The Hillbilly Isn’t What You Think
Despite the blatantly stereotypical depiction of hillbilly culture in the Beverly Hillbillies, it was always noticeably clear that the family loved each other. The Clampetts were a tightly bound family unit that outsiders could never break. Jed Clampett, for all his “backwoods backward” was ultimately depicted as the wise patriarch (often wiser than his urbanized counterpart) with a loving heart and a gentle spirit. The “hillbilly” stereotype doesn’t show the diversity of the people. They are more than the “slack-jawed yokels” Cletus and Nadine Buckler on The Simpsons. It is more of a popular culture façade, a way to contextualize the economic, social, and poverty struggles in a region and create the baseline for a spectrum from “low culture” to “high culture.” In the end, “hillbilly” is a stereotype, one that doesn’t present the depth and history of the people who live in rural areas.
Where did we find this stuff? Here Are Our Sources:
Appalachian foods: Defining generations. Mary Casey-Sturk, Smoky Mountain Living, (n.d.)
Hillbillies. Gordon B. McKinney, Encyclopedia of North Carolina, 2006.
Mountain Dew once had ties to moonshine. Fessenden, Maris, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 February 2016.
My Inner Hillbilly. Michael McFee, Southern Cultures, (n.d.).
The Battle of Blair Mountain. Evan Andrews, History.com. 25 August 2016.
The real meaning of hillbilly. Abby Lee Hood, New York Times, 31 January 2021.
The word “Hillbilly;” Linguistic mystery and popular culture fixture. Dave Tabler, 5 March 2012.
Yesterday’s People. Jack E. Weller (1965). University Press of Kentucky.