Hillbilly Country
The hillbilly image, mainly perpetuated by movies and television, is most closely associated with the Appalachian mountains, reaching portions of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia and the Ozarks, including parts of Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Kansas. There are some references to “Hill-Billies” in other parts of the United States south, including Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi. The hillbilly stereotype runs so broad, it could include almost any rural area of the upper southern region of the United States. Or, as Harkins says, “anywhere on the rough edges of the landscape and economy.” (p. 5). Since the ‘hillbilly’ term has come to mean anyone in rural areas experiencing extreme poverty and disregard for more urbanized social norms, it is impossible to pinpoint the hillbilly to one region, although the Appalachian region tends to be the epicenter of “Hillbilly.”