Yeah you probably guessed it. After all, I am a Redneck Woman. And I don't take offense to being called a Redneck. There's millions of us, and by and large we're a pretty good bunch of folks. Ya'll non-rednecks sometimes get the idea that we're a bunch of illiterate, inbred yahoos with not enough sense to get in out of a shower of rain, but that's really not the case. And when it comes to redneck women ... well Gretchen says it with country style ....So why do I consider myself a Redneck? Well that's easy. I'm a country gal - born and raised. Spent more time around the middle-class than the affluent. I grew up near a real small country town that was populated with farmers, ranchers, construction workers, small town shop owners, volunteer fire and police departments - people who knew everyone's mama and grandmama and great grandmama (and what everyone was doing and who was doing who).
I learned to drive a tractor before a car. Rode a horse years before I rode a bus. Thought the 4th of July was one of THE most important holidays of the year, and always said yes ma'am and yes sir because it was unthinkable not to.
My favorite car was a Ford pickup that I called Blue -a three in the tree affair with a clutch stiff enough that I built up one hell of a leg muscle changing gears.
My redneck heritage didn't prevent me from earning a doctorate degree or finding a good man or raising two wonderful children. It didn't prevent me from traveling, from exploring who the woman inside this redneck is or learning things from people of other cultures outside this country. It did hamper me a bit in college French. Seems my southern tongue was made for French that had nothing to do with talking. It allowed me to feel good about myself when I wanted a chainsaw more than a diamond necklace, and a tractor more than a new car. It gave me a strong sense of self, and a sense of humor that let me laugh at myself and not take offense when others laughed or thought I talked funny.
But most of all it gave me a forgiving nature. I don't expect others to be or talk or think like me. Hell, that would be boring as all get out. I don't want or need approval or praise for living the life I choose, and sure as heck don't feel qualified to tell someone else how to think or live.
So there you have it. I'm a redneck and proud of it.
Hell yeah.
Ci
6 comments:
I would have said "Ride a Cowboy, Save a Horse". *smile*
Oh, honey, I can sooooo see you driving that pick-up. :)
oh ya'll crack me up!! I do like the idea of saving horses:) And hey, I look like a pick-up driver? cool:)
hugs ya'll
Pick up driver? Hmm. In my head, I had you in something small and fast and blood red. But pick ups are good too :)
Someone, someday, will have to explain the reason behind the term "redneck".
Ci, you are so not a redneck according to the definition at dictionary.com.
1. an uneducated white farm laborer, esp. from the South.
2. a bigot or reactionary, esp. from the rural working class.
. Also, red-necked. narrow, prejudiced, or reactionary: a redneck attitude.
I'd say you're more of a good ol' southern gal.
I so miss hearing that southern accent of yours when Nat and I were trying to get you moving in the morning and you were sleepy.
*g*
Hey, by your defnition, Ci, I'm a redneck too. Revelation to me! Woot! And why? well, since we both grew up in the same little ole county and both on farms. Yup, that's me. And ole farm girl. I rode horses, planted potatoes, helped in the whoopin' huge family veggie garden, helped feed the cows, pigs, chickens, drove a tractor, played baseball, swam in the 5-acre pond, raced baby turtles on the porch and enjoyed crowded family cookouts every Sunday in the summertime. Ah, the good life for sure!
Just a FWIW, Redneck was coined to describe the men who had a reddish tan that stopped at the neck of their shirts because they worked in the sun all day with their shirts protecting them. Salt of the earth was another phrase. So on that one, I qualify.
But by today's definition, that Nic showed, I think I'll stick with Southern without the Belle part. Hey did everyone in our county learn French? I swear I think it was the only second language offered in our schools. Hugs!!!
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