That’s an improvement on Sewing Machine’s claim, but I don’t think it goes far enough. Groups despise other groups. “Rednecks” form a group, it’s predictably despised by another group. The low status are despised by the high status. Rednecks are low status, they’re despised by SWPLs, who are high status. The term “redneck” refers to the condition of their neck, which is a way of referring to their occupation and therefore to their station in life. Someone with a red neck is originally probably a caucasian who works out of doors, likely to be looked down on by caucasians who work indoors. Probably rural, likely to be looked down on by the urban (who are urbane, sophisticated, in contrast to the rednecks who are rustic, unsophisticated).
People love to look down on other people. It’s a pastime. It’s a way to magnify one’s own feeling of having high status. There’s a site called “people of walmart” which is devoted to the pastime of looking down on other people. A lot of humor, possibly most humor, is devoted to ridiculing a group to which one does not belong. It’s always easy to come up with rationalizations for the contempt after the fact.
Personally I prefer the humor of self-ridicule. I assume that the SWPL site is self-ridicule of high status whites. I also assume that Jeff Foxworthy’s “you might be a redneck” routine is self-ridicule of rednecks. In contrast, “people of walmart” is not self-ridicule.
That’s an improvement on Sewing Machine’s claim, but I don’t think it goes far enough. Groups despise other groups. “Rednecks” form a group, it’s predictably despised by another group. The low status are despised by the high status. Rednecks are low status, they’re despised by SWPLs, who are high status. The term “redneck” refers to the condition of their neck, which is a way of referring to their occupation and therefore to their station in life. Someone with a red neck is originally probably a caucasian who works out of doors, likely to be looked down on by caucasians who work indoors. Probably rural, likely to be looked down on by the urban (who are urbane, sophisticated, in contrast to the rednecks who are rustic, unsophisticated).
People love to look down on other people. It’s a pastime. It’s a way to magnify one’s own feeling of having high status. There’s a site called “people of walmart” which is devoted to the pastime of looking down on other people. A lot of humor, possibly most humor, is devoted to ridiculing a group to which one does not belong. It’s always easy to come up with rationalizations for the contempt after the fact.
Personally I prefer the humor of self-ridicule. I assume that the SWPL site is self-ridicule of high status whites. I also assume that Jeff Foxworthy’s “you might be a redneck” routine is self-ridicule of rednecks. In contrast, “people of walmart” is not self-ridicule.