in GA was 99% of the time not friendly.

However, I will say this: when election results are representative of hatred (like gay marriage/adoption bans, etc) then I will see those who voted for it as also being full of hatred. Because if they weren't, they'd have voted against it. No, that doesn't mean everyone is like that.

Yeah, I don't get why some people say white trash and redneck and all that-to me, it's just so degrading. Some of my closest friends are from the Midwest and the South (Kentucky and Georgia), and they're smarter than me by a mile (why do you think I hang out with them?), and also just as, if not more, liberal, progressive, or what have you

I would argue, though, that your association of the term redneck with intolerance is just that - YOUR association. As a lot of the other comments show, a lot of people (women included) don't association the term with anything other than being from a certain part of the country, speaking with a certain accent, living a certain type of lifestyle. Simply because you impose the value of intolerence on the term doesn't make it a part of the definition. A lot of people impose very negative traits on the term feminism - doesn't mean that feminism is any of those things. That's just what they choose to believe about it. So if being a redneck to you means bigotry, that's for you to have then. But don't tell everybody else that that's what the term means for them too. It varies.

(BTW, the actual, real meaning of redneck (the original one) just meant a manual laborer / farmer / anyone who works outdoors. It's a reference to sunburn.)

That last comment was intended to be a reply to Marilyn. oops!

But it gets under my skin when so called feminists and progressives take every available chance to throw words around like redneck and hillbilly as if they are meant to insult a place that most of them have never even seen

YEAH! Yeah Drahill! Yes!

My experiences are somewhat different than yours. I grew up in Atlanta, GA. Which is the South, but the urban South. Then I went to college in the rural Midwest. But the college was full of snobby elitists (well, it's true.)

I have never seen any antagonism against the Northern states in Georgia. It could just be that nobody in Atlanta cares anymore. However, people in the Midwest were always throwing down against the South. I am extremely defensive about it now, and I am especially tired of people who admit that they never saw a person of color until they went to college lecturing me about racism and race relations in the South, when I grew up as a racial minority in a black neighborhood. These are the same people who cannot understand concepts such as "white privilege" and "institutionalized racism," because if you can't see a problem, it's not there. Right? Right?

So I guess I had always seen people in the Midwest as looking down on Southern rednecks, even the rural Midwesterners. I was surprised to hear you say that there is bias against Midwesterners, but if I think about it, I can see it. It reminds me of a conversation I had with one of my friends back in Georgia.

He was complaining about the redneck stereotype and said that he was tired of people acting like there weren't any rednecks outside of the South, when in fact everybody who is from a small town rural setting could be a redneck. I asked him how he defined redneck, and he said it was a love of the outdoors, a rural background, and traditional values. That conversation opened my eyes to the fact that there are rednecks in the Midwest who might even identify themselves as such, and that I probably would have labeled them a Redneck if we were still in Georgia.

And yeah, I am not a big fan of "traditional values," but I would tend to agree that there is nothing wrong with being a redneck. The whole anti-redneck thing really is a class issue. You are exactly right, red neck means having a sunburned neck from working out in the sun. It is a term coined by those wealthy enough to work inside as a way to put down people who work outdoors with their hands.

Somebody who is a redneck is not necessarily a bigot, or even a republican. There is diversity in every community. When I see feminists, liberals, and progressives throwing around Redneck jokes it makes me lose respect for them. Hatred is hatred. You may think you're using redneck as a synonym for bigot, but why not just say bigot? Why not say racist if that's what you mean? When you say "redneck" you are making a class statement that hits all sorts of people who may or may not deserve it.

I see redneck jokes as being kind of like fat jokes. It's societally acceptable because nobody likes rednecks or fat people and anyways rednecks and fat people just brought it on themselves. If you don't like redneck jokes or fat jokes, just devalue your heritage or lose weight, you inbred tub of lard. The ideal person is wealthy, urban, and thin.

AMEN! I don't have a personal stake in this topic as I was born and raised in San Francisco with all the other goddamn liberals ;), but really, everything from ironic hipster racism to the passage of Prop 8 shows that we are NOT so high and mighty. We have PLENTY to work on in our own communities, so people who trash Southerners and Midwesterners really are doing it just to feel better about themselves. Pet peeve, can you tell? :)

I think that it's always easy to stereotype people and while it's true that a lot of people in the south have values that conflict with mine, you can't generalize a region and believe that there's no diversity whatsoever without being completely wrong. I think of it this way- I've listened to country music for a long time, and even though there's a lot of Toby Keith and the likes ("Honey, you ain't much fun since I quit drinking"), there are also really cool musicians like Mary Chapin Carpenter and the Dixie Chicks. So yeah, sometimes it does seem like an us vs them situation with the south, but we have to get past that and realize that that kind of thinking hurts us more than helps us.

Thanks for bringing this up, you are right and your message hit home. I have found myself doing this more than I care to admit and I am trying to get better at it. I didn't realize this until I moved to a small town and had this feeling of superiority that completely grossed me out. Thanks for the reality check on this.

Thank you! I grew up in a total hick part of Ontario and it's blue, blue, blue (which is conservative in Canada). But you know what? It's my home and I like it there. I like the local hockey teams and drinking cheap coffee and the potatoes. Sue me.

thanks for writing this - it always used to bother me when my parents used to make jokes about "white trash" etc. I guess my mom felt entitled to since she's from Louisiana and a lot of her family fit in with the proudly uneducated, bigot stereotype.

On the other hand, they instilled a good bit of what others might see as redneck/country pride, but it was never called that - redneck always meant arrogant and ignorant. Pride in "country" skills or ways I always grew up seeing through a class-type lens - "We know how to take care of ourselves out here (rural/small town Texas) without complaining about the heat/dust/scorpions, fuck those rich helpless people in the new suburban developments who bitch about no AC, don't know how to grow anything or fix their own stuff, and make fun of our old clothes and every other damn thing"

I definitely understand many of your points. I grew up in Oklahoma, but I'm at college in DC, and people's reactions to my home state often leave something to be desired. I get lots of "I've never met someone from Oklahoma before" or "Wow, what's that like?". I always have to stop myself from a sarcastic response that it's just like the musical.

However, while states like Oklahoma and Montana don't have a monopoly on bigotry, the majority of open discrimination and bigotry exists in states like ours. Don't get me wrong, I love most aspects of the culture from which I come. But that doesn't mean that I can or should ignore the fact that it's a culture that has a disdain for the very progress that has allowed us to come so far in feminism and anti-racism. The culture we come from, in many ways, defines itself in opposition to the culture of progress we encountered when we came to DC.

The Oklahoman in me wants to stand up with you and say that I love where I come from, especially when it's attacked by East Coasters. The East Coaster in me wants to say that we don't have to respect or honor a culture that defines itself by extremist opposition to progress. I obviously have very mixed feelings about the whole thing, and it's just my opinion based on my experience growing up where I did.

I'm the mother of a self proclaimed "redneck" from Montana myself, and I've left my home in Hawaii to actually go to school in Montana at U of M in Missoula!
When I was little, I was embarrassed by my mom listening to the Dixie Chicks and Alan Jackson when everyone else on Maui was listening to Reggae and Bob Marley, but now I've discovered I like both, and being here in Missoula, seeing my classmates from smaller towns like Dillon, Hamilton and Libby shining in their media arts, literature, and Arabic courses while attending LAMBDA meetings and still visiting home to raise their horses and take care of their gardens, I think they defy any negative stereotyping about that type of close mindedness.

Yay! go montana. I'm from kalispell, which is way bigger than 600 people. but my dad and all his family were in thompson falls, which is a lot smaller (although still bigger than 600, damn, where are you from?). And I agree - redneck around there just means someone with a red neck, more or less. My dad was provided to me as the stereotype when I asked as akid, because when he took his shirt off, you could easily see how pasty white the rest of him was, and his neck really looked red.

The first time I got a big dose of outsider prejudice about small towns, I was in london. A professor was having dinner with a bunch of students, and asked where I was from. He then said, Wow, Montana! How does one get from Montana to London? As if he were asking how a simple shoeshine boy became the president of his own company. It was ridiculous. Or maybe he really didn't know there are airports in Montana.

I worked my ass off getting Tester into congress and getting Burns out. I know a lot of people who have done the same. We have two democratic senators and a democratic governor. And I have reactions from being mildly put off to completely disgusted by the things other supposedly progressive people think it is acceptable to say to me about Montana and how awful it must be to be there, how glad I must be to have gotten out (big no there, also). THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN THERE. These people make these comments based on the stupidest kinds of assumptions and stereotypes, and feel like these are acceptable things to say to me. It's insulting.

So anyhow, I just wanted to give a shout out to a fellow montanan out in the rest of the world making her way too. *waves*

I'd also like to add that this is a very big country, and I don't think small town life is actually the same in all different areas. Being from a small town in montana, or idaho or wyoming or oregon, let's say, is relevantly different that being from a small town in mississippi, or pennsylvania. I got to spend some time in rural pennsylvania, and that was very little like small towns in montana.

just because we are technically one country does not mean that culturally we are all the same. the culture of small towns in different parts of north america are relevantly different. being in a small town is not some kind of homogenous experience.

I live in the middle of no where in a trailor I grew up that way .Never been to the mid west or the south I live in southern Nevada (Americas outback) I am surrounded by right wing meth and whisky swilling sexist raceist neo nazi bigots. Red neck seems to fit I don't have any thing aginst fresh air or solitude but I sure as fuck won't defend thease peoples view point or count my self amoung them. Or miss their swastica tatoos, wife beating, religious bigotry, or meth labs when I'm gone either. If I can come up in the country with out electricity runing water or a dime to my name and be progressive, what's their excuse?

Yeah,

Discrimination against rednecks is the last acceptable prejudice isn't it?

All of these people who feel sooooo offended by the so called stereotyping of 'rednecks' - are you so quick to call out racist/sexist comments to your friends/neighbors/colleagues from said towns?

So during the election, I assume you were there asking 'what's wrong with being a muslim?'. And challenging the bigotry and misogyny which was evident? Or did you just say nothing to keep the 'peace'. Did you go around educating them about white privilege or homophobia - I bet not.

I'm sure if I was a fly on the wall in the OP's life, his hypocrisy would be evident. In fact I would bet a ton of money on it. There's no discrimination in your hometown, right? It's all perfect. If 'everywhere is so bad' then why, as a black person, do I FEEL MORE SCARED in certain places? Why are incidents of racial harrasment and crime higher? Whya re things anecdotally worse? Why do people statistically hold more prejudiced views - and we all know people lie on surveys? Is this all a myth?

Of course it is. Latte drinking, affirmative action loving liberals like me are just prejudiced agaisnt real Americans like you. Truth is: there is no one so oppressed and discriminated against in the world as a white man in America.

Thank you SO MUCH for posting this. I enjoy reading liberal blogs, but my enjoyment is frequently marred by classism and... "regionalism", I guess? It's like there's an implicit assumption that the coasts are the only thing that matters and nothing in between has any value.
I'm also sick and tired of negative associations with guns, which I don't think was in the OP but has come up in the comments. If you define "feminist" as "empowering women", then owning a gun is one of the most feminist things a woman can do. And... I'd better stop now, before I get started on my 2nd Amendment rant and can't stop.

Thank You I appreciate that piece! that's the way i feel about it too.

Redneck is, basically, an ethnicity. The OED traces the term back to the 1700s, and it's generally used to refer to Scots-Irish working class. Just like any other ethnicity, there are positives and negatives in redneck culture. Personally, I try and hold onto the positive stuff and call bullshit on the negative whenever I can.

Drahill, there's a great book called "Redneck Heaven" that has some really good ethnography on redneck culture while also just being a fun read. Plus, there's this recipe for velveeta brownies...

I agree completely. I'm not American, but as an Australian we have our equivalent which is "bogan" - it pretty much means someone who is poor but people use it in a derogatory way, even the self-proclaimed lefties.

I use that word to describe myself because I'm from a working class suburb, come from a working class family and am not ashamed of it. Oh, and I love my bogan accent! And yet I continually have people tell me that I'm not simply because, in their eyes, I am considered "classier" than that because I work, go to school etc. And it's BS!

The thing I've found that the people more likely to use these terms in a derogatory way are people who have never seen a small/working class town in their entire lives. People who have lived those lives know that for all the stereotypes there are heaps of people who aren't idiots/bigoted etc. I just take it as a sign that for all their talk of liberal ideas that they obviously are o trapped within their own privilege that they just don't understand. Makes me feel better about it anyway :)

First of all, I agree. There is absolutely no reason why you should feel ashamed of where you grew up. That is other crap. In fact it is oppressive crap. This might sound like some right-winger but it is elitist power-crap oppressive and dismissive of "rural" America. There is a good reason, it sounds conservative when I say this: The right-wing politicians in this country are no more "rural" than any other politicians - they live in the metropolises of power. But this bigotry that you describe does exist and is real (and it is related to classicism and even vaguely to racialicing - "oh those in the boonies, they're not like us, they're less civilized, less intelligent, etc... sounds pretty much like racism sounds to me). It is real, and the conservatives decided a few decades ago to pick up that (real) theme - and of course then reverse it so that "those people, on the East Coast etc. are not real Americans"...
Anyway. That bigots have picked up a real theme does not mean it should be avoided. On the contrary! That it is real, and that "we" have let them get that theme, means WE should be even better at dealing with it. So I applaud this post :)

BTW. You might like this site and the books and articles they have made to remind people of the progressive struggles and histories in the "heartland": http://redstaterebels.org/

I think the term 'redneck' (as well as 'white trash', 'trailer trash' et al.) is a classist term that should not be used (except when being reclaimed or facetiously) by anyone who cares about socioeconomic issues.

as a fellow Montanan (Missoula) going to school on the east coast I heartily agree with this post. In fact, I believe that in many ways Montana is more progressive than some blue states. Our governor, Schweitzer, is a democrat who ran a bi-partisan ticket (our lieutenant gov, John Bohlinger, is a republican). He was talking about health care reform and finding alternative energy sources long before they were issues in national politics. Similarly, Montana has equal funding between different school districts. 'Progressive' states like Pennsylvania (where I go to school) and New York spend about $10,000 more per student per year in wealthy school districts. I was horrified by the institutionalized racism I saw when I moved to PA because I had never seen anything like it in MT.

And perhaps the most exciting part of being a 'redneck' from Montana (especially for feministing): Montana elected the first woman to the house of representatives, Jeannette Rankin, in 1916; four years before the 19th amendment was ratified. She was voting in our national legislature before many women had the right to vote at all. Her story and voting record is incredible- if you have the time, wikipedia her.

Maybe these 'progressive' east coast states should pay closer attention to the rednecks in MT.

I live in the county I am poor and white. I have a few old trucks in my yard to but to me red neck is basically the n word for whites. I certianly don't go to kkk meetings, I'm not a religious bigot, and I'm not a sexist or raceist.
to call me a red neck is a slur.

You should be proud of where you're from - I'm sure Montana is a great state, and just as I'm proud to be a New Yorker you should hold your head up high and rep your state too.

Also, on the "redneck" thing - the origin of that term was in 19th century appalachia, where coal miners would wear red handkerchiefs around their necks when they went to work (because of all the dust and smoke below ground) - their "red necks" were a symbol of their job, and when they started to unionize and strike, they were condemned as "rednecks" by the bosses.

So that name has a long and proud history that has nothing to do with race or racism - so be proud of being a redneck too!

Your post has inspired me. I am from Mississippi and I am a feminist. No one can dispute that. But what I can't dispute is that no matter where I go, is that I am a woman of the Deep South and nothing can ever change that. There is no reason to feel ashamed of the way way grew up, but there is plenty to learn from it. My parents were so convinced that I'd end up the same way they did and have a baby before I was 18 (unfortunately, I discovered women were better). It's so good to hear another redneck and know I am not alone.

Thank you.

I'm from the outskirts of a big city in Texas.

I just always thought redneck meant - provincial and working class. Maybe you don't like the word provincial.

Around here we call good country folk who maybe don't know that much outside of what they know rednecks and it's not an insult. Maybe that sounds like an insult. It's how we talk. I go dancing with my sister and they play every night a song for the redneck girls. Redneck girls know they're redneck girls.

There's another word for racists around here. They aren't rednecks. They're trash. Although sometimes they are redneck trash.

You don't have to go up north to get shit for being a redneck, though, I have Texan friends who hate that I wear a cowboy hat I got at the rodeo. (But my hat is actually practical and also very sexy, whatever my boyfriend might think, and he was born in a trailer park in Humble!).

I actually like the diversity of bickering amongst southerners about what it means to be a southerner.