I fucking hate meemaw/mamaw and papaw with a passion. Partly because me ex’s white-trash family uses them, but also they just sound stupid and I hate saying/hearing them
I get that your anger probably comes from the frustration of a bad relationship. I also want to encourage you not to use bigoted terms. Just refering to them as your ex’s family, or ex’s fucked up family would have gotten a similar message across.
It really undermines your point, draws focus away from what youre trying communicate, & makes you look like a biased and unreliable narrator.
I hope that ex is out of your life & you’re in a happier place now.
I thought it was dumb the first time I ever heard it.
They are literally the picture perfect stereotype of white trash I call it like I see it.
And no, we have two kids so she will never be out of my life. I am however in a happier place. Well actually the exact same place but now without her narcissistic gaslighting and constant put-downs :)
Ah co-parenting with an ex can be super tricky. It sounds like at least a half win though, you aren’t in the same house any more :) congrats on the break up, I know getting out of toxic relationships takes it’s toll
& I get that the word is part of your vocabulary, I can’t change that, just encourage some reflection. It’s a term that’s been used against me so I’m perticularly sensitive to it. Here is a link to an article in case you or someone else is interested in the history of the term.
It’s actually kind of a fucked up term but a lot of people don’t consider it, it’s both super racist and classist. I don’t really think less of anyone for saying it because it’s such a common term but I personally don’t like using it.
The original implication is that poor white folks are “trash”, comparing them to enslaved African Americans.
I always read it as referring to people who are (a) white and (b) trash, without either adjective implying all A are B or vice versa. Like: I’ve got a red cup on my desk, but that doesn’t mean everything red is a cup or that all cups are red.
The Wikipedia article even describes it very much like how I did. Like I said, I understand how people view it but the word at the least has very nasty roots
That was a fascinating wiki read. I’m not equating the two terms, but it definitely has its likeness with the n word in terms of etymology and white (specifically Anglo) supremacy.
You make a good point, but I don’t think that holds in the case of combining insults with people groups. Consider “jedi scum” or “filthy thieves” for example.
I also find it to be a derogatory, distasteful, and bigoted term. I definetly think less of people I hear who use it, & hope eventually it will be dropped from the cultural conciousness like other bigoted terms.
It’s a way to police what “whiteness” should be, and is a term I’ve only ever heard from well off and judgemental people.
I’ve heard a lot of poor folk use it too, it’s basically just a derogatory term for a redneck in the Midwest where I live. I don’t think a lot of people really understand it’s implications.
That’s fair. It’s definetly one of those offensive terms people use without necessarily thinking about, like “getting gyped” or “pot calling the kettle black”.
Knowing is half the battle & raising awareness is half of activism lol
The term usually refers to white people who are poor and uneducated, often live in rural areas. This is to group them with the traditional stereotypes of ethnic minorities who are stereotyped to share a similar socioeconomic status. And to separate them from the good respectable white people who have money and jobs and education.
I fucking hate meemaw/mamaw and papaw with a passion. Partly because me ex’s white-trash family uses them, but also they just sound stupid and I hate saying/hearing them
I get that your anger probably comes from the frustration of a bad relationship. I also want to encourage you not to use bigoted terms. Just refering to them as your ex’s family, or ex’s fucked up family would have gotten a similar message across.
It really undermines your point, draws focus away from what youre trying communicate, & makes you look like a biased and unreliable narrator.
I hope that ex is out of your life & you’re in a happier place now.
I thought it was dumb the first time I ever heard it.
They are literally the picture perfect stereotype of white trash I call it like I see it.
And no, we have two kids so she will never be out of my life. I am however in a happier place. Well actually the exact same place but now without her narcissistic gaslighting and constant put-downs :)
Ah co-parenting with an ex can be super tricky. It sounds like at least a half win though, you aren’t in the same house any more :) congrats on the break up, I know getting out of toxic relationships takes it’s toll
& I get that the word is part of your vocabulary, I can’t change that, just encourage some reflection. It’s a term that’s been used against me so I’m perticularly sensitive to it. Here is a link to an article in case you or someone else is interested in the history of the term.
White trash?
Do people really not know this term anymore?
I’ve heard the term, but the only meaning for it I can think of is that they’re trash because they’re white.
It’s actually kind of a fucked up term but a lot of people don’t consider it, it’s both super racist and classist. I don’t really think less of anyone for saying it because it’s such a common term but I personally don’t like using it. The original implication is that poor white folks are “trash”, comparing them to enslaved African Americans.
I always read it as referring to people who are (a) white and (b) trash, without either adjective implying all A are B or vice versa. Like: I’ve got a red cup on my desk, but that doesn’t mean everything red is a cup or that all cups are red.
The Wikipedia article even describes it very much like how I did. Like I said, I understand how people view it but the word at the least has very nasty roots
That was a fascinating wiki read. I’m not equating the two terms, but it definitely has its likeness with the n word in terms of etymology and white (specifically Anglo) supremacy.
You make a good point, but I don’t think that holds in the case of combining insults with people groups. Consider “jedi scum” or “filthy thieves” for example.
I also find it to be a derogatory, distasteful, and bigoted term. I definetly think less of people I hear who use it, & hope eventually it will be dropped from the cultural conciousness like other bigoted terms.
It’s a way to police what “whiteness” should be, and is a term I’ve only ever heard from well off and judgemental people.
I’ve heard a lot of poor folk use it too, it’s basically just a derogatory term for a redneck in the Midwest where I live. I don’t think a lot of people really understand it’s implications.
That’s fair. It’s definetly one of those offensive terms people use without necessarily thinking about, like “getting gyped” or “pot calling the kettle black”.
Knowing is half the battle & raising awareness is half of activism lol
“Pot calling the kettle black” isn’t racist though, you gotta know the right things and raise the right awareness.
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The term usually refers to white people who are poor and uneducated, often live in rural areas. This is to group them with the traditional stereotypes of ethnic minorities who are stereotyped to share a similar socioeconomic status. And to separate them from the good respectable white people who have money and jobs and education.
Oh wow, that’s worse than I thought. Honestly, I was half expecting a “yeah, that’s what it is, but it’s actually okay because…”
The historical usage is that they’re trash despite their whiteness. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_trash
It means poor
Well poor whites, specifically
Poor and low impulse control.
People can be poor without being trashy
I also think it’s not limited to poor people. I’ve absolutely heard well-off people referred to as “white trash” based on their behaviors.
Never heard that term?