Southern Stereotypes?
I recently notice how white southerners are portrayed on T.V. and in the movies. We are usually portrayed as poor redneck trailer trash who drive beat up pick up trucks, talk with a horrible southern drawl (don't get me wrong, I love southern accents but not the Hollywood version of our accent) and are still obsessed with the Confederacy. These stereotypes are not only offensive but it affects us southerners in real life, such as when we are applying for a job. What is your opinion on these stereotypes? Do you have any personal experiences with these stereotypes?
Southern/Northern USA stereotypes?
Writing a book, wondering how Northerners see Southerners and Southerners see Northerners. If your from the south tell me what you picture the stereotypical northerner is and if your from the north tell me what you think the stereotypical southerner is. Also west coast stereotypes are allowed. And don't be rude, racist, or cruel. I will completely disregard answers like that. Just need opinions for my book.
What are some stereotypes of Southerners people from California believe?
I'm an Atlanta-native that lived in Southern California for a couple of years, so I guess I qualify to comment on this:First of all, I don't know that I found there to be one overarching stereotype that people had of Southerners, but there were some things that I heard more than others:People often asked why I didn't have a Southern accent. That always struck me as a bit odd because growing up in the North Metro Atlanta area I never was surrounded by people with deeply "Southern" accents. A lot of people assumed that I was a far-right Republican because I was from the South. While I am more perhaps more "center-right", some people came to that conclusion without so much as asking me about politics. A lot of people would say things like, "I hear people are very nice in the South." Honestly, I do really believe that people are much nicer in the South--life seems to not be as frantic and rushed in the South (but perhaps that's my own bias). I had people say things about Southern foods and then follow that up with a "you know what I'm talking about..." Sometimes I did (i.e. grits), but other things (i.e. fried okra) I had never even seen, let alone eaten.
What are some southern traditions / customs and stereotypes of southerners in the United states?
SWEET TEA, crawfish, fried everything you can think of,including dill pickles, twinkies, snickers bars. We believe in family gatherings, especially for the holidays. We belileve in hunting and fishing. Football is a religion, not just a sport, and games are WORTH fighting over. We believe in manners, and even say thank you. We believe in protecting our family's come hell or high water. But most of all we believe in the SOUTH and are very PROUD TO BE SOUTHERN. ps,,,we don't like yankee's...(unless they go back North that is) People NOT of the South stereotype us as: Inbred, lazy, stupid, all having bad teeth, fat, and alot of other things; None of which are true. You will find Southerns to be friendly, well kept in most cases, and eager to open ours doors to outsiders. We don't walk away without helping when we see someone hurt either.
Why do people stereotype ohio for being hillbilly? and other ohio sterotypes?
Girl I know what you mean...I live in Indiana and people ask when we go down further south and we say we are from southern Indiana they act like it is weird that we have a standard american accent. It is the same way with northern and western kentucky they are stereotyped to be such hillbillies but they don't have that strong of an accent. Sometimes Kentucky is even considered to be a midwestern state, with Indiana and Ohio. I mean the midwest isn't known as the "land without accents" for no reason. Don't get me wrong we have people who try their hardest to be rednecks but they totally get made fun of constantly and sometimes even there face beat in.
What are some stereotypes that North Chinese people have for South Chinese people and vice versa?
Northerners: rowdy, no manners, self-sufficient, tall, hold their alcohol, workers, straight to the point blunt, homogeneous, intolerant, unelegant language (borderline mongrel from a historical perspective) speakers, lack creativity and extremely nationalistic.Southerners: Creative, racially diverse, affluent to the point of feminine, weak alcohol drinkers, materialistic, business fluent domestically and internationally, weak build, shorter, consider their language to be closer to true chinese, independent thinkers and fiercely patriotic.
What are some stereotyped differences between people living in northern California and southern California?
These are all going to be gross generalizations, but based on a recent trip to the Bay Area, here is what I noticed:Southern Californians are much more frank about physical attractiveness as cultural currency than Northern Californians, both their own and that of others. SoCal-ers are much more likely to say to your face "You look great," whereas NorCal-ers just seem to say "Nice to see you." Southern Californians are in-your-face about being rich, successful, famous, sexy, "ballers" etc., if they are. And even if they aren't. SoCal-ers have great self-esteem. Northern Californians seem to adopt a more circumspect, stealthy, understated approach to success and achievement, bordering on almost disingenuous modesty in the vein of the Harvard Slouch. They either have or adopt a somewhat neurotic air, despite their quite evident success.SoCalers think San Francisco is small and cute. Bay Areans say that they think of Los Angeles as having lots of people.Southern Californians prize being very nice and positive to everyone about everything, even if it seems totally fake. It is all good. Northern Californians seem very willing to provide constructive commentary, assuming that failure is a good learning experience.Southern Californians on the whole are pretty casual about times, meetings, commitments, and showing up. Northern Californians are very reliable with their RSVPs, attendance, times, and general deliberateness of planning and intention.Southern California is all-accepting of fashion, behavior, eye contact, speech, oversharing, general weirdness, everything. The only rule is to be original and put yourself out there. SoCal-ers love to self-promote. In Northern California, people seem to want to blend or fit in. They dress pretty well. There seem to be distinct conventions of behavior in San Francisco. I don't know what they are.There's at least one thing Northern and Southern Californians have in common: We all love frozen yogurt! Yoogl, on Castro Street in Mountain View.
Are southern cops as racist and bigoted as the popular stereotype?
Come on people.There are bigots and racists everywhere.Do you actually believe that every southerner secretly dons a white hood every night and goes around burning crosses.The reason the stereotype still exists is because there are still people ignorant enough to believe it.
Why do some people occasionally write off American Southerners as dumb and ignorant of societal issues instead of spending a little bit of time to understand the Southern perspective?
Not all American Southerns are dumb and ignorant. Many, probably most, are not. But your question is a perfect example of why that stereotype exists.You write: "We shop local. Southern men don't focus on interacting politely with other people for this reason."Huh. I'd always heard about the legendary Southern gentleman (and in fact know several guys who deserve to be called Southern gentlemen in the best sense of the word.) And I heard that Southern hospitality was also supposed to be legendary. So I doubt that "Southern men don't focus on interacting politely with other people." Many Southern men do. It's the assholes who don't. And yes, I did call them assholes. Manners maketh the man.You ask: "What good is learning to speak coherently to four ethnic/cultural groups if it is not going to be necessary?" Basically, that indicates that you have no intention of ever speaking to anyone of a different ethnicity or cultural background: that makes you racist. And you've also clearly stated that you have no love of learning, since people who love learning take joy in learning for its own sake, not because the knowledge might someday be useful.We don't just call such people ignorant -- ignorance can be excused. We call them willfully ignorant. And that's something we understand -- we just find contemptuous."Most of the South is rural."So what? Since when is living in a rural area an excuse for not wanting to learn new things and having bad manners? Oh, and guess what? There's nothing unusual about most of the South being rural. Most of the North is rural, too. Most of New England outside of Boston is rural. Most of New York outside of NYC and Buffalo, too. Huge swaths of Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, are farm country. "If somebody for once could understand us and our reasoning, maybe people would not be so quick to label us racist, rebels, etc."The problem isn't that we don't understand. The problem is that we do understand the reasoning.Let me be clear here: I do not think American Southerners in general are dumb, racist, ignorant, etc. But I think people like you are the reason that stereotype exists.P.S.: "Just saying... because we make up a lot of states." I fail to see the relevance, unless you're making some sort of threat.