The Redneck Playground
The website I have chosen to look at is
‘The Redneck Playground,’ a site that is aimed at ‘rednecks,’ a term often used
to describe white, southern and usually male Americans. The website is keen to
establish redneck views and morales and also shows off some of their favourite
things: guns, girls and cars.
I have heard the word redneck used many
times to describe southern Americans, however I was unaware that a term I
thought to be derogatory towards these people has actually been inherited by
them as a title. The website is quick to banish stereotypes and has a picture
of “what society thinks rednecks do,” showing a picture of the KKK, and a
picture of “what they actually do,” showing them outdoors living off the land
and then driving big cars. There is a feature laid out similarly to the Bill of
Rights called “what a Redneck believes” with the first point being “I like big trucks, big boats, big houses, and
naturally, pretty women.”
The
‘second amendment’ of this false Bill of Rights is their defence of the right
to bear arms. This is what is most striking about this website and is the
strongest definition of their identity in my opinion. Phrases such as “a gun in
the hand is better than a cop on the phone” and “if guns cause crime, then
matches cause arson” seem very alien to me and suggests that this is what is
keeping their identity in a bad light. Their belief that man has the right to
bear arms is an example of why society thinks of rednecks in this way.
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