writing

Hillbilly Scholars: Studying Poor Whites in Academia

/ Tina Bausinger

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While working on my graduate independent study, I wanted to see if I could find evidence of prejudice against female students with Southern accents. It took a lot of sorting through quite a few books on dialect, sociolinguistics and feminism before I found what I think are the best sources around. Because working class studies and dialects link closely together, I looked at both.

Jennifer Beech’s “Redneck and Hillbilly Discourse in the Writing Classroom: Classifying Critical Pedagogies of Whiteness” goes a step further in not only claiming “middle-class” as identity but daring to proclaim oneself as “redneck” or “hillbilly” in an academic setting (172). Finally, someone is using the terms “redneck” and “hillbilly” in a non-threatening way. She also discusses “Writing With and Even as Rednecks and Hillbillies: Critique and Advocacy” which closer approaches the subject of a Southern female student (177). Though not gender-specific, it comes perhaps as close as any scholarship thus far.

Edward W. Morris’s “From “Middle Class” to “Trailer Trash:” Teachers’ Perceptions of White Students in a Predominantly Minority School” touches on a crucial issues: social class based on teachers’ opinion of the “whiteness of students” within a “predominantly minority school” (99). Morris contends that in his experience, white teachers were more racist towards the poor whites than teachers of color.

This is important because it focuses race and classism in the classroom and how being “poor white” is sometimes considered an allowed biased. This is an integral concept because it introduces the topic of inter-racism within the classroom. Teachers were found to look down upon the poorer white students attending the minority classroom without quite being conscious of it. His book An Unexpected Minority:White Kids in an Urban School delves deeper into interesting questions regarding race and perceptions of race in the classroom.

Casie Fedukovich is one of the first (and few) to broach the idea of Southern women in the classroom. Her work “Strange Imports: Working-Class Appalachian Women in the Composition Classroom” really delves into issues of seemingly impossible binaries of student and hillbilly, as brings to light certain issues and strengths working-class women bring to the university. This work, outside of Working Class Women in the Academy, is perhaps most directly relevant to my experience as a southern woman in academia.

By taking a good look at the roots of when the Southern accent became acknowledged initially, this paper attempts to trace its transformation from merely being accepted to being a legitimate mouthpiece for expression for an unrealized marginalized group.

Interested in Morris’s book? Here’s a link http://www.amazon.com/Unexpected-Minority-White-Urban-School/dp/0813537215/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1401827466&sr=1-1&keywords=edward+morris+unexpected+minority

Why is it Okay to Say “White Trash?”

/ Tina Bausinger / 2 Comments

 

The idea of Middle-Class Studies becomes even more prominent in the late 1990s. Writers like Lynn Bloom, in her article “Freshman Composition as a Middle-Class Enterprise” began disclosing their middle-class roots in an effort to focus on the “number of major aspects of social class that freshman composition addresses…that will make them good citizens of the academic (and larger) community, and viable candidates for good jobs upon graduation” (655). She discusses how “middle-class standards” sometimes cause discrimination in the classroom. With the beginning of middle-class studies we also begin to see work regarding working-class studies, which becomes more important to the study of the southerner in the classroom. Again, class is important, because the young, rich sorority girl attending Ole Miss encounters different problems from the working-class mother attending the University of Arkansas.

Soon after, Jim Goad’s The Redneck Manifesto: How Hillbillies, Hicks, and White Trash Became America’s Scapegoats came on the scene, demanding respect for his kind, and discussing how Southerners are “Othered”. While tracing the history of poor whites to the beginning of American culture, he insists that all Caucasians not be lumped together into one group, and that poor white southerners should not be punished for the sins of their richer forefathers.

Jim Goad, author The Redneck Manifesto: How Hillbillies, Hicks, and White Trash Became America’s Scapegoats, explains:

The stereotypes [of the South and Southerners] aren’t new, just more persistently cruel of late. The Dumb White Bumpkin has always been a stock figure in the American dramatis personae. But fifty years ago the depictions tended toward the benign and comical, from Li’l Abner to Ma and Pa Kettle” (Goad 16).

Goad’s acknowledgement of negative Southern stereotypes such as Li’l Abner pales in comparison with some of the female counterparts on popular television programs.

Goad notes that since the days of the “Beverly Hillbillies,” the stereotypes have gravitated to more dangerous and fearsome (Goad 5). Goad mentions movies such as Deliverance portray poor whites as social deviants who should be avoided, not just generally but at all times (8). If a student is poor and white, from a working class family (as well as from the South), what are the identifiers that spring to mind? By allowing poor whites to be ridiculed, the separation or alienation within the classroom is inevitable. Goad explains:

Referring to “white trash” name calling “What should I call the nontrashy Caucasians? White Gold? The Valuable People? The true profiteers of white imperialism? These are the same class of folks who create negative media images of white trash, the writers who use “redneck” as an adjective. They disparage white trash much as one insults an embarrassingly drunken relative. And in so doing, they shunt nonwhite resentment away from themselves and toward white trash” (32).

Goad’s idea of estrangement of poor whites from their own race is the most significant sort of alienation. Why should they be accepted within the composition classroom, a place where students are taught to communicate for academia, if they are sometimes rejected from their own racial domicile? He continues, “Even within their own race, people seem to need an “other.” It appears impossible for societies to conceive of an “us” without an antagonistic and constantly threatening “them” (32). Within societies, even in a smaller scope like the university setting, the concept of othering and alienation exists.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Redneck-Manifesto-Hillbillies-Scapegoats/dp/0684838648/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401739515&sr=8-1&keywords=redneck+manifesto

Jim Goad's The Redneck Manifesto

Jim Goad’s The Redneck Manifesto

 

On Silencing, Southern Accents and Speaking Your Story

/ Tina Bausinger

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“Let us listen for those who have been silenced. Let us honour those who have been devalued. Let us say, Enough! with abuse, abandonment, diminishing and hiding. Let us not rest until every person is free and equal. Let us be women who Love.” From Sarah Bessey’s Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible’s View of Women.

When the 1970s wound down to a close, feminist scholarship bloomed anew. Women who had previously felt unheard began making a lot of noise. Gloria Anzaldúa’s works Borderlands: The New Mestiza, “Speaking in Tongues” A Letter to Third World Women Writers” and This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color brought the plight of the displaced Chicana to the forefront.

Speaking to her hermanas, Anzaldúa implemented her viewpoint as both a lower-class Chicana and an academic to issue her battle cry against discrimination of those who “live on the border” (165). Anzaldúa’s works, which include academic essays and poetry, encourage women to write in any way they know how, reminding the reader that she need not be a scholar to put her words to paper and that her voice, uneducated or not, is both important and necessary.

This applies to women today as much as it did then. The voices of women and other marginalized people need to find the freedom that writing affords us. Your voice, your message, is important and deserves to be heard, regardless if I agree or not. We must teach our daughters, our nieces, our mothers how to speak their minds and refuse the silence. This is our calling and one of our our highest privileges of service.

Like Anzaldúa’s Mestiza who lives on the border between the United States and Mexico, I believe those of us who comfortably speak with a Southern accent within the university classroom find ourselves alienated and often judged. By referencing Anzaldúa’s work with the Other, Borderlands can be interpreted as a guide to the Southern working-class woman with an accent might experience when she attempts to return to college to learn academic speak and writing.

Anzaldúa’s work as a whole spoke to me on a personal basis, but specifically her goal to “break down dualities that serve to imprison women” (Anzaldúa 5). Speaking more figuratively than literarily, I felt that I was experiencing a kind of duality while I looked for my identity as both academic and reformed hillbilly. Shifting identity is a common theme within Anzaldúa’s work, and the New Mestiza never feels on solid ground, because she “migrates between knowing herself” and not knowing (7). While I love being a student and writing, a part of me feels as if I am being silenced when I must leave behind my native words, my native voice. Anzaldúa quotes Ray Gwyn Smith: “Who is to say that robbing a people of its language is less violent than war?” While academic work does not technically erase all traces of my dialect, the goal is there to do so.

So speak your voice, tell your story. We, your sisters, wait to hear your message. How will we know you if you do not share?

On Sarah Bessey’s “Jesus Feminist”: Can These Terms be Reconciled?

/ Tina Bausinger / 3 Comments

bessey

I recently picked up Sarah Bessey’s book “Jesus Feminist.” The first paragraph certainly stirs the pot of conventional women’s bible studies:

“Jesus made a feminist out of me. It’s true. I can’t make apologies for it, even though I know that Jesus plus feminist might be the one label that could alienate almost everyone. I understand that–I do. I know feminism carries a lot of baggage, particularly within the evangelical church. There are the stereotypes: shrill killjoys, man-haters, and rapid abortion-pushers, extreme lesbians, terrifying some of us on cable news programs, deriding motherhood and homemakeing. Feminism has been blamed for the breatkdown of the nuclear family, day care, physical and sexual abuse, hurricanes, the downfall of “real manhood,” the decline of the Christian Church in Western societyy, and spectacularly bad television. Most of what has passed for a description of feminism is fearmongering misinformation” Bessey (1). I agree with this, because I’ve seen it. I’ve seen the name of Jesus invoked as a control mechanism in marriage, and Paul’s teachings used as a model to destroy independence and equality in marriage. I’ve sat with women whose controlling husbands used the bible as a millstone to drag their wives to the bottom of the sea–out of sight and under their thumb.

I don’t know of anyone THAT paragraph won’t ignite–though the fires that begin burn for different reasons.

This book is unlike anything I have ever seen, and I consider myself a bit  of a book expert. I don’t have a PhD (yet), but I did a great bulk of my Master’s work with 20th century feminist writers, particularly such as Gloria Anzaldúa, Julia Kristeva, bell hooks, Laura Brady, and Eileen Schell. I remember devouring these writers’ works like a fat kid eats cake. Their words were so very empowering, yet simultaneously disturbing, because I was having a hard time reconciling their works with the works of God in my heart. Thirty plus years of attending church and hearing the teachings of the distinct line drawn between male leadership roles and female leadership roles caused quite a disturbance. As Sarah muses, “In some circles, using the word feminist is the equivalent of an f-bomb dropped in church–outragous, offensive” (1).

I wondered if I could be both feminist and Christian, both reverent and seeking, both open to new teachings without endangering my soul and wounding the Spirit of He who made me. It seemed unlikely. Who then, do I propose to be? And isn’t it a bit late to be asking these kinds of questions?

I don’t think it’e EVER too late to ask questions. I also don’t think the kind of God I serve minds. I think He respects those who geniuniely seek.
I could sure use a few friends on this journey with me. Want to come along with me while I figure it out? I’ve made a cup of coffee for you just the way you like it. Let’s do this.
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Southern Accents: Breaking the Tradition of Silence

/ Tina Bausinger
Me and Mom circa 1975

Me and Mom circa 1975

“If you want to really hurt me, talk bad about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity–I am my language. Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself…I will no longer be made to feel ashamed of my existing. I will have my voice…I will have my serpent’s tongue–my woman’s voice, my sexual voice, my poet’s voice. I will overcome the tradition of silence.” ~Gloria Anzaldua.

“There is nothing like the abjection of self to show that all abjection is in fact recognition of the want on which any being, meaning, language, or desire is founded.” ~ Julia Kristeva

After reading Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands as well as Julia Kristeva’s Powers of Horror for my graduate level classes, I began exploring the idea of abjection and “othering” of foreigners. After some research with these and other feminist writers, it occurred to me that some of these same discriminations could also apply to Southern student attending college for the first time, most especially older students who have been a part of the workforce and are attempting to change occupations through the gateway of education. This short creative piece is a reflection of that experience.

Whispered Accents

So many times, when a new acquaintance finds out I am from Arkansas, the first thing she will say is, “Oh! You don’t have an Arkansas accent. How is that?”

The reason I don’t have an Arkansas accent (or what non-Arkansas perceive as one) is years of conscious effort to suppress it. If I say, “Y’all” or drop my “g’s” at the end of a word, or otherwise use language that causes spell check to disapprove, it somehow makes me feel guilty. It is because of this suppression that my children also have no accent.

I have, in the past, felt pride in this accomplishment, patting myself on the back that they do not have to struggle as I have had to in order to keep that part of my voice suppressed.

To have an Arkansas accent, a hillbilly way of talking, implies ignorance, poverty and other unpleasant stereotypes I have worked so hard to rip myself from. See, here, and here, are the scars that still bleed from the tearing.

It is so farfetched to see the connection from women who live on the border, between two worlds, to the scarcity of my own childhood where silence was often necessary? Where, to talk of college and seeking an education was viewed as self-serving or arrogant, too good for the life of my parents and their parents? I did not have toe right words to explain that seeking an education was by no means a personal slight, but an aching thirst that could not be quenched in any other way.

I too live on the border.

I have learned the right words to speak, to write. I have learned the words academia expects. But why are these words better than the ones inside me? Who decides, and why must I concede to their judgement? Why must I choose between the language of my peers and the words of my heritage?
I refuse.

For me, for my children, I will teach them the old words, the ancient stories that I have hidden from them. I realize now that I was not helping them by silencing them the way I had been silenced. I will tell them the stories and legends of who we are and where we came from. I will try to salvage their pride in their roots. Because the words I use are blended and diverse as the blood that runs through my veins.

My dialect, the words I know deep down inside the hidden places descended from the settlers who first braved the harsh Arkansas winters. Their words are a mix of Cherokee, Irish, Scottish, German and Chickasaw.

They are the words of the hard-working pioneers who settled the land; that rocky, unforgiving wild place called Arkansas.

My words are the suffering of the Cherokees mourning their dead.

My words are the fatigue of soldiers on watch at sunrise.

My words are the screams of my grandmothers in childbirth.

My words are the whispers of the moonshiners.

My words are the preacher’s pleas for repentance.

My words are the sinner’s tears of salvation.

My words are the sharecropper’s curses.

My words are myself.

I will teach my children the truth: these words are not shameful. For my mother, who was silenced, I will teach them.

And I (we) will no longer be ashamed.

Rachel Held Evans’ Blog Post About the Proverbs 31 Woman

/ Tina Bausinger / 4 Comments

Ever since I first found the works of Rachel Held Evans, I’ve been transfixed by her ideas. A sweet lady at church handed me her book, “A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband Master” and I was blown away by this woman who tackled some of the more difficult passages directed to women with seriousness and humor at the same time. Here’s a link to this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Year-Biblical-Womanhood-Liberated-Covering/dp/1595553673

She also has another brand new book out called “Faith Unraveled.” I can’t wait to read it. After I read Mrs. Evans’ works, I also started reading some of the women she quotes, including Sarah Bessey’s “Jesus Feminist.” That book is little by little blowing the lid off what I thought I believed.

I want to share her latest post which is a nice complement to the post I wrote yesterday. Mrs. Evans was the one who opened my eyes concerning the Proverbs 31 Woman–who has somehow become a bit of an old testament Urban Legend.

Please enjoy her post about the Proverbs 31 Woman.

http://rachelheldevans.com/blog/3-things-you-might-not-know-about-proverbs-31

I’d love to know your thoughts. If you like to comment, click on the “ADD COMMENT” link below the title of the blog. You don’t have to register or anything. Thanks!

 

Things I Learned as a Displaced Southern Mom in Shanghai

/ Tina Bausinger / 1 Comment

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I know it’s been a while since we met–almost a year to the date. I just wanted to let you know I haven’t forgotten the day I boarded that plane in L.A. and flew in the broken seat that refused to recline for 14 hours. Good times! On the positive side, the flight attendants were very accommodating and gave me first class treatment the whole way. Hello little Bailey’s Irish Cream minis!

The most thing I remember was the sheer terror of sitting in the LAX before leaving my family for 3 weeks while I explored another continent. I’m 41 years old and have never left the country before except for a brief Cancun excursion. This felt different, somehow. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that 7,000 miles away from my family and country is pretty far away.Because social media is considered a detrimental influence, all sites are blocked and the internet itself has to be accessed by ethernet and is iffy at best. I felt so cut off from my family and friends those 21 days.

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I learned a lot about you, Shanghai. How many of your people cling to the culture of the old ways, and your young people yearn for all things western. I learned that democracy, whether welcome or unwelcome, is being discussed in your college classrooms as Western literature and thought creeps in along with our music and culture. Since the fresh college graduates represent the face of modern China, I’m interested to see how much their taste of Western influence will take them.

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I learned that there’s something about sleeping 7,000 miles away from your husband that forces an untapped independence in you. I learned that being lost in a country with people who don’t speak your language causes you to slow down and use your primal logic. I learned that bonds that would normally take months to form grow at a more rapid pace when you’re in China for 3 weeks. In particular, one friend I met while drinking a cup of coffee at the L.A.X. before boarding the first plane to Shanghai extended unexpected kindness and comforting friendship over the days to come when difficulties arose. A bond so forged is too strong to fade over the course of a year. Rather, it becomes strengthened.

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I learned that when East meets West, there’s no right or wrong answer. There’s no right or wrong way to do things. Only differences that, when appreciated, increase my understanding of the world and how it’s run, and the people who comprise it.

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It was so nice to meet you Shanghai, and happy anniversary to you.


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An Open Letter to the Proverbs 31 Woman from a Mom Who Can’t Quite Cut It

/ Tina Bausinger / 5 Comments

kkandme

Dear Proverbs 31 Woman,

Since I was a little girl, your deeds have been made known as the standard for motherhood and wifedom. Somehow, I never seem to quite catch up with you. When compared with you, I just fall short. I’m too flawed. I don’t know how you do it but I wish you would quit already.

The bible says you are “worth more than rubies.” I’m no gemologist, but I’m probably more comfortable in the rhinestone section of the pawn shop.

You “select wool and flax” and “converse with merchants” whom you “make sashes for.” For one thing, I’m no good at sewing and crafts, and the only merchants I seem to converse with are Wal-Mart and Amazon.com and they are fresh out of flax. It’s not really a close friendship, but we do ok. Note to self: make some sashes for the cart guys at Wal-Mart.

You “get up when it is still night” and “provide food for your servants.” Ok, I’m up pretty early, but sadly I don’t have any servants who need tending to. Note to hubby: where’s my servants? Ha. Ha. I’ve been saying that same joke for 20 years and the answer I’m told is that modern appliances stand in for servants. OK, but it just doesn’t seem to be the same to sit next to the dishwasher chatting over coffee. But we do have a lawn guy! Oh man. I’ve got to start looking out for him!

As far as “staying up late,” I do that! Wait, I’m pretty sure they weren’t talking about my drinking a glass of wine and watching Sister Wives as a worthy endeavor. Most nights I’m asleep by 11:00 tops. So there’s another check in the column against me.

I can’t remember the last time I “considered a field” or purchased any real estate. Also, I’m way behind on planting that vineyard you take care of, but if you saw what happened to my tomatoes a couple of years ago, you’d forgive me on that.

I do work hard. I guess we have that in common. I teach high school English to a bunch of great kids, blog, write books and magazine articles. But I’m not fit in the way you are described (her arms are strong for her tasks). Not to self:start drinking those protein shake things again and do a few pushups for crying out loud!

You are described as holding a “distaff” which I have no idea what that is so I’ll google it. Oh yes, it’s some kind of spinning device. Nope, that’s still sewing-related. I DON’T SEW. I tried once, and the dress I made looked lopsided and a second away from a wardrobe malfunction.

I’m not clothed in “fine linen and purple.” Well, sometimes I wear purple yoga pants. Check!

I don’t know about the “speaks with wisdom” and “not eating the bread of idleness.” More likely, I’m speaking sarcasm and eating bread…whatever you’ve got is fine. I’m not picky!

We do have one thing in common: our husbands rock and everybody knows it. Also, my kids never go hungry because I love to cook. Check, check! I don’t know about my children calling me “blessed,” but I do have pretty great kids who love me, and an awesome hubby. So I guess we’re good there.

All I’m saying is can you give the rest of us a break and slow down already? Some of us can’t keep up with you, and it’s a bit intimidating at times. I’d love to invite you over for a cup of coffee to find out more, but I’m pretty busy myself.

Oh, and sorry I wrote that “I’m Coming for you” line. That was inappropriate. Sometimes I have anger/jealousy issues. I’m working on it, and I’m medicated so back off!

Sincerely,

The No Way Can I Ever Compete Woman

 

How to Get Published with Chicken Soup for the Soul

/ Tina Bausinger / 13 Comments

chicken soup TD

Have you ever seen a “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book? Of course you have! There are 11 million of them in circulation, so they’re kind of hard to miss. Have you ever wondered how the editors choose stories to publish? What if I told you it’s really easy to submit your story?

My very first break into paid publication was with a book called “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks Dad: 101 Stories of Gratitude, Love, and Good Times.” I still remember the thrill I felt when I opened the box of books with my story “Thanks Dad” inside. As you might imagine, I was estatic.

A few months later, I submitted and published a poem in their anthology “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Runners: 101 Inspiration Stories of Energy, Endurance and Endorphins.” Was it because of my vast expertise in the field of running and fitness?

chicken soup runners

Did you read my last post about chicken fried steak? Then you know THAT’S not it.

Since my publication with CSS, I have been published many times over, and most recently my first novel, War Eagle Women.I really feel that it was Chicken Soup that got my foot into the door of the publishing world and I want to share this with you.

Everybody has a story to tell. I know the gears are clicking! Keep in mind that Chicken Soup publishes a couple of books a month.

YOU CAN DO THIS. You have a really great shot at finding a book that’s perfect for your story.

Here are 5 reasons why you should submit a story to them today!

1. You don’t need an agent. Many large publishers will not even speak to you without one. Chicken Soup accepts unsolicited submissions from anyone who sends them.
2. You don’t have to write a query letter or proposal. It’s as simple as clicking and submitting.
3. Chicken Soup publishes poetry as well as short stories. Few big name publishers will print a poem from an unknown writer. And, CSS pays the same whether it’s a poem or story.
4. Chicken Soup is an internationally known francise. Their books are translated into at least 40 languages worldwide. That’s a lot of publicity for someone who wants to publish a novel.Their website states that at last count they have published 11 million books.
5. Once published with CSS, you gain credibility, not only as a published writer but with an internationally known brand. Did you know that CSS is not just books? They also sell calendars, clothing, audiobooks, dog food and get this…they are making movies from their favorite short stories! You also gain opportunities. I have spoken several times on this very topic, gaining entrance to expensive writers’ conferences FOR FREE. I said it!

In addition, because I was a speaker at these conferences, I was able to chat with agents and other writers about my book in a casual way. Agents like to hear that you have published something in such a substantial, well-known brand. It makes them want to take a chance on reading bigger things…like your novel.

I know the gears are clicking. And because Chicken Soup publishes so frequently, you have a really great shot of finding the right place for your special piece.

CSS is always looking for material, but it must be clean, uplifting and 1200 words or less. Here’s a link for specific guidelines.

http://www.chickensoup.com/story-submissions/story-guidelines

At the time of this printing, they are currently looking for stories and poems for the following books in progress:

Christmas in Canada

Stories About Moms 

Stories About the Christmas Season

Stories by Moms 

The Power of Forgiveness

Touched by an Angel

Here’s a link for the details regarding these books:

http://www.chickensoup.com/story-submissions/possible-book-topics

Ready to submit your story or poem? Click here for details. It’s so easy. Why wouldn’t you want to?

http://www.chickensoup.com/story-submissions/submit-your-story

It’s time to get cooking.

Top 6 Mouthwatering Southern Dishes

/ Tina Bausinger

Top 6 Mouthwatering Southern Dishes.