Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > West Virginia
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 07-16-2008, 01:10 AM
 
Location: Philadelphia 'Burbs
938 posts, read 2,888,477 times
Reputation: 595

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobilee View Post
Thanks, I'm going to have to read that one next.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-16-2008, 11:18 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia 'Burbs
938 posts, read 2,888,477 times
Reputation: 595
As an experiment, I posed a question to a group of pharmacists that frequent a professional forum I frequent. I asked, "When you hear the word "Appalachia" what is the first thing you think of in relation to its people and culture?"

The responses cracked me up:

----------
I don't even think about people or culture. I know, it's sad.

I just think of treetops and the area's eastern orientation.

That area of the country baffles me. I don't know what to think of it...
-----------
1) hatfield vs mccoy

2) moonshine.
-----------
medicaid
-----------
Mountains, Rednecks.
-----------
1) White trash

2) Beer
-----------
poverty, no running water, poor health care
-----------
Believe it or not, culture. Specifically, bluegrass and Civil War stuff.
-----------
1) fat and dumb 2) welfare and oxys
-----------
1) People: some are maybe kind of hickish, but most are down to earth. One of my good friends is from Boone, NC and she is really nice and genuine.
2) Culture: Not really sure...maybe really relaxed and laid back.
-----------
1. People - outdoorsy, probably nice and fun, sort of hippie
2. Culture - mountains...?? small town, hiking...
-----------
People - racist white trash, rednecks
Culture - beer-drinking and dropping out, maybe mining
-----------
Sharyn McCrumb - one of my favorite authors!
-----------
1. toothless
2. huh? what culture?
-----------
1) poor white people who have been largely forgotten and neglected by social programs in favor of bigger cities. I imagine just very plain clothed folks, people who do mechanical sorts of jobs, and a lot of unemployment and poverty. But generally good people.
2) bluegrass music
-----------
1. Big Foot
2. Snow covered mountains
-----------
the movie Deliverance only in the mountains
-----------
So first thoughts were hilljack and glorious lack of sophistication (foxworthy's definition of redneck)

though my second thoughts were miner's and college athletics
-----------
1. Mountains.
2. (Now I've actually been in the region) Really nice people.
-----------
1) People with calcium deficiencies
2) Culture centered around distilling liquor
-----------
1) The first thing I think of is Appalachian Emergency Room (broken link).
------------------------------------------------------

(Back to me)

It seems like most people know nothing about our region....unless they have actually experienced it. Keep in mind, these are all folks with doctorate-level degrees, too. Every one of the positive responses came from a person who studied or lives in Appalachia. To say we have a PR problem is to say that Yao Ming is kinda tall. Perhaps later I will repeat the same thing on the city-data General US forum.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-17-2008, 12:19 AM
 
Location: Philadelphia
1,342 posts, read 3,230,503 times
Reputation: 1528
Hey, WVUPharm, here is a link to a study I found in my Google wanderings (I am a Google Wandervogel). The sampling was small, about 61 people, and African-American WVians comprised about one-quarter. I found it interesting that they resisted being called "Appalachian", which they thought demeaning. I also found the following amusing - "Respondents indicated a woman is not expected to prepare food based on individual choices made by family members; it is up to the woman to decide what to prepare." My mom and grandmother to a T-This is what you are going to eat! The study seemed to indicate this was a change from the past, but I don't think so, I think women in WV had a very strong say in what went down. My great-great-grandmother looked like Mammy Yokum and smoked a corn-cob pipe. I don't think great-great Grandpa Ross would dare to cross her.
Peer Reviewed: Social and Cultural Factors Influencing Health in Southern West Virginia: A Qualitative Study
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-17-2008, 01:15 AM
 
11,944 posts, read 14,729,530 times
Reputation: 2772
WVU doctorates have nothing to do with cultural messages. Does achieving a doctorate make them magically impervious to media?
Fact is sometimes their own education gets in the way of seeing reality because they've predicated it on poor assumptions that took root in academia. Something wrong with that? Absolutely, but what of it? Fact is the only way to manifest this reality is for WV'rs to live it out by lending it credibility with their own choices. Have they done that? No, and yes.

I would encourage you to understand social psych, ref: elliot aronson, regarding pecking order group mentality need for diminishing others as some vicarious way to stand tall. Civilization evolving past it would be nice, but it's persisted in our american culture despite the framing of equality in earnest.

Can you say you've witnessed the same of WV'rs doing it to their own? Because I can, and what a crying shame that is. Emulating obnoxious movers and shakers won't make you anymore successful than a woman wearing pants makes her a man, but the perception is there so people tend to mimic superficial ideals that could more accurately be described as perverse characatures. This was more obvious to me in places like NY and cali, but it happens everywhere to one degree or another.

Theater is supposed to fool whom? I spent the whole time in my insurance agents office the other day LMAO @ him. He was carrying on waving the corporate flag at me, as if I were called into the principals office, for failing to sign a document on his timeline. Open for biz? Hard to believe I went there for serious answers about the laws involved for WV state.

No, WVU, you cannot solve things externally through superficial PR. Solving them comes from within more often than not, and WV'rs willing to take pride in what's real about themselves, and ditch the rest of the BS that's become a trapping of commercialism for the rest of america, will do fine even if some blow hard proffessor from Yale has no faith. They'll succeed despite them. If WV can't manage to instill a solid sense of worth in it's young, then you need to worry.

Glad retired navy took actions to make sure history is faithfully passed on instead of the tripe they sold me in elementary school books. Didn't hear until a few years back G washington didn't cut down a cherry tree.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-17-2008, 05:01 AM
 
4,714 posts, read 13,272,414 times
Reputation: 1089
Bobilee: In pioneer times the lady of the house was the 'keeper of the keys...holdover from feudal England...the rich wore the key rings around their waist as a symbol of that authority...her Larder kept life and sustenance. The meal planning was a remanant of that direction...the food stores were managed to get them through the 'Starving Times..she dictated what and how much food the meal was...and as wife in balance to the husbands work of providing the stores...her position was paramount to the familes survival...each home/ cabin on an individual basis and the sharing to others as everyone needed each others help...no stranger was ever turned away at the door who asked for food..
It was their times.. sound familiar?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-17-2008, 06:52 AM
 
Location: Lost in Montana *recalculating*...
19,393 posts, read 22,337,580 times
Reputation: 24096
I only BBQ when asked, other than that- my wife rules the roost.

She tells me where she wants those shelves, pictures and potted plants and I simply say "Yes m'aam....What's for supper?"

Truth is just that.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-17-2008, 07:11 AM
 
Location: Sterling, VA
1,059 posts, read 2,950,778 times
Reputation: 633
Quote:
Originally Posted by Threerun View Post
I only BBQ when asked, other than that- my wife rules the roost.

She tells me where she wants those shelves, pictures and potted plants and I simply say "Yes m'aam....What's for supper?"

Truth is just that.
When asked "What's for supper?" my mother-in-law used to say "It's bad enough I have to cook it, I have to explain it too?"
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-17-2009, 11:30 PM
 
421 posts, read 1,560,622 times
Reputation: 355
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueeyes30 View Post
Interesting read...thank you.

I always wondered why West Virginia is always mentioned when it comes to Appalachia though. I am referring mainly to the negative stereotypes. The region spans a large area of the eastern US. In the numerical sense, Pennsylvania has the most residents in Appalachia, but rarely do you hear Pennsylvania hillbilly jokes. (I've heard it called "Pennsyltucky" before, but the jokes about West Virginia are more widespead.)
That depends on where you go. In Northern WV and OH, I've only the realistic criticisms of PA, and never heard jokes about PA being hillbilly. Go to NJ, MD, DE, NY, though, and that "Pennsyltucky" thing takes on the cruel character of the hillbilly jokes. I've heard PA made fun of as a hillbilly state around Buffalo, NY, and quite a bit in Jersey.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-18-2009, 06:55 AM
 
10,147 posts, read 14,976,094 times
Reputation: 1782
Quote:
Originally Posted by Orwelleaut View Post
That depends on where you go. In Northern WV and OH, I've only the realistic criticisms of PA, and never heard jokes about PA being hillbilly. Go to NJ, MD, DE, NY, though, and that "Pennsyltucky" thing takes on the cruel character of the hillbilly jokes. I've heard PA made fun of as a hillbilly state around Buffalo, NY, and quite a bit in Jersey.
I lived in the NYC area for more than 15 years. Believe me, they think anything west of Philadelphia is out in the sticks and do not differentiate from one place to another. Pittsburgh is hicksville to them. Mention it, and the reaction is YEEE HAW!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-18-2009, 09:59 AM
 
Location: Western Pennsylvania
2,429 posts, read 7,214,340 times
Reputation: 830
Ask them where the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland is from, if they think we're so backwards.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:




Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > West Virginia
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top