Erica Goodman

Author: Rural Banter

Certain stereotypes add flavor to the landscape of country living. Rural life is not always depicted with the same nostalgia that is sometimes used to try and resurrect a romantic way of life associated with small town living. Certain stereotypes taint the picturesque scenes of cornfields whistling in the breeze and cows silently munching on the green, grassy hills, offering instead a life clearly backwards from the norm.

First off, there are the many and multiple names for those people who must suffer an existence "in the boonies." "Hick." n. Not very intelligent or interested in culture . Hicks tend to be distinguished by a lack of sophistication deriving from their ruralness. Tall and sometimes awkward, the great NBA basketball player Larry Bird comically referred to himself as the "Hick from French Lick" to conjure up an image of small-town humility. "Hillbilly." n. A person from the backwoods or a remote mountain area. Sometimes hillbillies strike it rich while shootin' at some food and move on to Beverly Hills. But as the exploits of Jed, Granny, Elly May and Jethro showed television audiences, a move to the big city can be a tough adjustment. Small town dwellers are just too simple, too attached to their 12 guage shotguns and rusted-out pickup trucks to enjoy the bright lights and bustle of the city.

Country folk, it seems, have even developed their own rural language. In "hick" or "hillbilly" jargon, contractions and combined words abound. Mom will bust out of the kitchen and holler to the family, "Yenz gonna come getcha suhm'ta eat, hain't ya?" And most likely, the menu consists of something very greasy and artery clogging, or even roadkill stew Granny Clampet style. And "ers" replaces the end of most nouns. "Windows" become "winders," "potatoes" translate into "potaters." And you are never going there or buying something, but rather goin' ther or buyin' sumpin'.

Then of course, the style of the century, the infamous mullet. A venture to any bar in any small town in the United States would not be the same without the site of at least one unbalanced coif. Short hair on the top of the head and long hair in the back, the mullet is a haircut that has come to be mocked and almost universally ridiculed and unrightfully assigned rural roots. Sure, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus sported the 'do back in his height of popularity. But so did Mel Gibson in all the Lethal Weapon movies, as did tennis star Andre Agassi.

How true are hillbilly labels? Living in the middle of nowhere certainly has its downfalls. But rural dwellers are not, contrary to popular belief, exempt from Darwin's theory. Listening to country music and sporting cowhide leather boots is far from a sign of evolutionary deadlock. We country folk have our quirks; that is the truth. But really, don't we all?