Born and raised in S.C., lived in CO for the past 20 years.
I’d say…maybe a little. There’ve been some threads I’ve read that struck me as a little beyond the pale. The “Should I move to S.C.?” thread had some pretty negative posts (although I would have said my answer is “NO!” since I couldn’t wait to get out after graduation and haven’t been back except to visit. Sorry, Zsofia).
But I think that in general, in American pop culture, a short cut to portraying a character as illiterate, ignorant, untrustworthy, and violent is to give that person a Southern accent, so I don’t necessarily think that Dopers are free from that influence.
If television is an accurate descriptor of character or Moral Right, bear in mind that Chief Engineer Charles Tucker of Enterprise and Physician Leonard McCoy of Star Trek saved the universe innumerable times.
Southern…and no. I’ve been working in a rather rural section of the state for a little over a year, and I grew up in a county with a higher population of hogs than people. Frankly, I’m surprised at the number of people who fit the stereotype to some extent.
My vote is going to be yes, because it’s not often you hear the really good things about the South mentioned - except for barbecue. For one thing, they support the arts more seriously than most regions of the country. Music is part of community life in the South as nowhere else.
Jayhawker here, and no. I’m sure there are a few vociferous members who rail against the South, but I tend to see much more negative things said about Texas. (Not that I think the SDMB is unduly critical of Texas, just that there’s more said.)
Southern, and no, not really. There are a few loud-mouths who are down on the South but I think it’s just a vocal minority.
The advantage of the Straight Dope is that is gives us Southerners a forum to prove some stereotypes wrong. Dopers being an enlightened group, most of them soon realize that we are not all a bunch of benighted hillbillies.
There are stereotypes in many dopers’ heads, true, and I do see them crop up from time to time, but I’d say Southerners encounter less stereotyping among Dopers than they would among any random sampling of people in any Northern or Western city.
And yes (if I may do some stereotyping of my own) we Southerners are a thin-skinned and defensive bunch. We do not handle criticism well. It’s a cultural trait that has gotten us into trouble before. You can see the exact same dynamic at play in the run-up to the Civil War.
I’m the family Yankee…other than my daughter in western Nevada, I’m the only one who lives north of the Mason-Dixon line.
Nope, I don’t think dopers are overly critical of “southerners” (whoever they are). I read comments about those who live in the south & see parallels w/my family (in Texas, Georgia, & Florida).
Yes: (1) because the South is exactly like the rest of the US; only more so.
Yes (2) because even though “What’s the West coming to?” is a common lament, and California has always been a place that up until only a few years ago was a great place, the South once saw change in the form of artillery bombarments. A subtle but distinct difference.
Yes (3) because the punchline at the end of the following joke doesn’t work if you tell it in a matter-of-fact Midwestern twang instead of a slow, polite Southern drawl:
A little boy in his Sunday best was walking down the sidewalk with his dog. As they passed a porch with an elderly lady in her rocking chair, she called to the boy to come closer so she could have a look at him
“My oh my, little boy, isn’t your hair all nicely combed with brilliantine this morning.”
“Why thank you, ma’am.”
“And my but that is certainly a natty little polka-dot bow tie you’re wearing this morning”
“Why thank you, ma’am.”
“And those are such handsome charcoal-grey short trousers you have on, too, so crisply ironed”
“Why thank you, ma’am.”
“And you shoes are so shiny; I can fairly see my reflection in them.”
“Why thank you, ma’am.”
“And such a cute little doggy you have as your companion for your morning stroll.”
I think some Dopers are critical of or make fun of professional Southerners.
This category includes people whose mission in life is to justify/refight/revise the history of the Civil War and to entertain us with pronouncements on the unique and overweening virtues of Southern mores, gentility and Way Of Life.
About a third of my adult life has been spent in the South, but I’m a Northern Aggressor by birth and current residence.
I’ve been reading this “clinging to the Civil War” meme in this thread a lot. And you know … it strikes me as an odd kind of micro-focus on a vanishingly small group of people.
There’s maybe three people throughout the South that earnestly act like that (Confederate flag displays, in and of themselves, mostly don’t count – if someone under 60 is displaying a Rebel flag, they’re knowingly being an ass for the sake of being an ass, and that’s not the same as revering the Civil War).
I’m always surprised at the nasty comments some Dopers make about the South knowing perfectly well that there are Southern Dopers likely to read them. But then I’m way too thin-skinned to even be on this message board anyway.
