REGIONAL STEREOTYPES

THE dear departed (may she rest in peace) Molly Ivins ranted and raved about the myths of Texas. When I lived in Texas and would travel East, as a queer man, I'd have my own axe to grind: Texas may be Bigger, but that myth is definitely not true about penis size.

In Vermont, there's that flatlanders vs woodchucks gripe and the mistaken notion that this state is a bastion of progressive politcs. (Did you know that Vermont was settled by people from Connecticut and that Ethan Allen originally named the Vermont Republic New Connecticut?)

Recent coverage of Appalachian stereotypes - Jon Stewart's apeing West Virginia voters and Cheney's tasteless joke - have brought some responses, too.

catholicanarchy.org Cheney, Appalachian humor, and American imperial logic

(my emphasis)

And just as Appalachian stereotypes developed in tandem with the beginnings of economic exploitation in the region, the same stereotypes continue to serve the interests of capitalism and U.S. political and cultural imperialism. Appalachian politicians such as WV’s Governor Manchin “sell” Appalachian poverty to outside companies by advertising the region’s low wages, “docile” work force, low unionization rates, etc. The “throw away people” of Appalachia also continue to bear the burden of environmental injustice such as the ongoing practice of mountaintop removal mining, all for the “common good” of America’s energy needs.

And not only are a disproportionate number of Appalachian bodies exploited, generation after generation, to serve in the U.S. military, Appalachian stereotypes are invoked as part of the mythological narratives that drive U.S. imperialism, especially the War on Terror, as Carol Mason demonstrated in a recent journal article. Mason provides a fascinating analysis of two female soldiers from West Virginia, Jessica Lynch and Lynndie England, who made headlines over the last few years and who embodied the two contradictory hillbilly images we referred to earlier, Lynch representing the good country girl rescued from barbaric Iraqis, and England representing the barbaric savage who was photographed torturing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Attending to the role of class, gender, and race in the two stories, Mason showed how each used Appalachian hillbilly stereotypes either to inspire support for the war on terror or to explain away U.S. torture tactics by blaming them on a “gender-bending hillbilly.”