I know that right now, there are those among you thousands of eager readers that are deeply concerned for us. You might be asking yourself, ” Why did these two nice boys label themselves Rednecks? I simply detest redneckish behavior. Do they really want to marry their cousin and live in a house trailer, eating fish sticks and drinking beer with their Grandma?”
If you are talking to yourself, you should really have that looked into.
Common stereotypes are pretty rough on us rednecks. “If’n you were on the local news after the tornado ripped yer house right off it’s wheels, you might be a redneck!” Some city folk figure we’re like some sort of different species that are unable to climb high enough up the evolutionary ladder to reach the decent human being rung.
I wanted to come up with something clever to refute these claims, so I immediately turned to Wikipedia. As we all know, Wikipedia is definitely the ultimate, infallible authority on everything. It wouldn’t be on the intranets if it wasn’t 100% true! As usual, I wasn’t disappointed. I even found a blurb about Alberta, our stompin’ grounds:
Alberta and Saskatchewan are sometimes said to be the home of rednecks in Canada, due to its similarities to Texas (oil, farming, and ranching). Like rural people elsewhere, some Canadians continue to see this as a highly offensive term while others have claimed it and proudly describe themselves as rednecks. This difference often arises because the former consider the term to connote racist beliefs while the latter believe it implies traditional rural values (e.g. work ethic, honesty, self-reliance, simplicity).
Now we’re down to the crux of the matter. Work ethic, honesty, self reliance, simplicity.
And, of course, beer gift baskets. And high speed internet. But I don’t really like fish sticks, and Grandma only drinks Red wine on special occasions.
I will admit to being a high-tech redneck, but I never once dated my cousins. I just never found Brian or Randy that attractive.
I never lived in a house trailer, but I do have an old half-dead Chevy parked out back waiting for someone to put it out of it’s misery. I wear a ballcap and t-shirt most of the time, but I can use fancy words like tintinnabulation. I might make some homemade beer once in a while, but I order personalized beer labels and coasters to go with it.
I don’t own any guns, But I like to watch things blow up.
I guess what I’m getting at is, Rednecks can be complicated critters. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go slop the hogs, and then drink some beer whilst I read Scientific American. There’s a good article on the Semantic Web this issue. Come on down to the Redneck Bar and Grill sometime and we’ll have a beer.
I like to think of myself as a sophisticated redneck. Sure, I live in a home with wheels. But how many wheeled-homes are decorated with faux-suede sofas, Pier One Imports mirrors and flower vases made from West Virginia wine bottles? Zero, which is why I am the princess of my trailer park. They are so jealous. Not to mention I’m the only one here who knows what “wireless” means and it has nothing to do with granny’s bras.
Beth’s last blog post..How Would YOU Spend $50 On Your Blog?
Hey, I wasn’t putting down homes on wheels. I was just pointing out that all of us rednecks don’t live in one. Some of us live in shanties (shacks)!
[...] same kind of Rednecks they were expecting, either. I summed up why I call myself one in the post Redneck, and Proud of it. I wish I was one of those rednecks that lives in a house trailer with his sister / wife and [...]
wine has more alcohol though.
Thanks for clearing up some common stereotypes on rednecks. I assume you drink moonshine and drive a pickup truck though right?
Taylor: You betcha! And we spin the back tires till gravel sprays out, yelling “Yee Haw!” and playing banjo music at full blast. Wish you could see it!”
I’m proud to call myself a redneck and consider it a compliment when people refer to me that way. I was raised in northern Maine and now live in central Maine. The redneck values of God family and country have a higher moral standard than those of the sophisticated liberal. They preach acceptance well buddy if you wont stand for your beliefs and values then your a coward or sucker. So I am very proud to be a redneck from farmland in the sticks and what I see from forward thinkers makes me proud to be backward.
I think it depends on where you live. You could be the biggest redneck in your town and normal in the next. Now if you live in the big city they frown on making fire wood with explosions so you would be the biggest redneck they ever seen.
you might be a redneck if you mow your yard and find a camaro
Lol. Great post on the redneck stereotypes. My fav. is “if you’ve ever had to climb to the top of the water tower to defend your sister’s honor…”
Lol, there are rednecks everywhere. I was born in the northern USA and there were stereotypes of southerners being rednecks, but after moving down here I’ve found that they think the same about northerners. Proud to be a redneck no matter where I go!
I too am a High-Tech Redneck here in Texas, and Proud Of It! I would not know any other way to live. I think I like ya’lls site cause it jus make since to me. Keep it up.
There are rednecks in Canada? really? Do canadian rednecks still say “eh”?
Once a Redneck always a Redneck.
As a child I grew up in a “mobile home community” (trailer park). Six years ago I was “fortunate” enough to buy my first home at a price near 500k. Two years ago I had a business fail and I moved all of my furnishings into a double wide. Today, my 65k home is filled with over 150k worth of furnishings.
I have achieved Redneck nirvana.