#accent discrimination

[alwaysbewoke]

[controversial-sideblog]

you call yourself a leftist but then make fun of someone for their "funny accent"

[prackspoor]

UK's hierarchy of accents: 'I thought mine made me sound stupid'

UK's hierarchy of accents: 'I thought mine made me sound stupid'

Sociolinguists say accent bias is prevalent in the UK and affects how people are perceived by classmates, colleagues and friends.

[thenebulanebula]

Brummies backed after 'vomit-inducing accent' note

Brummies backed after 'vomit-inducing accent' note

A Midlands woman who is now a hotelier in Wales says Birmingham people will continue to come to her area.

This is why I don't find mocking peoples accents funny. Jesus Christ.

[innko]

i just found out that songbirds have regional accents like humans do and i think that’s the cutest thing ever !!

unfortunately i had to find out from an article whose authors do not find it as cute or exciting as i do. if anyone reads the article, please know that while there may be this biological tendency to ‘turn off’ to unfamiliar accents, it’s largely an initial thing that can be overcome by making an effort to listen to people and spending time around people with a variety of accents. 

[loomloves-blog]

Advice: How do you deal with constant...

...offhand comments about your regional dialect and associated intelligence levels? I deal with this a lot, even from (I assume) well meaning associates and friends.

Real Conversation:

"I mean, you've probably never actually met an engineer."

"Actually, I come from a family of engineers."

"No, I mean, like... a REAL one."

....

To be frank, why would you assume, because I'm from the South, I have never conversed with a "mystical, smart, academic type or engineer?" That's absurd. Worse still, a lot people seem to be completely unaware of how offensive these offhand comments are when they occur frequently over a small period of time.

(On the flipside, it's okay if you haven't met an engineer, and it's okay if you don't thrive in a school of "academia" fish. I mean, class discrimination does make some people feel superior and all-round secure in how they value themselves. I get that. But can't they acknowledge that just because they have the good fortune to be born into a situation with golden opportunities doesn't mean they're better than anyone else?)

It's not just one person that makes these comments, either. It's quite a number of people (and friends) who carry these undisguised prejudices. They hate on southern accents, culture, place names, etc. They deem these comments completely acceptable or worse -- deserved.

I mean, intolerance towards certain kinds of accents is really fashionable. I get that. But in polite company? Really? These remarks occur even in professional meetings -- little snide remarks that demean and deride in teasing, supposedly "lighthearted" ways.  Sometimes, I sit and rub my temples over the curve balls thrown to me and count down from 10.

Background: Lives in Huntsville, AL. We are literally a NASA and government research hotspot. Maternal great grandfather, maternal grandfather, sister, and slew of other family members' occupation: aerospace/mechanical engineers. >.>