The South: Cut us some slack, people.

[Thaluikhain]

Well, could be worse. Just think what a few more series of True Blood will do to the general image of the US south.

...

Could be worse, though, Wales is known for sheep jokes and Torchwood, who are even more mind-numbingly incompetent than the True Blood lot.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

ROFL!
Thank you sir, you have made my day.

As someone who has grew up in the north, then moved down south and married a southern girl I will admit yes it gets a bit ridiculous at times. There are some things that are very different though.

First are foremost the racism. People are very sensitive down here. I once told my wife that we watched "Roots" in grade school up north. She was shocked, I didn't understand the issue so she explained that it would be awkward among other things to watch it down here in a classroom setting. Also the racism down here can be really bad and its on BOTH sides. I have run into quite a few racist whites and just as many blacks. It can be hard not to get offended when a black woman rants on you when you've done nothing wrong.

Second people are much nicer down here. People open doors, they help people. I was once stranded on the road with my wife. I discovered the idiot at Walmart didn't secure the lugnuts on my car properly and they started popping off on the road. To the point where I had one left on one tire. Someone came to our aid and gave us some of their lugnuts off their own car.

Religion is stronger down here. The "Oh thank Jesus" old southern lady does exist down here. Christianity and Baptist are strong down here and while they are tolerant of other religions if they are your friend they make try to "save you". Also I did offend someone for calling it the "Civil War". Apparently she grew up knowing it as "The War of the States".

There are others... homemade fried foods (which are AWESOME), confederate flags, burn piles, and lots of hunting and pick up trucks. But its not as potent as you would believe. I still see a lot of suits and Mercedes no different than up north.

I guess its really just culturally different, but everyone pretty much does the same thing.

Thats all I can think of off the top of my head. I am no southern man (as my wife continuously points out) but I think I got most of it right.

 

[Silvianoshei]

There is a man named Shelby Foote. He negates all southern stereotypes.

 

[O maestre]

putting my smug euro-trash opinion on this, so excuse me. I always saw the north south divide like a city vs country thing. like how every one from a certain part of the country is a farmer and rolls around the same manure as thei pigs and so forth.

in general though americans have less than flattering stereotypes associated to them abroad, your description fits actually fits how most people in my country view the american populace. so i guess you have that in common with the north.

First off, it's not all of you, it just seems like a rather large representation of....er...."lowbrow culture" seems to come out of that region. Don't take that personally.

Second, the Eastern Seaboard seems to be good at being ignorant about everything else that's not the Eastern Seaboard. I live on the Continental Divide, and during a high school trip to DC, and one person had the bright idea that we were still subject to periodic "Indian attacks," as she put it. I was flat-out baffled. Yet another was convinced that most of us herded cattle and lived in cabins in the woods.I shit you not.

So, don't take that kind of crap personally either. Every part of the US can be strange and alien place to those looking in, really. I know the ones who acquired the company I work at came in from their home base out east, and were baffled by how we conducted business around these parts. It was far more casual than they were used to, and I'm sure we looked like a bunch of backwards hicks to them, despite this area being largely progressive in a lot of respects.

I'm sure the majority of ya are stand-up gals and guys just doing what you gotta do to get by just like the rest of us. I also know that Austin, TX and Atlanta, GA in particular have rather progressive and avant-garde holdouts amongst what appears otherwise to be a sea of modern urban ideals constantly at odds with backwoods sensibilities.

But face it, you do live in a very interesting region with a lot of colorful history, and that's bound to be the first things to cross people's minds.

hmmm that is interesting,i know the US is a big country but i somehow always imagined it as being very mono-cultured generally, i didn't realize there was so much disparity between states, but i guess that makes sense. it also explains the lack of interest/knowledge of foreign countries, it seems if there is enough trouble distinguishing facts within the borders.

/smugness

 

[lord canti]

Well being from Kentucky when ever I go out of state people automatically assume that I'm some dumb cow farmer. So yeah I feel your pain pal.

Also a Kentucky boy, born and bred. I've been to both sides of the country and people were surprised about my lack of an accent, and the fact that I hadn't slept with any of my cousins.

Wasnt born here, but lived here for the last 13 years. A majority of my family lives here so I'm not leaving anytime soon.

 

[Strazdas]

well to be honest that is all we see from otuside of the country. sure there are good people in there. but the news only report on stereotype-fitting people, therefore outsides autmatically assume all of them are becuase thats all they hear about it. your officials dont help much. neither does your texan courts.
then again americans arent very smart about the outside world either. people still think i live in soviet union (though a bit less of those now, maybe they finally realize its been gone 20 years).

 

[Screamarie]

Being born and raised in Texas I try not to let the stereotypes get to me, but I must admit that it can get annoying.

"What? Yes, I'm from Texas...I'm 24...no, I'm not married what does that have to do with anything?...no I don't have any children, bastards or not....no I was in college...no not trade school, I have my bachelor's...from a university with NCATE certification...yes women are allowed to go to college in Texas...and blacks too..."

That's an exaggeration of course, but people have treated me like I'm stupid because I have a Texas accent. But the younger generation is actually pretty progressive in my opinion. Not to long ago I was in school and people were pretty open about things that our parents and grandparents were not.

Not all of us like nascar.

 

[almostgold]

Well being from Kentucky when ever I go out of state people automatically assume that I'm some dumb cow farmer. So yeah I feel your pain pal.

Also a Kentucky boy, born and bred. I've been to both sides of the country and people were surprised about my lack of an accent, and the fact that I hadn't slept with any of my cousins.

Wasnt born here, but lived here for the last 13 years. A majority of my family lives here so I'm not leaving anytime soon.

Another Kentucky boy reporting in. I love the stuff I get asked when I'm out of state. Where are you guys in this state?

 

[mikey7339]

No, until the majority of your populous gets your act together I will not cut you guys any slack.

If you guys make a sincere effort to stop being willfully ignorant, make healthy life choices so a good chunk of your population is no longer obese, stop driving your derp truck 9000s around and take personal responsibility for the ecological impact you have on the planet, and stop trying to force America to become a fundamentalist Christian nation; MAYBE I will cut you guys some slack. The reason you have this label is because you let people like this represent your corner of the world. You let them have the say in how you are all portrayed. If you don't like it, do something about it.

Until you do I will only take exception on a proven, case by case basis.

 

[Doitpow]

snip

I love the dirty south! You've got some issues, but who the hell doesn't? consider your slack cut!

you win on
a)Music
b)american booze
c)food
d)natural beauty (actually there are so many beautiful places in america call this on a tied win)

 

[Otaku World Order]

I wouldn't worry about it to much it happens to everyone, I live in Canada and I have heard stories about tourists asking where all the igloos are, ignorant fools each province is only allowed to make 10 igloos a year, which are raffled off at the Thursday flea market by our God the golden beaver.

Don't worry about the south though any crazy-ass stories about how big red-necks are is instantly balanced out by how awesome King of the Hill is.

Shush! You know we're not supposed to speak of the Golden Beaver to the foreigners! We could be exiled to the Maple Syrup Plantations for such a thing!

Erm,,, I mean, how's it goin' eh? Anyone watch the Leafs game last night?

 

[Tipsy Giant]

If southern people want to be taken seriously stop voting in cartoon characters

 

[almostgold]

No, until the majority of your populous gets your act together I will not cut you guys any slack.

This may be the prejudice and ignorance the OP is talking about.

 

[The Preened Mr. Fust]

No, until the majority of your populous gets your act together I will not cut you guys any slack.

This may be the prejudice and ignorance the OP is talking about.

Prejudice implies he is passing judgement beforehand. I am not getting that impression from his post.

Ignorance implies he has absolutely no knowledge on the subject. If he is like me, he certainly has plenty of knowledge on the subject.


But then again I am assuming he is a person who also lived there for a very long time.

I suppose it also bears mentioning that the South likes you as long as you look and act like a particular type of person. They especially do not like alternative types.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Speaking as a lowly denizen of Chicago, the only "stereotype" I maintain is that your cooks make the best fucking Biscuits & Gravy on the face of the planet.

I'm such an awful person, I know.

 

[unoleian]

hmmm that is interesting,i know the US is a big country but i somehow always imagined it as being very mono-cultured generally, i didn't realize there was so much disparity between states, but i guess that makes sense. it also explains the lack of interest/knowledge of foreign countries, it seems if there is enough trouble distinguishing facts within the borders.

/smugness

There's a few distinct regions around this country that are almost cultures onto themselves. You have the Northeast, Southeast, South, Mid-West, Northwest, Southwest, and West Coast. These regions are very quite disparate from one another, in style, attitude, language, cultural influence, and whatnot. While it's fair to say we're mono-cultured to some degree, especially in regards to entertainment and pop culture, there's massive regional differences in this country.

It is a big place. You gotta keep in mind, states here are essentially the equivalent in area (and to some degree, in case of EU nations, governance) of European countries. Examine how much your culture can vary from country to country, and it's very easy to overlay those differences to a degree in this country.

 

[Techno Squidgy]

It's a weird phenomenon how people can be presented with their own countrymen and handwave them as being loons and not representative of how they think, but show us three people from another country who all say a stupid thing, and that country is just full of morons. I mean, it just has to be, Out of millions, we saw three saying it! They are obviously the majority!

Strange but true. I quite often fall prone to this aswell. I normally then shake my head and think 'Nah, can't be'. However I'll be damned if people actually believe the shit on Fox news.I thought the Daily Mail was bad...

 

[Twilight.falls]

I've lived in Southern Louisiana all my life.

While, for the most part, the stereotypes are not true, there definitely are occasions where people play it straight.

At my high school, there are a great deal of kids who walk around in camoflage jackets, jeans and baseballs caps. They chew tobacco and drive pickup trucks. I'm not making this up, some have even made shirts that say "Hik lyf".

Unfortunately, some people make it hard to dispel the stereotypes.