Negative Stereotypes Assosiated with The Appalachian People

Stereotyping has become a negative connotation in the American vocabulary, yet it is an enduring mind set when society thinks about the people of certain regions. For me, when a group from specific regions or cultures acts, reacts, dresses, speaks, develops like mannerisms and personal habits, they place themselves in the category of being stereotypical for their particular niche on the planet. Likewise, the visual image (either real or imagined) and the ideologies that “outside” people hold regarding a specific region and its folk is defined (in part) as a stereotype. Yet, there is the inevitability of change and evolution of ideas that come generation to generation in these regions and amongst these folks.

For example, the idea of the "hillbilly" that was born in the southern Appalachian Region. For several decades, the idea America had of the Appalachian inhabitants was that of silly, ignorant, muttering, shoeless folk who drank moonshine day in and day out and did little more in a day's work than lift their jugs or light their corn cob pipes. Although isolation did breed poverty and drink was a source of income and entertainment, the "pop culture" idea of the Appalachian region couldn't have been further removed from the reality of constant struggle for survival and subsistence living. Much of what “mainstream” America, and indeed, other nations, came to think of as Appalachian culture grew from movies, short films and books instead of hard facts and research. As is the want of human nature, the images depicted in both visual presentation, and written word, are often the idea that people cling to when thinking about the antics and cultural norms of different groups and societies. In the early development of the country, travel to Appalachia was limited to a few hearty souls, due mainly to the terrain of the mountain regions and infrequent meetings of “poor” mountain people, thus came the belief that all hill folk were of the likes of Ma and Pa Kettle (although they were from the Ozarks), the Beverly Hillbillies and indeed, the Whites. Today, the "pop culture" idea of the regional folk of Appalachia has changed from “hillbilly" to that of "red neck" (once again due in part to movies such as: Hillbilly Nightmares, Redneck Horrors, Backwoods Terror and Wrong Turn.

No longer are the Appalachian people perceived as overall wearing, shoeless, drunken pipe chewers, that idea has been replaced by groups of young men, and their female counterparts, in large, overly loud trucks (usually diesel), blaring country music and displaying either the American flag, the Confederate flag, or both, from the beds of their trucks. Their dress is almost uniform in that they sport worn out t-shirts with the tails tucked behind large buckles adorning a belt used to hold up overly tight, faded blue jeans, ball caps advertising various logos of local implement companies or Co-Ops, and large wads of "dip" of which the "juice" is spat liberally by all either on the ground or into Dr. Enuf bottles. Time changes all things… thoughts, perspectives and stereotypes. In our ever changing world, it can only be hoped that negative stereotypes associated with Appalachia will one day be lifted and the world will understand the mystery and wonder of this “tight knit” region.