[GiniLeaE]

Originally Posted by xxxmx

if one could define a redneck without using the words barefoot, beer, or trailer, i might not be as opposed to the term. i've just never heard a definition that didn't sound mocking.

Well, I consider myself sort of an expert in this department...why? Because I am from a small town in rural Georgia that is composed of 3 classes of people: your true rednecks (they have no idea they are actually that bad, and don't care at all!), the ones who are aware that they are rednecks and are bettering themselves, and the ones who have risen above and beyond that status.

When you look the term up in the dictionary or online, it is defined as: a poor white person in the southern United States or in modern usage, redneck predominantly refers to a particular stereotype of whites from the Southern United States. The word can be used either as a pejorative or as a matter of pride, depending on context.

The term redneck originated from the farming community usage of the term farmer's tan, which of course is when your neck is red and your arms or whatever skin is exposed to the sun from the long, hard days of working in the sun. All the men in my family have this farmer's tan, but I don't consider them ALL rednecks as such...because they don't farm for a living and most of them don't have the idiosyncracies and characteristics of the term. I do find some things endearing about my true redneck cousins, but some of them are just plain gross and uncultured...and that is not just me being a snob.

What country music (I love country music, and have met most of these musicians, so I'm not hating here!) has done to glamorize and capitalize on some of these behaviors and mannerisms that I grew up witnessing in my own backyard that probably should not be revered is really interesting to me. I know it is probably funny for some of ya'll (yes, I know my roots! I say such things!) to poke fun at the "backwoods backwards" ways...but it is a way of life for many. I still have a problem with kids thinking that it is cool...but hey, I think the RAP COMMUNITY is way more of a problem we must deal with - so this is small potatoes compared to this!