To hear Country Music Television tell it, the term “redneck” began losing its stigma a few years into the first decade of the 21st century, all thanks to a song:

“Redneck Woman,” Gretchen Wilson (2004) — Gretchen Wilson tapped into a vein of country music that no one else sensed was there. That vein was a growing sense of identity by an ignored and overlooked group of women country listeners. Redneck pride soared as a result, for women and then for men, as well. And gradually the term “redneck” itself began to shed the stigma that many people liked to attach to country fans — and to Southerners, in particular.

I disagree. Catchy music aside, “Redneck Woman” wasn’t exactly a boon to the reputation of rednecks. And if the term “redneck” had begun losing its stigma as a result of Wilson’s work in 2004, I wouldn’t have launched this blog in 2008.

We rednecks are maligned as much now as ever, perhaps even more since the rise of Sarah Palin and the angry mob across America.