[Holly Ballard]

Does an accent (Southern, Northern, English, etc.) impede the way you are perceived socially?

User Detail :  

Name : Holly Ballard, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 23, City : Flushing, State : MI, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[DaneR]

It can, it depends on whether or not the person doing the perceiving is predjudiced, or maybe they just have an internal stereotype of people with those accents because of their past experiences with the people who have certain accents.

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Name : DaneR, Age : 19, City : Jacksonville, State : FL, Country : United States, 

[ShirleyAvery]

MY speech teacher in college, who taught in Louisiana before transferring to St. Louis told us this: In the rest of the country., Southern accents seem to make women more charming; men, more uneducated. Jeff Foxworthy mentioned the latter in one of his routines, that as soon as people hear his Southern accent, he knows his IQ drops 10 points in their estimation. British accents (not cockney) almost usually make the person sound smarter and more sophisticated – male or female. I imagine that much of this is based on movie and TV stereotypes – Scarlett O’Hara, etc. Just Curious

User Detail :  

Name : ShirleyAvery, Gender : F, Disability : none, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 52, City : st. louis, State : MO, Country : United States, Occupation : writer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[CherylM]

I believe you can blame this one on television. No matter if it’s a drama, a comedy or a cartoon, you can bet that the thickest character will have a southern accent. Now, contrast this with the fact that the stereotypic “rocket scientist” is a man with a leaky pin in his pocket, thick black glasses, a southern accent – and works for NASA. Go figure.

User Detail :  

Name : CherylM, City : Orange Park, State : FL, Country : United States, 

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