Does anyone know who Larry the Cable Guy is?????
Until last night, I knew the name and could place it with the man and his famous saying, "Git R Done" and what not, but I had never actually seen him on anything. Then I saw him for the first time on Jay Leno last night.....
Forgive my ignorance because I am a Midwestern girl who has never visited the South and I do not want to offend any of my lovely Southern Gals (or their men), but I am wondering just how many of the white men in the south are like him????? You know, rednecks. I understand that it is a stupid, ignorant misconception that being Southern equates with being a redneck, but men like Larry the Cable Guy and Jeff Foxworthy sure leave that impression. Is it more of a class issue than a regional issue?
I know that every region and group of people have some stereotypes associated with it.
For example, many people probably assume that all Midwesterners are hicks...that our parts are filled with cows and country. That everyone here is nice and friendly. Or that people who live in the Northeast are rude, arrogant or snobby and always in a hurry. Or that everyone who lives in Texas must be a cowboy and wear cowboy hats and shit-kickers. Or that people in the South are all confederates who spend their time sitting on their porches drinking lemonade or cheering for Nascar.
For fun, here is an American Regional Stereotypes Quiz.
I am curious....what regional stereotypes bug you the most about where you live??? What stereotypes do you believe to be accurate or buy into?
This topic was not what I had originally planned for this week's TFT, but sometimes inquiring minds Want To Know!
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Other TFT posters this week:
Denise on Valentines and Flowers
Amy on School Wellness policies
Jessica on overscheduling kids with activities
Nicole about keeping in touch with out-of-town family
Nic on signing things as husband and wife/family
HaHa... Great Topic! Where I live, everyone in the rest of the country seems to believe that we are all of the same religion, that we have horns on our head and that the men have several wives and families with 10 children or more. Ha, this is so unbelievably False! In truth only 60% of out state is the same religion and while there are many families with maybe 3 or 4 kids, there are also families with only 1 child. And, the majority of poligamists with more than one wife live in neighboring states but do not live here. We do have a few but not as many as people seem to believe.
Posted by: Denise H. | February 14, 2008 at 11:06 AM
northern MS you def. have your jeff foxworty's and larry the cable guy ...here where i am at we are more of the "city" but rest assured we have that and 10 times worse!!! Oh lord help me....
it's a pure trip!!
Posted by: greta adams | February 14, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Well, I don't like that people think we have weird accents. I think everyone else sounds funny. I also think it's amuzing that a lot of people think we don't get summer. What a bunch of morons!
Posted by: | February 14, 2008 at 02:34 PM
Well, I don't like that people think we have weird accents. I think everyone else sounds funny. I also think it's amuzing that a lot of people think we don't get summer. What a bunch of morons!
Posted by: michelle | February 14, 2008 at 02:34 PM
i think the movie fargo made everyone think that people in this whole area talk like that 'yah, sure, you betcha'. i know that we all have accents, but that's natural. there are stereotypes for a reason - but i think that no matter where you go, you'll have a mix of everything. is a hick and a redneck basically the same thing? i guess i've never really thought or cared much about this issue. interesting!
Posted by: jenny | February 14, 2008 at 09:51 PM
jenny, i was just going to mention fargo until i read your post! i was so irritated by that movie at first as a minnesotan. it made us sort of look like idiots. anyhow, i took that quiz and maybe i am an idiot - ha ha! i'd say it's more of a regional thing. we're such a crazy melting pot... although in other countries, they have similar things. we all have stereotypes that are either taught to us or formed on our own for some reason involving our own experiences. it would be fun to do an 'on the road' study. who's with me for a road trip??
Posted by: jessica | February 15, 2008 at 09:13 AM
i must say coming from the northeast, i think your generalizations are not too far off the mark. i hate that so many people here actually typify this. of course there are really wonderful people too but it just seems that people here need to just slow down!
i've been here my whole life but in my short time of blogging i have learned about so many great people from other parts of the country. though i could never leave here because my roots are too deep (ha ha ha) i do thing there are some other places where i could be pretty happy!
Posted by: amy | February 16, 2008 at 07:28 AM
I took the quiz and answered them all correctly. I don't know if that is good or bad?! :)
Posted by: Dana Sterner | February 18, 2008 at 08:52 PM