Quote:
Originally Posted by John Riley
I learned through reading labor history that the term “redneck” originated during coal miner strikes in W. Virginia. The striking miners would wear red bandanas around their necks to show solidarity.
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Here's what one dictionary says, which supports an association with skin color, even if (as you contend, and which I see no reason to reject) it might not have started with one:
red·neck
/ˈredˌnek/
INFORMAL•DEROGATORY
noun: redneck; plural noun: rednecks
a working-class white person, especially a politically reactionary one from a rural area.
"rednecks in the high, cheap seats stomped their feet and hooted"
Similar:
provincial, bumpkin, country bumpkin, yokel, rustic, country dweller, peasant, country cousin, reactionary, conservative, hayseed, hick, hillbilly, rube, apple-knocker
Origin
mid 19th century: from the idea of the back of the neck being sunburned from outdoor work.
Quote:
You mentioned earlier Julie that it is a white European male thing to like women based on hair color. Hair color does vary more among people from more northern regions. Makes sense. Does that mean men from areas where hair colors vary less don’t have other things they find more alluring than others? Isn’t it true that women have traits they find more alluring than others?
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There are major brutish, cruel forces in America and elsewhere today and maybe slamming men because they like a certain hair color is not the best place to focus outrage?
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I didn't intend to slam men, or to imply that women don't have similarly arbitrary preferences about what they find attractive. I just meant to question the accuracy of Martin's assumption that hair color is a complete non-factor in humans' decisions about how to treat each other.
For the record, my husband says he initially was only interested in my legs and tits. How enlightened of him.