my friend said long hair was 'hillbilly'

[chen bao jun]

I just never heard this one before. It wasn't aimed at me--I'm black (I guess there are black hillbillies--hate that term, though) and my hair is not long enough to be her target. She had mid back length, very styled hair (dyed layered permed and everything else, but it does look nice). she said she's just never seen hair longer than waist that isn't thin, straggly and ugly and that the women who wear their hair this long are hillbillies with no teeth! Especially if its in a braid.

Has anybody ever heard this? Is it some type of well known (obnoxious) stereotype that I just never heard before? I have been surprised at a lot of the prejudiced remarks directed towards country people since I moved further south than I used to live, but this is a new one!

It's my same friend that still insists that my iii hair is not thick (and is still harping on the subject). I'm staring to think she has 'issues' in regards to hair.

[spidermom]

A second vote for "issues".

I've never heard this personally. If I did, I think I'd laugh.

[walterSCAN]

A second vote for "issues".

I've never heard this personally. If I did, I think I'd laugh.

Yeah, definitely sounds like 'issues', and I've never heard that stereotype.

[Hootenanny]

What a weird thing to say. I've never heard it before either. I also agree that your friend sounds a little wacky when it comes to hair. :wacko:

[TiaKitty]

None of my hillbilly family have hair as long as mine. Though, back a couple of generations, my great-grandmothers had very long hair which they wrapped around their head in crown braid type deals.

Most of the hillbillies I know try very hard to look like the people they see on TV. They straighten and blow dry and curl and use product and highlight. Not so different than what you describe your friend having... :hmm:

Though, I am just one among many hillbillies, so I could be wrong. But, I do have long hair and am missing a few teeth. :shrug:

[HintOfMint]

1. Sounds like she does indeed have issues and likely it's projection for the pressure she puts on her own hair. I'm sure her hair is lovely, but it's probably not an accident that between the dying, layering, perming and the like, on top of thinking far too much about the state of other people's hair. she's trying for a very mainstream, socially acceptable look. That involves a lot of catering, not necessarily to one's own wishes, but what others deem pretty. It's a little crazy that she thinks your iii hair isn't thick, but it sounds like she's constantly looking at others and judging and comparing. Sounds exhausting to be her.

2. I've heard a similar long hair stereotype based on religion and ethnicity. I've heard white, American LHCers deal with the stereotype that the person must be from a very conservative, cult-like religion. There are other sects of Christianity where women have a very long hairstyle with a pouf high on their heads. It's a very distinct look, and so there's a long hair stereotype having to do with religion.

I recall a Japanese LHCer who said that hair on young women in her region has to be at least one of the three: dyed, layered, or curled. To have long, one length, naturally black hair would be considered old fashioned, and I guess a little country and backwards.

I'm Indian and my Pakistani friend laughed at me when I told her I used coconut oil. I guess it's struck her as something old fashioned, something our mothers and grandmothers did. She had a chic little layered bob (which was super cute!) that she styled every day. Most of my South Asian friends make it a point to have very styled hair, LOTS OF FLAT IRONING. Many highlight their hair as well, and almost no one keeps it longer than BSL. I wanted to put my hair up in a braid when I went to my cousin's wedding, but my other cousins tried to talk me out of it.

So, while I've heard a variation of the "hillbilly" stereotype for long hair in the US, there are other cultures that have a variation of that as well. That long hair in its natural texture and color is a little backwards and old fashioned.

[Ms. Littlefish]

I've never heard that stereotype. If anything isn't the stereotype more geared toward "big" hair? Rollers, hairspray, maybe even bleached? Maybe she's self conscious about the thickness of her own hair if she's trying to convince herself that yours is not.

[molljo]

Unfortunately, there may be some truth in your friend's opinion (but with the biggest grain of salt!). I just posted about this in another thread. I grew up in a small Appalachian town, and there were several women and girls with very long hair that was not well cared for. It led me to believe that long hair simply couldn't be healthy just by virtue of it being long. Now, of course, I know that's not true. If anything, I think those particular women were just at the bad intersection of strict gender roles, lack of access to quality products, and lack of education on hair health (this was pre-internet). So while many women fit into your friend's stereotype, it certainly isn't true for all longhairs, and is particularly unfair to the women that do (for all kinds of classist reasons).

[Skade]

A second vote for "issues".

I've never heard this personally. If I did, I think I'd laugh.

Spidermom said what I thought.

[CousinItt]

This is what my parents say about long hair. They're German and, for them, anyone with long hair is pretty much a backward person from the country.While the term hillbilly doesnt really exist in German, they have their own dergoatory term they use. You can imagine their joy at my wishes to grow my hair long lol

This opinion has a lot to do with the generation they're from -short hair was linked to modernity and liberalness and long hair (especially in braids) has strong ties to nazism and narrow-mindedness. They want to distance themselves from the latter as much as possible.

[cranberrymoonz]

Ironicaly, it looks like old fashioned is in fashion again, at least where I live (north-western Europe). I see many "vintage" fashion and thrift stores around town, and many of the girls at uni wear their hair long (bsl-waist) and natural. Stil damaged, though;)

[jacqueline101]

A second vote for "issues".

I've never heard this personally. If I did, I think I'd laugh.

I'm another one who agrees with this post.

[Madora]

Your friend is woefully deficient in gray matter!

[Sarahlabyrinth]

If you are growing your hair long, you will probably find people who will quite bluntly come out and say what they think about it. You will need to develop a thick skin, unfortunately.
I have been called "dowdy", a "witch" and a "hippie" because of my long hair. It just comes with the territory, but it is certainly not very nice.

Chin up, you are not the only one to receive the benefits of other's opinions.

Remember it is YOUR opinion that matters, not theirs.

[desuvsdeath]

I've had a few friends with waist length or longer hair who never got it cut because, as they said, they wouldn't know what to do with a fashionable/cool/shorter hair style and would just bun it/braid it anyway.
I think that's probably the sort of thing that inspires the idea that it's not modern or trendy/cool/whatever.

[Tressie]

Your friend is woefully deficient in gray matter!

I agree with Madora! Also, it must be lonely being that critical of people!

[bradlea]

Your friend is a total weirdo. If she hasn't seen nice long hair, she hasn't seen a lot.

[Tota]

Only a hillbilly would say such a thing ;)

I do hear this a lot as I do live in an extremely judgemental environment. Another thing I heard lately is that if a girl has long virgin hair she must be a Mormon. A 12-year old pupil at school told me that his father told him that and that I just must be a Mormon then. It's only a few years since Mormons came into our country to share their religion and now girls with long virgin hair who happen to wear a shirt and a skirt are labeled as Mormons!

[ositarosita]

I haven't heard that one before but I must admit that I say i'm growing my hair to look like a mermaid/hippie/drag queen .. that way anything they have to say I already claimed it as a positive. spidermom is completely right ... the girl has issues.

[chen bao jun]

Okay, so this is just a strange opinion and it's probably unique to my friend. Thanks. Interesting responses. I knew that hair has cultural baggage attached to it but its interesting to hear the stereotypes in different cultures. My friend is not from a 'country' background, quite the opposite (although there are many people from Appalachia around here, none of whom have long hair in a braid). She's very international and grew up in all kinds of cosmopolitan places abroad due to her father's job. The only think I'm sure of about her and her hair culturally is that she is ultra determined to stay blonde because she's from a Jewish heritage that she doesn't like to bring to the forefront and no one ever thinks she's Jewish because she has blue and blonde hair (yes, I know lots of other Jews do, too, but that's not what people tend of think of when they see a blonde).

She was a blonde kid and has fair skin and blue eyes so her hair looks 'realistic' (its probably some sort of blonette where its not grey now) and as I said, her hair looks good and it doesn't look extraordinarily thin to me although of course you can tell she floofs it up with back combing and teasing and that's the purpose of the perm, to make it look like more. she's done extensions before too for thickness, clip in ones, but I didn't really see any difference with them in or out.

Her ex-husband is from a Southern background--maybe the hillbilly thing is a slap at him or his relatives? They don't have long hair, though and definitely not as long as she does.She actually has longer hair than most people around here, especially at her (and my) age, which is in the mid-fifties and definitely does a lot more hairstyling and makeup and fancy dressing than most. Her style is a little youthful but it suits her. She's not someone that gives the impression of being insecure but she does quite often make remarks about others that are --questionable. (Mean, actually). So I suppose she must be either insecure or unhappy, how discouraging.

[Arwenlily]

I guess I can't understand why someone would think this because I just think long hair is so beautiful. I've wanted long hair for such a long time and every time I see someone with gorgeous long hair I'm in awe.

[Theobroma]

This is what my parents say about long hair. They're German and, for them, anyone with long hair is pretty much a backward person from the country.While the term hillbilly doesnt really exist in German, they have their own dergoatory term they use. You can imagine their joy at my wishes to grow my hair long lol

This opinion has a lot to do with the generation they're from -short hair was linked to modernity and liberalness and long hair (especially in braids) has strong ties to nazism and narrow-mindedness. They want to distance themselves from the latter as much as possible.

I'm Austrian and I've never heard of these particular associations, neither the backwardness nor the Nazism one. Around here there seems to be no baggage at all attached to long hair. What part of Germany are your parents from, north or south?

Also, another vote for the OP's friend having hair issues. Some people are just weird. :S

[neko_kawaii]

Having grown up in the sticks, there is some truth to the stereotype. Long hair in rural areas does not have to be ill-kempt however. And most of the girls I knew with Classic or longer were the children of Pagan Hippies. I remember looking at a hair style book in a salon in the early 90s. Short was bob to shoulder (pixie was too short for a girl), medium length was shoulder to MLB, and long was anything longer. Most women had MLB to waist length length hair.

[bunnylake]

See, I'm noticing that very long hair is gaining popularity. I hear it referred to as "mermaid hair" and I'm always seeing pics of long haired girls and growing tips on Pinterest. Seems like everyone knows about coconut oil now and what types of products are beneficial. I see a lot of girls in their teens and 20s walk around my town with healthy waist length hair and some longer.
The only negative comments I hear about very long hair come from older women in their 50s and up.

[Nightshade]

It'd be fun to do a LHC MadLibs with this one.

"Your long hair makes you look like a(n) ___________."

I'm sure we could put together a pretty impressive list of responses we've had and it'd be full of contradictions.

[truepeacenik]

LOL nightshade.

I think your friend has her own images of country folk.

As another person who does not "look Jewish," I'm surprised she's concerned at all.
I'll dig up a link I got about what a Jewish person looks like.
Big hit at my shul, as we have a fair number of African American members, Chinese members and such.

not it, it, but wow.

http://popchassid.com/10-photos-to-remind-you-that-jews-dont-fit-into-a-stereotype-and-never-have/

And
http://whatjewslooklike.tumblr.com/page/3

But, don't play the video at work.

[TiaKitty]

I guess I can't understand why someone would think this because I just think long hair is so beautiful. I've wanted long hair for such a long time and every time I see someone with gorgeous long hair I'm in awe.

I hope this is just poor phrasing, because the way it is written implies that hillbillies are unattractive...

Some days it seems to me that the last people left for the masses to disparage are hillbillies. In public, anyway... I know a lot of people say a lot of mean things in private. But publicly you can still slam on the hillbillies and most people will laugh and laugh.

I have to wonder how much more she'll say along these lines before you'll no longer want to be her friend, Chen?

[bunnylake]

I hope this is just poor phrasing, because the way it is written implies that hillbillies are unattractive...

Some days it seems to me that the last people left for the masses to disparage are hillbillies. In public, anyway... I know a lot of people say a lot of mean things in private. But publicly you can still slam on the hillbillies and most people will laugh and laugh.

I have to wonder how much more she'll say along these lines before you'll no longer want to be her friend, Chen?

Yeah, I don't know if I could keep a friend like that. Or I at least would feel compelled to confront her about her classist attitude. :shrug:

I'm thinking Arwenlily didn't mean to suggest "hillbillies" are unattractive, but rather why this friend thinks very long hair can't be beautiful and healthy looking.

Ya know, i'm not even 100% sure what a hillbilly is...? Not many of them living in NY I guess!

[TiaKitty]

It usually means someone who lives in a backwoods, remote, area, generally in the Appalachian mountains, but also in the Ozarks. We're often thought of as under educated. Generally with bad teeth and really ratty clothes. More crap comes up about inbreeding and the like...

Re-reading Arwenlilly's comment, I understand better what she's saying, now. I suppose I must be a little jumpy about it all... My family have been hillbillies for generations. Most of them will even deny it and say "we're Mountain" as if it is different. I say own it and change people's perception when possible.

[bunnylake]

It usually means someone who lives in a backwoods, remote, area, generally in the Appalachian mountains, but also in the Ozarks. We're often thought of as under educated. Generally with bad teeth and really ratty clothes. More crap comes up about inbreeding and the like...

Re-reading Arwenlilly's comment, I understand better what she's saying, now. I suppose I must be a little jumpy about it all... My family have been hillbillies for generations. Most of them will even deny it and say "we're Mountain" as if it is different. I say own it and change people's perception when possible.

I hope the term can be reclaimed as something positive. I hate classism and stereotypes! This reminds me of what people here say about the ghetto or minority neighborhoods. Makes me so mad.

[swearnsue]

I wonder why she insists your hair is thin when it isn't. Weird that she would disagree with the person who owns the hair! What's it to her anyway. Def. hair issues.

[Syaoransbear]

I've never heard that stereotype about hill billies. Hippies, yes.

[Alun]

If you are growing your hair long, you will probably find people who will quite bluntly come out and say what they think about it. You will need to develop a thick skin, unfortunately.
I have been called "dowdy", a "witch" and a "hippie" because of my long hair. It just comes with the territory, but it is certainly not very nice.

Chin up, you are not the only one to receive the benefits of other's opinions.

Remember it is YOUR opinion that matters, not theirs.

Hey, so what's wrong with being a hippie? Strictly speaking, I'm more of a 'freak' than a 'hippie', but few people understand the difference anymore, so I'll just say it - "I'm a hippie and proud of it!"


It usually means someone who lives in a backwoods, remote, area, generally in the Appalachian mountains, but also in the Ozarks. We're often thought of as under educated. Generally with bad teeth and really ratty clothes. More crap comes up about inbreeding and the like...

Re-reading Arwenlilly's comment, I understand better what she's saying, now. I suppose I must be a little jumpy about it all... My family have been hillbillies for generations. Most of them will even deny it and say "we're Mountain" as if it is different. I say own it and change people's perception when possible.

I hate people who think it's smart to denigrate the poor and/or working class. My background is London/Essex borders and I'm an odd mixture of different social classes, to the extent I don't really know where I belong, but I will say being working class is nothing to be ashamed of, some of my own family fit squarely in the working class, and I am happy to be seen with them, not in any way ashamed or something. Nothing wrong with being a hillbilly either.

[Cheyne]

I've never heard that stereotype. If anything isn't the stereotype more geared toward "big" hair? Rollers, hairspray, maybe even bleached? Maybe she's self conscious about the thickness of her own hair if she's trying to convince herself that yours is not.

No, Rednecks have the Big Hair.

[Chiquita Banana]

Lol. Yep - she's got some issues. Don't listen to her. :lala:

[Nedertane]

I thought hillbillies still wore mullets...?

[katietyree]

I am originially from Ky .... yes we wore shoes there... haha... i know what hillbilly is..... i know probably every sterotype associated with hillbillies and having long hair is not one of them! I have never heard a black person called a hillbilly either..

Sounds like your friend has hair issues... maybe she is insecure and feels like she needs to put you down to feel better about herself.... let the things she says about hair go in one ear and out the other. She sounds jealous.

[leslissocool]

I'm now curious of I live in hillbilly town! I live in te mountains. A lot of long healthy hair here think tbl to knee. Most really healthy. None have no teeth. Maybe I missing something...

It's a trend I think, just because your friend cant grow thick healthy hair long doesn't mean everyone can't.

[Wildcat Diva]

Lesli, wrong mountain chain, I believe. And it's just people being rude. There's nothing you are missing.

[heidi w.]

Sounds like she's exhibiting some kind of discrimination based on what she's heard, not seen, had nor experienced. It's a very uncalled for remark. I, too, have never heard of long hair as "hillbilly." She sounds truly inexperienced and a bit upset about something that is none of her business.
heidi w.

[neko_kawaii]

Lesli, wrong mountain chain, I believe. And it's just people being rude. There's nothing you are missing.

Folks in dem western mountains call themselves hillbillies etc too.

[chen bao jun]

I guess I will just mark it down to having 'issues' that I don't quite understand and also yes, having some prejudice against poor people (probably something to do with the ex husband) , though it's odd to just make up a stereotype out of nowhere like that. Makes no sense, but I guess these things never do.
She's very pretty and her hair is much longer than mine; she has no reason to be jealous of me that I can see, and even less reason to be snagging on a totally hypothetical 'hillbilly'--she didn't have any particular person in mind so far as I can tell. the ex-husbands family is very southern but definitely not poor. the one time I met them, the sister in laws were all covered in diamonds and were very stylish, and definitely had all their teeth and nobody had hair half as long as hers, so if long hair is bad, she would be the bad one... I just don't get it.

[chen bao jun]

Always heard that the Appalachian mountains were where British culture of the 17th and 18th centuries is best preserved in crafts such as quilting and weaving and music. Look up Cecil Sharp, an Englishman who travelled there about a hundred years ago and collected old ballads. I see nothing to be ashamed of in being from there. My friend doesn't actually know anyone from that area, I am pretty sure.

[owly]

I think your friend has a bone to pick, and she's trying to lump her dislike into one cohesive group. I have to admit that I associate long hair with rural communities, but not in a bad way.

I have also heard that the Appalachians have preserved a lot of historical crafts and arts, Chen. It's pretty interesting. One of my students also said that he read that southern accents are the closest to British accents (unrelated and unsubstantiated, but I thought it was interesting).

[MeowScat]

Well, that's a new one! I've never heard that before, but I've heard that "Crazy Cat Ladies" are known for having long hair.

I wear that title proudly! >^..^<

[sumidha]

While I would not go so far as to call anyone a hillbilly, I do notice that, where I live at least, women in suburban and urban areas are much much less likely to have longer hair than women in rural areas.

[ErinLeigh]

See, I'm noticing that very long hair is gaining popularity. I hear it referred to as "mermaid hair" and I'm always seeing pics of long haired girls and growing tips on Pinterest. Seems like everyone knows about coconut oil now and what types of products are beneficial. I see a lot of girls in their teens and 20s walk around my town with healthy waist length hair and some longer.
The only negative comments I hear about very long hair come from older women in their 50s and up.

that is what I notice too. It usually being 50plus that have stringer opinions on long hair. Most everyone else seems to appreciate it.
There are a some that perhaps don't have a taster for it but tend to keep that opinion mostly to themselves and only express opinion when pressed. Most common I have heard when seeing natural and long hair is perhaps "hippie" but not in a negative way. More just an adjective of long, hippy hair. But I have NEVER heard hillbilly.

I always wonder about things and perceptions. For instance I have had a ton of compliments since cutting my hair. I sometimes wonder if it is because people find it more "age appropriate" now that I am 40. You just truly never know what is going on in someones head. Well unless they rudely share it I suppose. :(

If your friend has issues hiding her Jewish heritage, and also seems to have a fascination with your hair, she may just have some deep rooted issues dealing with stereotypes. It may not mean she is a bad person. Sometimes you are a product of how you are raised. Perhaps you can just tell her how the comments make you feel. If she is a good friend she will be careful. She may not realize how she comes across. If not, that is when you reconsider things about if you can handle being around the negativity of someone who stereotypes.

Sorry I am on and off topic. Little fatigued today.

[BlueMajorelle]

Really? Huh. I know it's been associated with being old-fashioned, or sometimes with being a hippie, but I've never heard it associated with "hillbillies". I guess I've seen a lot of "hillybilly" type women with very long hair, but it really does depend on how you wear it and the rest of your style too, and how you conduct yourself. I know a lot of women who wear extensions to get their hair that long!

[Wildcat Diva]

Folks in dem western mountains call themselves hillbillies etc too.
Oh, ok. I thought it was mainly over on the Easterly side. That's cool.

[Sharysa]

Yep, your friend has hair issues.


I recall a Japanese LHCer who said that hair on young women in her region has to be at least one of the three: dyed, layered, or curled. To have long, one length, naturally black hair would be considered old fashioned, and I guess a little country and backwards.

That may have been me--I definitely remember saying that a lot of young Asian-American women tend to lighten/dye their hair brown and layer it. But most Asian-Americans actually straighten our hair instead of curl it. (Although they definitely bust out the curling iron for parties.) Also, I'm Filipino and not Japanese. But no worries, since the end result is still "natural hair is old-fashioned."


Having grown up in the sticks, there is some truth to the stereotype. Long hair in rural areas does not have to be ill-kempt however. And most of the girls I knew with Classic or longer were the children of Pagan Hippies.

BAHAHAHAHAHA. THE IRONY IS SO DELICIOUS. Let's face it, you're going to subconsciously want long hair if you're constantly hearing your parents talk about goddesses/folk-heroes/spirits with long, flowing locks. That, or the whole "long hair is tied to magical power" belief.

[Madora]

Well, that's a new one! I've never heard that before, but I've heard that "Crazy Cat Ladies" are known for having long hair.

I wear that title proudly! >^..^<

Oooo, wheee!!! I'm a proud member of the "Crazy Cat Lady long Hair Club!" You betcha!!!!!

[truepeacenik]

I think your friend has a bone to pick, and she's trying to lump her dislike into one cohesive group. I have to admit that I associate long hair with rural communities, but not in a bad way.

I have also heard that the Appalachians have preserved a lot of historical crafts and arts, Chen. It's pretty interesting. One of my students also said that he read that southern accents are the closest to British accents (unrelated and unsubstantiated, but I thought it was interesting).

I worked under an Englishman in South Carolina.
No similarities.

OBX has some Elizabethan markers.
What is strangely close to Southern US accent are some areas of. Australia, likely because the convicts would have been the same pool as the Oglethorpe Colony convicts.
That is today's Georgia.

[hairpleasegrow]

I agree with Madora and Tressie .

Why isnt there a smiley with long hair?

[vanillabones]

I'm going to log this along with 'crack braid' aka my thin hair all braided to one side.

[Lyv]

I've known a few people who associate long unstyled hair with being a hillbilly but I can't say I really get where they come from. My moms side are what you would consider "hillbilly", my uncle seriously has "Hellbilly" tattooed across his chest lol, and none of them have long hair. When I was a kid I always thought of very long hair being an Amish thing because they're the only ones around where we lived with long hair.

[Andeee]

My friend and her family is from Kentucky, the Appalachian Mountains and yes her Aunt had knee length hair which she wore in a braid. I think it sounds lovely!

I wouldn't mind being called a hippie (in fact, I have been called a hippie) or a witch as I quite possibly am both things. But I am also a punk rocker at heart and a very individualistic person as many of us are.

Also, as an aside, I am another person, like truepeacenick, who 'doesn't look Jewish', but I don't have blonde hair and blue eyes.

[lapushka]

A hillbilly, hippy, old lady (buns) or harsh librarian. Take your pick. :rolleyes:

[TiaKitty]

I want to be all of those things, Lapushka!

And yes, Nedertane, there are still some hillbillies with mullets, but there are also lots of other people still sporting them, so... :eyeroll:

[EvelynMay]

is hillbilly what they call themselves? Or is it the derogatory name someone gives to them hence linking it to stereotypes? Anyways, I've never heard that with the hair association either. I guess for me long hair makes me think of a time when that was more common with women and short hair was incredibly rare, not quite sure of that time period change off the top of my head... i seem to remember watching a history type documentary or something called "Bernice gets a Bob" or "Bernie gets a Bob" or something like that, where getting short hair was super "new age." So i guess i think of classic times when i see long hair? But not in a bad way! I guess more in a nostalgic, romantic way? I don't know if I'm making any sense... haha

[Madora]

is hillbilly what they call themselves? Or is it the derogatory name someone gives to them hence linking it to stereotypes? Anyways, I've never heard that with the hair association either. I guess for me long hair makes me think of a time when that was more common with women and short hair was incredibly rare, not quite sure of that time period change off the top of my head... i seem to remember watching a history type documentary or something called "Bernice gets a Bob" or "Bernie gets a Bob" or something like that, where getting short hair was super "new age." So i guess i think of classic times when i see long hair? But not in a bad way! I guess more in a nostalgic, romantic way? I don't know if I'm making any sense... haha

EvelynMay, I saw Bernice gets a Bob many years ago on PBS. It was set in the roaring 20s, when ladies were cutting their long hair into fashionable "bobs" left and right. Irene Castle, the famous dancer, started the whole bobbed hair rage when she introduced the style.

[Gothchiq]

Not quite by that term, but I hate how people assume that long hair, especially on men, will be all tore up looking and grungy. They say it "always looks scraggly and nasty." I don't like that assumption. I taught my husband how to take care of his hair, and I trim the ends plus a S&D every few months for him as needed so that the hemline stays nice and so as to avoid excess breakage. It's tailbone length on him and still growing. I braid it for him most of the time. Sometimes he does a ponytail or wears it down for variety. When people still give him crap, we inform them that he is part Cherokee and that long hair is part of his heritage, and that they have no right to criticize. That usually stops them.

[lazuliblue]

It's pretty interesting. One of my students also said that he read that southern accents are the closest to British accents (unrelated and unsubstantiated, but I thought it was interesting).


I worked under an Englishman in South Carolina.
No similarities.

I'm so glad truepeacenik said 'Englishman' :) There is no such thing as a 'British' accent. Britain is made up of three counties (Wales, Scotland and England) all of which have different accents!

Anyway, to the OP: Your friend just sounds mean especially when she keeps telling you that your hair is thin when it isn't. As other people has said she sounds like she has some issues with her own hair.

[fairhairedthing]

Long hair is only hillbilly when it's only ever trimmed with a lawnmower, conditioned with leftover manure, and has pieces of hay and straw inserted between braid bumps with a set of ends that have seen more outhouse bowls than we'd like to speak of.

....ehehehehe

[TheArtOfGirl]

Actually, I know the stereotype she's talking about, though it's not a prevalent one. I live next door to a woman who fits that description. She's not really old and she has her teeth, but she has classic length hair that is scraggly and she is a hillbilly. They have an obnoxious dog, but they're nice enough.
But your friend being judgmental. Any type of person can have any length of hair.

[Angel_Abby]

I've not heard hillbilly (although I'm not far from the Ozarks- so people might be watching their mouths) but around here it IS common for people to assume you're religious. If I wear a long skirt (which I find comfortable and appropriate for work) and braid my hair (which isn't long at all yet) on the same day people have asked if I've converted to being Pentecostal.

People are delusional is all I can say.

[vanillabones]

Angel_Abby - I can relate. We had a new manager at my job for awhile and he asked me if I was Mormon (because I don't talk a lot). Our uniforms are very conservative and hair must always be up... but really? I can't believe I was asked if I am a Mormon just because I'm not loud.

[owly]

I worked under an Englishman in South Carolina.
No similarities.

OBX has some Elizabethan markers.
What is strangely close to Southern US accent are some areas of. Australia, likely because the convicts would have been the same pool as the Oglethorpe Colony convicts.
That is today's Georgia.

I don't want to derail this thread, but since my comment sparked a couple of responses, I thought I would share something. As I mentioned, a student made this claim. I filed it away as "interesting" but never looked it up. I just find this website: http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ling201/test3materials/AmericanDialects.htm that has some information on American dialects, if anyone is interested. The second section has some information on Southern (American) accents as compared to the "south England drawl." I just thought it was interesting, especially since I have approximately 0 knowledge of dialects.

Re: comments about Mormonism. I think it's interesting that people would jump to that conclusion based solely on hair and dress. I've met a lot of Mormons, and most of the women I met had shoulder length hair and dressed modestly, but not always in skirts.

[gnome82]

[QUOTE=lazuliblue;2612195]I'm so glad truepeacenik said 'Englishman' :) There is no such thing as a 'British' accent. Britain is made up of three counties (Wales, Scotland and England) all of which have different accents!

Outside of the UK, you will find that people will refer to a "British accent" as someone who says they are from England. Yes it is a generalisation.

People are very aware of the difference in accents between Welshman a Scotsman and an Englishman, it is very obvious.

[chen bao jun]

This thread has turned out to be interesting.

I guess about four people have said now that the 'hillbilly' long hair stereotype exists but is not a common stereotype. Interesting. I wonder where she got it from. But I'll never know. What she said was not that hillbillies all have super long hair but that everytime she had seen someone with hair longer than hip they also had no teeth and were a hillbilly. Yeah, not much better, I know. But harder to argue with because she can just respond with 'it's what I've seen'.

the Jewish question: her father was an immigrant child who was very bullied for being Jewish (yes, it does happen in the US even nowadays) and his reaction was to pretend he wasn't as soon as he could get away with it. I think he passed the trauma on and that these feelings of her are more from his experiences than her experiences. Her dad is actually very fair skinned and blue eyed also, so coloring didn't help in his case but nothing really does help when someone is prejudiced does it.

The accent question: This would be something for specialists to pronounce upon. the point being made was that in the Appalachian mountains (not the whole entire Southern US) the accent (and we are talking the accent of 60 or 70 years ago) was supposed to resemble, so far as they can reconstruct it, a British Midlands accents of the 17th or 18th century (not one from anywhere in England today). Accents change over time, of course. Sharpe was fascinated because he was trying to collect folk songs, fairy tales and traditional music and arts in England itself, in the late nineteenth and early 20th and was having no luck. the people had industrialized too much and forgotten their traditional folkways. when he came here to Appalachia (he made several trips, he fell in love with the place and people and was fascinated) he found that people still sang whole ballads that he could only get lines of in england, and were very in touch with folkways that were from England, and from that specific part, but lost in England itself. He theorized that the isolation in the mountains had created a kind of time warp and others thought so, too. It does seem that at the period he was there there had been little contact with other peoples or cultures in these isolated communities and that they had kept their traditional (english) ways because of it and had ended up being despised for remaining what the original English settlers all were at one point (but others had moved on and either gotten 'contaminated' or 'multicultural' depending on how you want to look at it). However,all of this began to change in the 1920's when the radio came to Appalachia and its not supposed to be the same time warp there that it used to be, whether for good or for ill.

But an actual English person would not find anything familiar about the accent--the point being that the accent was a holdover from England 300 years ago--not england now.

[chen bao jun]

Cecil Sharp on Appalachia (1916): "The country is, I think, the most magnificent I have ever seen. The mountains are everywhere, and we live in the valleys and walk through the passes. The mountains go from six thousand feet, and the valleys two or a little over. The weather has been very hot indeed, and I go about in a shirt and pair of flannel trousers, and keep as cool as I can. My experiences have been very wonderful so far as the people and their music is concerned. The people are just English of the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. They speak English, look English, and their manners are old-fashioned English. Heaps of words and expressions they use habitually in ordinary conversation are obsolete, and have been in England a long time. I find them very easy to get on with, and have no difficulty in making them sing and show their enthusiasm for their songs. I have taken down very nearly one hundred already, and many of these are quite unknown to me and aesthetically of the very highest value. Indeed, it is the greatest discovery I have made since the original one I made in England sixteen years ago. This last week I spent three whole days, from 10 A.M. to 5.30 P.M., with a family in the mountains consisting of parents and daughter, by name Hensley. All three sang and the father played the fiddle. Maud and I dined with them each day, and the rest of the time sat on the veranda while the three sang and played and talked, mainly about the songs. I must have taken down thirty tunes from them and have not yet exhausted them. one ballad, The Cruel Mother, is by far the finest variant, both words and tune, which, in my opinion, has yet been found. Of course, I am only at the beginning of things yet. I have been here seventeen days, but it looks as though I shall bring away with me a large amount of extremely valuable stuff, which when published will create a very great deal of interest in certain circles. Although the people are so English, they have their American quality that they are freer than the English peasant. They own their own land, and have done so for three or four generations, so that there is none of the servility which, unhappily, is one of the characteristics of the English peasant. With that praise, I should say that they are just exactly what the English peasant was one hundred or more years ago. They have been so isolated and protected from outside influence that their own music and song have not only been uncorrupted, but also uninfluenced by art music in any way. This is clear enough in the character of the tunes I have collected, nearly all of which are in gapped scales (i.e., scales lacking two or more notes; e.g., the fourth and seventh), which is a more archaic form than that in which they are now being sung in England. I have no doubt, when I have increased my score and have had time to assimilate and analyze it, that all sorts of interesting and illuminating deductions will easily be made from them. I am very excited about it all, and feel I cannot talk very coherently about it yet. "
http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/sharp.htm

[Sharysa]

Not quite by that term, but I hate how people assume that long hair, especially on men, will be all tore up looking and grungy. They say it "always looks scraggly and nasty." I don't like that assumption.

Ye gods, I hate the "scraggly" comments as well. I've never gotten it for my hair, thankfully--people actually love it--but I'm not sure whether it's because I still have the "nice" fairytale ends (my hair is frustratingly blunt) or because you can't see much details on black hair. I adore fairytale ends because they look better on my waves.

As for long hair on MEN being scraggly and unkempt: I'll admit that a lot of guys probably don't maintain their hair as well as most women do, but people seem to assume that men suddenly lose the ability to comb or wash their hair properly when it gets past their shoulders (which seems to be the limit on acceptable long hair in mainstream society). It's stupid and sexist.


I taught my husband how to take care of his hair, and I trim the ends plus a S&D every few months for him as needed so that the hemline stays nice and so as to avoid excess breakage. It's tailbone length on him and still growing. I braid it for him most of the time. Sometimes he does a ponytail or wears it down for variety. When people still give him crap, we inform them that he is part Cherokee and that long hair is part of his heritage, and that they have no right to criticize. That usually stops them.

I've also noticed the problem of "Long hair on Caucasian men is ugly/backwards, but long hair on is HOT AND EXOTIC," which is an entirely different set of stereotypes. Even if it's not ******ized, there's a huge double-standard that Caucasian men need to have short hair to fit in. It's great that your husband is part-Cherokee, but he really shouldn't HAVE to be to do what he wants with his hair.

Loras Tyrell from [I]Game of Thrones spawned a gajillion memes with his blonde, flowing curls. Why can't more people do that?

[PeaceTeaRules]

Kind of interesting, CousinItt, I hope not everyone has that position, just certain generations?

Call me rude, and you can PM me if you want to, but; how is it tied to Nazism? Just out of curiosity...

Forgive me if it had been answered already, I hadn't bothered to read this thread yet... :oops: