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When Did White Trash Become the New Normal?: A Southern Lady Asks the Impertinent Question
Tattoos. Unwed pregnancy. Giving up on shaving…showering…and employment. These used to be signatures of a trashy individual. Now they’re the new norm. What happened to etiquette, hygiene, and self restraint? Charlotte Hays, Southern gentlewoman extraordinaire, takes a humorous look at the spread of white trash culture to all levels of American society.
- GenresHumorNonfiction
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
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100 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Hays
8 books10 followersCharlotte Hays is the Director of Cultural Programs and Senior Editor at the Independent Women's Forum.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
June 7, 2016
You’ve met Charlotte Hays before: the spinster aunt at a wedding who thinks the bridesmaids’ outfits have too much décolletage and the bride probably “has to get married”; your grandmother — or great-grandmother — who thought that rock and roll was the devil’s own music and that Elvis Presley would bring Armageddon with his pelvis; the teacher who longs for the “good old days” when pregnant girls were kicked out of school, minority and special-needs children were in their own schools, you could paddle or expel children whenever you wanted, and students respected their elders — although certainly teachers didn’t respect their students; the outraged soccer mom who doesn’t want her daughter reading the Harry Potter books — so no one else should get to read them, either; Rex Roach, the Birmingham, Alabama, disc jockey who oversaw the grinding of Beatles records to dust; the Fox News-obsessed neighbor who thinks “those people” (fill in the blank) are dirty, disease-ridden, criminally inclined, and not to be trusted. In short, think about anyone who’s terrified of modernity or the Other, and you’ve got Charlotte Hays on her fainting couch.
Don’t go into this expecting a fond, funny look at the lower classes like My Name Is Earl or The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. You can tell from the title how judgmental this book is going to be; what you can’t tell is how mean-spirited and unfunny the patrician Hays is. Why can’t we bring back slut-shaming, brides completely ignorant of sex, and the lower classes knowing their place? Hays curls her dainty lip and sniffs at everything from piercings (including any earring, no matter how tiny or tasteful, on a man) to home mortgages to sex education to declining Sunday School attendance to tattoos to not knowing what fork to use at a fancy dinner. (I’m not making up the silverware bit.)
Hays holds up President Thomas Jefferson, quoting him approvingly: “It is the manners and spirit of a people which preserve a republic. A degeneracy in these is a canker which soon eats to the heart of its laws and constitution.” It doesn’t matter that by “manners” Jefferson meant the mien of a people, not their knowledge of Emily Post. Nor, apparently, does taking sexual advantage of your slave matter if you have nice manners and an eloquent writing style. She holds up British historian Arnold Toynbee as the arbiter of good taste, quoting him repeatedly; apparently, dumping your wife for your secretary, as Toynbee did in 1946, also doesn’t matter if you know to turn your nose up at prole staples like Velveeta cheese, dress in Saville Row rather than Sean John, and opine, as Toynbee did in 1940, that the French apache scarf “was proof positive that the proletarian style was à la mode” (p. 11). Apparently, Hays’ beloved grandmother, who instilled Hays’ love of good manners and patrician taste, forgot to tell her that pretty is as pretty does.
At one point, Hays writes disapprovingly of hefty college-loan burdens and that 40 percent of Americans use credit cards to pay for basic living expenses, such as food and shelter. Because that’s appalling in the richest country in the world? Because we’re one of the few (perhaps only) industrialized countries that allow that sort of disparities of wealth? If you thought that, you don’t know Charlotte Hays! Because these jumped-up peasants in food deserts and overpriced housing markets are living beyond their means, of course! They should survive on beans, hotdogs, Vienna sausages, cream-of-mushroom soup casseroles, and Velveeta — so that Hays can make fun of their eating habits, too, as she does throughout the book (e.g., “And remember: Vienna sausages re pronounced VYE-eenna,” p. 53). And, while she’s at it, denigrate Americans because, on average, their debt load is 2.6 times higher than 30 years ago — just coincidentally the time when the good-mannered elite began shipping those good blue-collar jobs overseas and the federal government began swapping college grants for college loans. But don’t those captains of industry and their exquisitely coiffed wives know how to dress sharply and shine at state dinners?
What especially irked me was this: Why not blame the victims who lost their homes (pretending that all of them were social-climbers trying to buy McMansions) instead of financial institutions like Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, and others? No, the worldwide 2009 economic collapse was due to “White Trash economics,” according to Hays; Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America agreed to fines of $5 billion, $13 billion, $14 billion, and $58 billion, respectively, for no reason at all! The total from the banksters comes to more than $200 billion, a pittance compared to how much they made off of arcane derivatives and other chicanery. (Be sure to read Matt Taibbi’s excellent The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap or Michael Lewis’s The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine to find out how they did it.) While Hays laments a lack of personal responsibility for White Trash, it’s no surprise that a member of the right-wing Independent Women’s Forum (which is neither independent nor a voice for women) doesn’t seem to think that JP Morgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, Bank of America’s Ken Lewis, Goldman Sach’s Lloyd Blankfein (who claimed he was “doing God’s work” in what many describe as defrauding investors), Citigroup’s Vikram Pandit, nor their underlings need assume any personal responsibility at all. After all, corporations exist specifically to avoid personal responsibility; the angry dispossessed sue the corporation, not the high-ranking humans who actually make the decisions.
I’ll give credit where credit is due: Hays’ book is a quick read, and many who don’t share her right-wing sensibilities are appalled by reality television, foul-mouthed celebrities, ubiquitous rudeness, and — dare I say it? — Velveeta (which can’t even call itself “cheese” on the label). But I’ll try to not be as harsh on Hays as she is on the proletariat; after all, Donald Trump as her party’s presidential nominee is punishment enough.
Don’t go into this expecting a fond, funny look at the lower classes like My Name Is Earl or The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. You can tell from the title how judgmental this book is going to be; what you can’t tell is how mean-spirited and unfunny the patrician Hays is. Why can’t we bring back slut-shaming, brides completely ignorant of sex, and the lower classes knowing their place? Hays curls her dainty lip and sniffs at everything from piercings (including any earring, no matter how tiny or tasteful, on a man) to home mortgages to sex education to declining Sunday School attendance to tattoos to not knowing what fork to use at a fancy dinner. (I’m not making up the silverware bit.)
Hays holds up President Thomas Jefferson, quoting him approvingly: “It is the manners and spirit of a people which preserve a republic. A degeneracy in these is a canker which soon eats to the heart of its laws and constitution.” It doesn’t matter that by “manners” Jefferson meant the mien of a people, not their knowledge of Emily Post. Nor, apparently, does taking sexual advantage of your slave matter if you have nice manners and an eloquent writing style. She holds up British historian Arnold Toynbee as the arbiter of good taste, quoting him repeatedly; apparently, dumping your wife for your secretary, as Toynbee did in 1946, also doesn’t matter if you know to turn your nose up at prole staples like Velveeta cheese, dress in Saville Row rather than Sean John, and opine, as Toynbee did in 1940, that the French apache scarf “was proof positive that the proletarian style was à la mode” (p. 11). Apparently, Hays’ beloved grandmother, who instilled Hays’ love of good manners and patrician taste, forgot to tell her that pretty is as pretty does.
At one point, Hays writes disapprovingly of hefty college-loan burdens and that 40 percent of Americans use credit cards to pay for basic living expenses, such as food and shelter. Because that’s appalling in the richest country in the world? Because we’re one of the few (perhaps only) industrialized countries that allow that sort of disparities of wealth? If you thought that, you don’t know Charlotte Hays! Because these jumped-up peasants in food deserts and overpriced housing markets are living beyond their means, of course! They should survive on beans, hotdogs, Vienna sausages, cream-of-mushroom soup casseroles, and Velveeta — so that Hays can make fun of their eating habits, too, as she does throughout the book (e.g., “And remember: Vienna sausages re pronounced VYE-eenna,” p. 53). And, while she’s at it, denigrate Americans because, on average, their debt load is 2.6 times higher than 30 years ago — just coincidentally the time when the good-mannered elite began shipping those good blue-collar jobs overseas and the federal government began swapping college grants for college loans. But don’t those captains of industry and their exquisitely coiffed wives know how to dress sharply and shine at state dinners?
What especially irked me was this: Why not blame the victims who lost their homes (pretending that all of them were social-climbers trying to buy McMansions) instead of financial institutions like Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, and others? No, the worldwide 2009 economic collapse was due to “White Trash economics,” according to Hays; Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America agreed to fines of $5 billion, $13 billion, $14 billion, and $58 billion, respectively, for no reason at all! The total from the banksters comes to more than $200 billion, a pittance compared to how much they made off of arcane derivatives and other chicanery. (Be sure to read Matt Taibbi’s excellent The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap or Michael Lewis’s The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine to find out how they did it.) While Hays laments a lack of personal responsibility for White Trash, it’s no surprise that a member of the right-wing Independent Women’s Forum (which is neither independent nor a voice for women) doesn’t seem to think that JP Morgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, Bank of America’s Ken Lewis, Goldman Sach’s Lloyd Blankfein (who claimed he was “doing God’s work” in what many describe as defrauding investors), Citigroup’s Vikram Pandit, nor their underlings need assume any personal responsibility at all. After all, corporations exist specifically to avoid personal responsibility; the angry dispossessed sue the corporation, not the high-ranking humans who actually make the decisions.
I’ll give credit where credit is due: Hays’ book is a quick read, and many who don’t share her right-wing sensibilities are appalled by reality television, foul-mouthed celebrities, ubiquitous rudeness, and — dare I say it? — Velveeta (which can’t even call itself “cheese” on the label). But I’ll try to not be as harsh on Hays as she is on the proletariat; after all, Donald Trump as her party’s presidential nominee is punishment enough.
January 17, 2014
In his "A Study of History" Arnold Toynbee remarks that a society is disintegrating when it takes its cues for manners and customs from the underclass. From there Hays discusses the state of modern society where Toynbee's observation is certainly the case.
Hays is from the South and delineates how what we were cultural dividing lines between decent peopel and white trash have been erased, and even more so, white trash mores have been adopted by decent people. Topics covered include tattoos, lack of real religious beliefs, illegitimacy, and the oversexualization of everything, including children.
I observed many others have given this book a low rating. As it is well written and entertaining, I am willing to guess the low ratings came from people who felt the criticism hit too close to home.
Hays is from the South and delineates how what we were cultural dividing lines between decent peopel and white trash have been erased, and even more so, white trash mores have been adopted by decent people. Topics covered include tattoos, lack of real religious beliefs, illegitimacy, and the oversexualization of everything, including children.
I observed many others have given this book a low rating. As it is well written and entertaining, I am willing to guess the low ratings came from people who felt the criticism hit too close to home.
June 20, 2014
I got this book from the library because I thought it would be funny. Some of it was, but mostly it was just condescending and judgmental, and sometimes downright mean. Hays' basic thesis is that we're on the road to downfall as a society because of decay in manners and morals. I happen to agree with some of her ideas--such as that people make themselves look worse rather than better when they cover their bodies with tattoos. However, I don't see that as a sign of the apocalypse. I also think children have a better shot in life when their parents are married to each other, but I don't think it was better when unmarried women were shamed into hiding. A lot of her criticisms just seem to be the old laments about young people today, which have been going on for centuries.
And of course since this is supposed to be a funny book, it's not really an exploration of causes. Are people more fiscally irresponsible today than they used to be? Probably. But is that a moral flaw or a consequence of the far broader availability of credit?
The feature that actually was funny was the white trash recipes (instant Irish coffee: Sanka, Irish whiskey and Cool whip; mayonnaise sandwich: Wonder Bread and Miracle Whip.)
And of course since this is supposed to be a funny book, it's not really an exploration of causes. Are people more fiscally irresponsible today than they used to be? Probably. But is that a moral flaw or a consequence of the far broader availability of credit?
The feature that actually was funny was the white trash recipes (instant Irish coffee: Sanka, Irish whiskey and Cool whip; mayonnaise sandwich: Wonder Bread and Miracle Whip.)
December 9, 2013
This book, albeit very well written style wise, is full of clichés and very old, outdated "social norms." I was ridiculously offended on her rude, nasty behavior. It was not humorous in the least and this is not how a Southern lady truly behaves (she seems very hypocritical and is *most assuredly* not a gentlewoman extraordinaire). Just because you don't follow *her* ideas of classy doesn't make you white trash. I agree with her complaint of reality TV and those role models, but they don't necessarily define society. She insulted people with tattoos (which I am one and I am *not* a prisoner or delinquent), poor people, people who can't afford to eat fresh, and people with accents. I was also annoyed by her use of the word "hit" as being a sub for it. I live in SC and I honestly don't hear "hit" as often as she complains about it. The only reason I kept reading was b/c I wanted to see if there was any saving grace. Folks, spare yourselves the trouble... there wasn't one.
February 4, 2014
Avery sad assessment of how far our society has fallen. A world lacking in manners, beliefs, and most importantly common sense. Oh and it is a rather funny book. you will notice it is not POOR WHITE TRASH. Income plays no part in the depths of trash behavior of a person.
Warning if you have children and they have a stupidly spelled name or the name of a stripper, if the care about the Kardashian's, if you think everything children do is precious and that their opinions are important, if you would never stop and think twice about taking your children to an expensive restaurant, on a14 hour plane ride, and bring them on your. Vacation to Tahiti or the. Maldives, if any of these descriptions describe you, YOU WILL NOT LIKE THIS BOOK NOR WILL YOU THINK IT IS FUNNY IN ANY WAY.
Warning if you have children and they have a stupidly spelled name or the name of a stripper, if the care about the Kardashian's, if you think everything children do is precious and that their opinions are important, if you would never stop and think twice about taking your children to an expensive restaurant, on a14 hour plane ride, and bring them on your. Vacation to Tahiti or the. Maldives, if any of these descriptions describe you, YOU WILL NOT LIKE THIS BOOK NOR WILL YOU THINK IT IS FUNNY IN ANY WAY.
December 15, 2013
The one star rating is based on my own personal opinion, so please understand this is my judgement and my feelings. This was not my kind of book. I found the writing to be condescending and preachy. I am born and raised in the South (Mississippi), and I am a middle class mom and housewife. I could not relate to the writer's style or her viewpoint.
August 16, 2014
Well... Yikes. I thought this was something totally different when I picked it up, so I was in for a huge treat when I started reading it. Not funny, just offensive. Didn't even finish it. If I would've looked at the back, Ann Coulter had a review for it, and said that "This is a book that has needed to be written for a long time". Should've been my clue NOT to grab this book from the library.
October 12, 2015
While I agreed with a couple aspects of the book, I found it to be very snobby. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, I thought it would be more endearing and comical but it's really not.
The author calls herself a Southern gentlewoman but the way she trashes other people suggest otherwise.
I did like the 'remember when...' tidbits thrown in and I thought the time line at the end of the book was pretty neat. I also found chapter 3, the one about money management and that to be refreshing and true. The rest of the book however, just read like a woman who sees herself higher than every other person out there.
I definitely would not recommend this to somebody. There are much better books to be read than this.
The author calls herself a Southern gentlewoman but the way she trashes other people suggest otherwise.
I did like the 'remember when...' tidbits thrown in and I thought the time line at the end of the book was pretty neat. I also found chapter 3, the one about money management and that to be refreshing and true. The rest of the book however, just read like a woman who sees herself higher than every other person out there.
I definitely would not recommend this to somebody. There are much better books to be read than this.
June 21, 2014
I happened across this book in the library of a cruise ship, and it kind of sucked me in. A lot of the things that gross out Hays disturb me a bit, too, but labeling changing social conventions "white trash" is jarringly harsh and offensive. One thing that I absolutely disagree witih Hays about is that Amy Carter's reading a book at a state dinner was a sign of the decay of decorum in America.
February 17, 2016
It may have you shaking your head at the elitist tone of some passages and nodding your head in agreement of others, but Ms. Hays' book has enough middle-ground for all, even though it is written for the more conservative reader.
December 31, 2018
A rather entertaining, although somewhat uptight, book about "White Trash Normal." I found myself chuckling along with the author's not-so-tongue-in-cheek observations about how low-brow our society seems these days: "All it takes is being sloppy, self-absorbed, and inconsiderate." Most of her pet peeves I secretly agree with (e.g. tattoos are ugly, our society is oversexed and vulgar about it, parents don't parent, etc.), so I guess that makes me old-fashioned. Except for her soapbox about how people must be called Mr. or Mrs. (ugh, no! Way to make a person feel old!), and the lame White Trash recipes (maybe this book was meant to be funny?), I too wouldn't mind if people showed a little more decorum once in a while.
January 6, 2014
to much like one big complaint.
November 7, 2019
Calling Colin Kaepernick "white trash" for having tattoos is ... not a good look.
August 16, 2021
I give this 4.5 stars. First I want to thank Miss. Hays for a rude awakening of truth in this book. I agree with everything in it, minus the Name part. I do agree with what the point was but I feel like she could have worded the quote a little more professional. I remember the time when all the stores closed on Sunday's and families had gatherings to eat at home after church. I remember the time when I also thought it was cool to swear and speak rudely I was one of them sadly to say, I'm not there anymore but yes I was a 16yr old pregnant girl who had a mom that only said if a guy touches you punch him. I do have to say The truth hurts people and I recommend this book to 15yr old's and up maybe if the parents don't teach you a thing or two this book will, promise. I felt like I was reading signs that said this way, keep going, going and then BAM smacked right into a wall of the big FAT truth. The money part in this book is what did me, I know in the back of my mind yeah don't get that pile of books you can't afford it, but yet you do anyway and then your like I got to get control of this money having only to pay off so many luxury bills, smacked right into that wall and made that thought come to the front, yes that is exactly what I intend to do not buy and pay off all the crap so I can get ahead not behind.. I just love them dang books.. Thank You for waking me up. This book has all kinds of great what use to be to what the crap is going on now world. I still am very fond of the Victorian Era of Gentlemen who knew how to treat a lady and the class they so had, I don't put everyone in this because we still do have Gentlemen and Ladies out there that do have manners and class and their not all grandmothers or great grandmothers. Kudo to the parents who are raising their children to respect others and to treat people with kindness no matter what race they are... Recommend to all because believe it or not you need the truth smacked in your face and Yes it will hurt, but you will come out on the other side a better You.. Gina Clabo
August 30, 2022
The writer is very judgemental. Some things I agree with most I don't..
August 12, 2016
This book, albeit very well written style wise, is full of clichés and very old, outdated "social norms." I was ridiculously offended on her rude, nasty behavior. It was not humorous in the least and this is not how a Southern lady truly behaves (she seems very hypocritical and is *most assuredly* not a gentlewoman extraordinaire). Just because you don't follow *her* ideas of classy doesn't make you white trash. I agree with her complaint of reality TV and those role models, but they don't necessarily define society. She insulted people with tattoos (which I am one and I am *not* a prisoner or delinquent), poor people, people who can't afford to eat fresh, and people with accents. I was also annoyed by her use of the word "hit" as being a sub for it. I live in SC and I honestly don't hear "hit" as often as she complains about it. The only reason I kept reading was b/c I wanted to see if there was any saving grace. Folks, spare yourselves the trouble... there wasn't one.
May 5, 2020
Musings on exactly what it says it is, "Why has what people used to call 'White Trash' (as a description not a people group) gone mainstream? It's a glib, intelligent examination of the phenomenon (behaviors, mores, dreams and beliefs) of White Trash-dom. Examples abound and personify said phenomenon-names, dates, descriptions-it's all there. It is every bit the sociological thesis on the clearly deliniated, well documented, and for hundreds of years observed thinking and behaviors of the "common class," now mainstream and more adapted by the elite, royal and presidential; as well as historic, gossip, angst, & winsome memories of the way it 'used to be.'
July 20, 2014
I started this book thinking it was going to just validate things I have been feeling for years. Why are we trying to emulate the "white trash" way? I skimmed the first 20 pages that went on and on about using the right silverware and covering up your tattoos........fine. But, then, looking through the recipe chapters, they are ALL white trash recipes. You can't bash white trash then eat like white trash..... To quote another goodreads review, "this read like one big long complaint."
June 12, 2014
While I found the book to be well written, I also found it a little whiny. The first chapter is all over the place complaining and making irrational claims. I did enjoy the comparison to how society has change and the new "norms" that have emerged in the process. There are some current pop culture "facts" that are not accurate. For instance Kris Jenner is actually Kim's mother not stepfather.
July 23, 2015
This book says it as it is. This is America today. The ones who give it a one star or disagree are the neo-white trash. Tattoos, cigarettes, littering, not able to control their screaming brats, barking dogs, lesbians kissing outside your window. This is the norm in today's lame society. This is my review, my freedom of speech and I speak the truth and I am not a hypocrite.
August 6, 2017
Some books were recommended to me as being humorous southern reads, which I thought this one was included. While I may agree with some of Miss Hays writing, the reality of reading this book was just deeply depressing. I didn't enjoy this book at all and only finished because the thought of starting a book and not finishing completely unnerves me.
i-aint-sure
November 5, 2013I'm not sure about getting this book, but the author's biting criticism is sure entertaining:
http://nypost.com/2013/11/02/when-did...
(seems like a tabloid-ish paper)
http://nypost.com/2013/11/02/when-did...
(seems like a tabloid-ish paper)
March 20, 2018
Hilarious, wonderfully and deliciously written, brimming with satire. There are some vulgar spots when Ms. Hays points out how far we have degraded as a culture.
July 4, 2018
The author is a gigantic snob. While I agree with her that manners are important, I disagree with her that everyone with a tattoo is horrible, or her assertion that Princess Diana was trash.
February 25, 2021
Sorry to announce that this was not a fun read that I thought it would be. After reading "White Trash, A 400 year history of America" , I thought it would be interesting to read this recommendation, but I did not feel it was funny, felt that the author was eliciting too much of her own comparisons of her own generation to the next 50 years of growth, and just not a lot to quote from for a quality analysis and making the topic fun. Sorry.. Maybe next time..
January 11, 2020
Right wing bashing of liberals. She blames every democratic president since JFK for the demise of society civility. Written before current admin so she may have evolved since. I especially like how she dates obesity to the 80's but never mentions Reagan's ketchup as a vegetable. Her characterization of Princess Diana as white trash while leaving out Prince Charles (actually defends him) is funny.
March 7, 2018
I have all her other books and probably enjoyed them more than this one. Maybe it's my age. Or the recipes. But I decided I'd leave this in my car for times when I'm too early or stuck waiting somewhere. It's perfect to read a chapter and laugh.
October 19, 2017
Not exactly a best seller - - but a whole lot of truth to it!!!
August 11, 2020
Not to call out anyone on this book’s editorial team, but isn’t Kris Jenner Kim Kardashian’s mother? I suppose a bit of elite editing is due on “A White Trash Timeline”.
No judgement.
No judgement.
April 24, 2014
I thought this was hysterical. Surely, Ms. Hays can't be serious when she goes on her rants/raves and judgemental laments. Like all good comics she makes some valid points and then goes off the deep end for comedic effect.
Writing was good, format was oddly cobbled together and disjointed. Each chapter was began with a series of white trash menu items that had nothing to do with the chapter and she should have taken the time and effort to write more laughs in to fully round out her old white trash vision. Her thoughts on religion were very funny and could have done so much more with it.
Writing was good, format was oddly cobbled together and disjointed. Each chapter was began with a series of white trash menu items that had nothing to do with the chapter and she should have taken the time and effort to write more laughs in to fully round out her old white trash vision. Her thoughts on religion were very funny and could have done so much more with it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews