Southern Stereotypes

[Theunicornhunter 2]

Have you ever heard someone speak with a Southern accent and maybe started thinking they're maybe not too bright? Don't be embarrassed - I have one and I still do it.

 

There was an article in the Florida Times Union yesterday about Southern stereotypes in films/tv. It was pretty funny but also kind of sad because I know some people take it at face value. They left out my regional favorite. All women from Florida it seems used to work as mermaids at Weeki Watchee - if I see that again in another movie I'll scream.

 

Anyway, in one of the other threads someone mentioned "Trip" was a good Southern boy on the outside but there was "more" to him on the inside. I'm sure they meant to compliment "Trip" but what's wrong with the insides of Southerners?

 

Have you ever noticed the stereotype?

 

edited - added sentence

Edited May 19, 2003 by TheUnicornHunter

[cptwright 1]

i've never really associated southern accents with being a little dim. heck i wanna live in the south. got family in the south, but i will admit that with a certain look, and that accent, redneck comes to mind. but i know thats not true with all of anything. we all have varied people in our states.

[Sam The Smuggler 1]

Well....I live in Mississippi.

 

So movie and tv Stereotype do bother me sometimes.....but I don't let 'em get to me much.

[Xeroc 0]

I think those kind of sterotypes generally emerge from the movies / TV industry. I don't believe in those kind of sterotypes, and anyone who is, is actually kind of dum themselves!

[cptwright 1]

I think those kind of sterotypes generally emerge from the movies / TV industry.  I don't believe in those kind of sterotypes, and anyone who is, is actually kind of dum themselves!

here, here, anyone that beleives tv stereotypes, just became one themselves

[thayln 0]

Unicorn Hunter Posted on May 19 2003, 05:01 PM

Anyway, in one of the other threads someone mentioned "Trip" was a good Southern boy on the outside but there was "more" to him on the inside. I'm sure they meant to compliment "Trip" but what's wrong with the insides of Southerners?

 

What I meant was that he is all homespun charm and aww shucks and good humor on the outside, however, he has a fierce intelligence, and is a lot more serious underneath than he lets on. There's even a hint of darkness there.

 

As for Southerners, there is nothing wrong with them on the inside. I have known some, however, who hide behind the stereotype when it suits them. Heck, I've even done it when talking to people on the phone for business.

 

There is a tendancy in some Southerners in the state where I live to seperate people into two classes, family and everyone else. If you're family they will die for you. To everyone else they are extremely friendly and polite, but you will never be trully accepted by them because you're not family. And if you're not Southern they'll still be very gracious, but underneath they'd just as soon you get the hell off their land. And yes, there are a small minority that believe that the South will rise again and throw off the yoke of Northern oppression. Seriously...and they have guns.

 

There is also a small minority that will adopt you as part of their family. My friends are like that, however, they did spend a lot of their formative years in other places so I don't know what influence that might have had.

 

And there are some Northerners who come down here and act like real jerks. I mean, really! Damn Yankees do exist.

 

I find myself growing more Southern every day. I certainly have as fierce an attachment to my little piece of the South as anyone, and I never want to live anywhere else. And my son will be a Southerner, even if I am never accepted as one because I wasn't born here.

 

It's not my intention to offend anyone and I know that these observations don't apply to all Southerners. I just study people becasue they fascinate me.

[Theunicornhunter 2]

I tried to find the article online but it wasn't there - anyway here are some of the stereotypes which the author explains are false.

 

1. Southerners only eat at Mom & Pop cafes frequented by colorful characters.

2. All Southerners are either in prison or work at the prison

3. All Southern law enforcement officers are white, male and mean.

4. Southern courtrooms are saunas with ceiling fans

5. All Southerners take part in civil war re-enactments

6. Southerners keep only two pets - hound dogs and pigs.

 

He owns up to "All Southerners drink ice-tea" - I have to admit on this one I always wondered why it was Archer and not Trip that was the ice-tea fan.

 

Thalyn, sounds like you've had a disappointing experience with your neighbors. LOL I am glad people have moved in from other states to make your life bearable. My personal experience has been that people in other regions aren't all that friendly or welcoming either. People in general are just too caught up in their own lives. But I pretty much get caught up in my life so I never really cared too much.

 

As for scary people with guns - well they're everywhere - Waco, Ruby Ridge, Coeur d'Alene, Montana Freemen.

 

My personal experience has been that in the South the biggest divide is not where you're from but what religion you are. I was born here and grew up here but I am not of the same faith as the rest of my family or the better part of this or any small southern town. My life would be so much easier if I was - I guess that would be my biggest source of grief from the South.

 

All in all I think most people are basically good, it's just the bad ones that get all the attention and seem to stick in our memories.

[Sam The Smuggler 1]

I tried to find the article online but it wasn't there - anyway here are some of the stereotypes which the author explains are false.

 

1.  Southerners only eat at Mom & Pop cafes frequented by colorful characters.

2.  All Southerners are either in prison or work at the prison

3.  All Southern law enforcement officers are white, male and mean.

4.  Southern courtrooms are saunas with ceiling fans

5.  All Southerners take part in civil war re-enactments

6.  Southerners keep only two pets - hound dogs and pigs.

 

He owns up to "All Southerners drink ice-tea"

Number 3 Might Be True

 

j/k

 

 

And I prefer My Tea without Ice

[cassidy 0]

I dont believe in stereotypes cos im aussie and theres all sorts of weird things that people associate with us

1. we do NOT have kangaroos hopping around the streets

2. we do NOT wear hats with corks

3. no i do NOT personally know the crocodile hunter

4. we do NOT live in the bush

5. FINALLY we do NOT speak in those RIDICULOUS accents.

I hope thats cleared some things up for u all

>Signing out from down under

[Gotabite 0]

Have you ever heard someone speak with a Southern accent and maybe started thinking they're maybe not too bright?  Don't be embarrassed - I have one and I still do it.

 

There was an article in the Florida Times Union yesterday about Southern stereotypes in films/tv.  It was pretty funny but also kind of sad because I know some people take it at face value.  They left out my regional favorite.  All women from Florida it seems used to work as mermaids at Weeki Watchee - if I see that again in another movie I'll scream.

 

Anyway, in one of the other threads someone mentioned "Trip" was a good Southern boy on the outside but there was "more" to him on the inside.  I'm sure they meant to compliment "Trip" but what's wrong with the insides of Southerners?

 

Have you ever noticed the stereotype?

 

edited - added sentence

Unfortunately I agree with you, because I've heard people make stereotype people from the south, using terms like "southern mentality," and terms like you know how "southern women are." Living in the south where others from different parts of the country have migrated, I am always hearing people mimicking southern accents. Although my accent is not quite as pronounced as some when I have lived in other parts of the country, I have been teased about "my southern accent." So I would say, some of my experiences lead me to agree with you.

[ddillard 2]

I do Tech support for a company that only serves the southern states so I hear these stereotypes at work all the time. I have to admit that the people that call in to us, for the most part, do not do much for disputing these stereotypes. Myself I do not stereotype people. I feel that there are a lot of ignorant people, and smart people in every area.

 

As far as the accent.......I am a succer for a woman with a southern accent, makes me melt like hot butter.

[RikerChick 5]

The only thing I've ever thought when I hear somebody with a southern accent is that they're from the south.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

Most stereo types are based on some fact, that's not to say the stereo type is correct but there was something that caused the stereo type in the first place. I was born south of the Mason Dixon line so I'm a southerner too. Some say I have a southern accent some don't hear it. I wasn't born in the Deep south, I was born in Maryland and now live in Southern Virginia.

 

There is a "Southern Mentality" but the way I define that is like this, In the south people are nicer, have a slower pace of life and are more trusting. There's nothing bad about any of that, in fact that's why so many northerners move south.

 

As for "women of the south" my previous girlfriend used to have a hat she would put on all the time. It said G.R.I.T.S. (Girls Raised In The South). A southern girl is different in many ways from a northern girl. Not in any bad way, in fact I would say different in very good ways.

 

Anyway, that's my take on it.

[A l t e r E g o 9]

Mmmm. Grits... :)

[ddillard 2]

Mmmm. Grits... 

Grits and greens,,,,hmmmmm I miss those.

[Klingonmike 0]

I'm from the south,I was born in Virginia and grew up in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains,lived most of my adult life in North Carolina.I live in Arizona now but this tuesday I'm moving back to the southland down to Florida.

Living in the south I didn't hear any kind of accent,but them yankees from up north sure do talk funny!

[ddillard 2]

I'm from the south,I was born in Virginia and grew up in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains,lived most of my adult life in North Carolina.I live in Arizona now but this tuesday I'm moving back to the southland down to Florida.

Living in the south I didn't hear any kind of accent,but them yankees from up north sure do talk funny!

I hear that every day at work. Makes my skin crawl. Expecially when "Ain't no dang yankee smart enough to help me, I want to talk to someone else."

[cptwright 1]

I'm from the south,I was born in Virginia and grew up in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains,lived most of my adult life in North Carolina.I live in Arizona now but this tuesday I'm moving back to the southland down to Florida.

Living in the south I didn't hear any kind of accent,but them yankees from up north sure do talk funny! :angry:

HEY, i resemble that remark. :P keep it up and im gonna get my buddy after you.

[Theunicornhunter 2]

I'm from the south,I was born in Virginia and grew up in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains,lived most of my adult life in North Carolina.I live in Arizona now but this tuesday I'm moving back to the southland down to Florida.

Living in the south I didn't hear any kind of accent,but them yankees from up north sure do talk funny!

I don't know where you're going in Florida - when I lived in Tallahasse I met a girl from Miami - I asked it she was from New York (she said she'd never been out of the state of Florida but people were always asking her that). Apparently that accent is rather common in Miami. I also heard a lot of New Yorkers when I was working in Jacksonville - so be prepared. BTW, do you think Westerners have accents - I lived in the West for several years and when I came home someone told me I talked like a Westerner.