| Wednesday, February 28, 2007 |
| Do You Have Issues?: Stupid is as Stupid Does. |
 Miz Margie, I want to know why a lot of people think that Southerns are big, dumb, and stupid? All areas of this country have persons who match that description. In most of the movies, and tv shows, we are stereotyped as bumbling boobs (double breasted) or hayseeds (straw hats) with B. S. (BBQ Sauce) for brains. I know you like living in the South, so what's your take on this?
You're absolutely right. Big, dumb and stupid peeps can be found all across America. Unfortunately you are also right on how Southerners are frequently stereotyped in this manner. Movies such as "Deliverance", TV Sitcoms, some Country music songs and even Jeff Foxworthy is a self made millionaire simply by pickin' on the Redneck culture.
Which reminds me of the "Blue Collar Comedy Tour" and makes me question that if there is an intelligent anthropological reason for this. The reason being, what the majority of a large area of people have done for a living over a course of time. (For example; Agricultural, Ranching, Coal Mining, Manufacturing, etc.)
I'm from New Jersey, the Garden State and when asked will always emphasis "South Jersey". I do so to separate myself from the city folk up North and the New Yorkers. Not that there is anything wrong with them or me for that matter, but our cultures are drastically different. I never seen a taxi cab or city bus for the first 18 years of my life. Growing up surrounded by miles and miles of blueberry farms, corn fields, peach trees, dairy farms and pine trees had kept me ignorant of so much of the world.
It is wonderful and honorable to be simple but unfortunately it is often correlated with being stupid. Maybe I don't have a clue on stem cell research or the latest theory on Quantum Physics - but what are the chances that Stephen Hawking knows how to cut brake rotors? Did Albert Einstein know how to build a Double Whopper with cheese? Does Senator John Kerry know how to rebuild a carburettor?
Probably not but they depend on others to know these things just as others depend on them to find a cure for cancer or handle diplomatic relations to bring peace to our country, world and children. They don't need to know how the corn was grown, harvested and put into their frozen Green Giant Veggie Blend side dish.
The South doesn't have the best Ivy League Schools or even the best of national school testing scores. What we have is the best of real, down home kind of people.
Savannah, where a "pigeon-toed only child with a receding chin and a you-leave-me-alone-or-I'll-bite-you complex" girl named Flannery O'Connor became one of the most important voices in American Woman's literature. Where Clarence Thomas was raised by a poor single mother and rose to become a Supreme Court Justice. Where Juliette Gordon Low founded the US Girl Scouts and helped to empower young ladies to be all they wanted to be.
They are just a few of the many wonderful, famous and talented people that have roots in the South. Fed on corn, shaded by straw hats and who liked their chicken dripping with Johnny Harris' sauce.
My take on the whole thing, "Stupid is as Stupid Does."
(Do you have issues? If so write in and vent here! All personal information is kept confidential and questions may be edited to exclude identifiable information. )Labels: Do You Have Issues? |
Stumble It!
.......posted by Margaret @ 1:16 PM   |
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| 2 Comments: |
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Miz Margie, I'm sitting here about to cry and smile at the same time. You might not be born and bred in the South but you sure got the heart for it and of it! Thanks for the post. I suppose you stay with what you know until your get up and go prods you to learn something new. An old saying down South is "don't get above your raising." I guess you can keep your heart planted where you were born and bred to give you an anchor and a measuring stick as you move on up in the world. I like folks who never forget where they came from and try to give something back to those they left behind. Like the movies, "Sweet Home Alabama", and "Steel Magnolias", "Forrest Gump" to name a few. And the writers from Savannah and Ms. Low, just to name a few.
Love ya, GA Peach
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Glad you got a reader witha question. A very good answer to the question I might add. Now can you get me a list of Finnish Americans that did something great. Just wondering.
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Miz Margie, I'm sitting here about to cry and smile at the same time. You might not be born and bred in the South but you sure got the heart for it and of it! Thanks for the post. I suppose you stay with what you know until your get up and go prods you to learn something new. An old saying down South is "don't get above your raising." I guess you can keep your heart planted where you were born and bred to give you an anchor and a measuring stick as you move on up in the world. I like folks who never forget where they came from and try to give something back to those they left behind. Like the movies, "Sweet Home Alabama", and "Steel Magnolias", "Forrest Gump" to name a few. And the writers from Savannah and Ms. Low, just to name a few.
Love ya, GA Peach