Talk:Trailer trash

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This article was selected as the article for improvement on 23 February 2015 for a period of one week.

This article was nominated for deletion on 08 January 2006. The result of the discussion was keep and redirect.

This article was nominated for deletion on 15 June 2011 (UTC). The result of the discussion was keep.

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(Untitled)

Trailer park trash is not an ethnic slur. To think that it is, you are inherently being racist since you are assuming that only white people live in trailer parks. What kind of PC freak decided it was an ethnic slur? I bet city people thought this up. By the way, city people is not an ethnic slur either. Give a few months and wikipedia will decide city people is an ethnic slur too.

It's a slur, but it's a classist slur, rather than an ethnic slur.--RLent 19:58, 24 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Trailer dwellers are a diverse lot by ethnicity and occupation. Yes, they are poorer than typical home-owners. They may include retirees, college students, people with short-term employment, farm laborers, and people escaping domestic violence. Some people prefer a trailer on a lot to a crowded apartment that has no room for children to play. Pbrower2a (talk) 12:57, 2 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Trailer living

I've trimmed this article's information about how wonderful it is to live in a mobile home. It doesn't seem particularly cogent to the discussion of the origin of the term. --ESP 30 June 2005 17:23 (UTC)

Merge?

Is there any real difference between this and poor white trash? —BenFrantzDale 23:03, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

-Yes, there is a huge difference. 'Trailer Trash' is a term that is classist, referencing poor financial standing. 'Poor White Trash' is a term that is both classist AND racist. 'Trailer Trash' is not race-specific, though you may bring your own associations to the word. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.212.133.98 (talk) 23:22, 1 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That's nonsense. Trailer trash isn't only classist. The term is explicitly classist but it implicitly denotes race. Your argument seems to be that the normal usage can't be implicitly racial because then the slur would be factually inaccurate. That's absurd on it's face. OckRaz ^talk 04:49, 11 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Require lots of space?

It seems odd to say that trailer parks require large amounts of space, since they're a more dense type of housing than most types of suburban or rural housing. So I'm changing this to something that makes more sense to me. Please modify if anyone thinks it could be clearer. --Allen 05:23, 26 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Am I the only person?

Am I the only person that thinks that articles on slang words that are commonly known are useless? This should be deleted. --Shell 04:52, 8 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

→ It really depends on who's reading it. An immigrant to the U.S. who heard the word in conversation might find it very informative to be able to look it up on Wikipedia. BAW 22:17, 24 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

→ Absolutely agree. I am not a native English speaker, but do have a lot of business with Americans. Articles like this one help a lot to understand the "non-work-related" discussions. Please leave it in.

Writing from Italy, and having just seen an American movie, I found this article useful. 151.51.40.235 (talk) 00:47, 29 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I also know this term only by tv or movie, and think it's pretty self-explanatory. However a record in an encyclopaedia should at least require date and origin of first usage. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.115.83.92 (talk) 10:02, 29 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

white only?

To suggest that trailer trash can only be white seems racist to me. Why should that be? --Rebroad 22:21, 22 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It probably shouldn't be. On the other hand, that's just the stereotype. On the other hand (I have three), changing the definition of an insult to include a wider target doesn't help things much.

-I agree with the first comment. It seems quite racist to claim that only whites can be labeled as 'trailer trash'. There is no evidence to support this claim whatsoever. People of all races can and DO live in trailers. This term has no specific relation to white people or to the term "white trash", which IS race-specific. I have removed references to 'white people', 'white trash' and any text which stated AS FACT that this is the case. I also removed a large list of racial slurs which seem only to pertain to whites from the bottom of the page. This slur is a term which references financial status, not race. Pages such as this should be treated very carefully because false information such as this is actually propagating racism instead of educating the ignorant. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.212.133.98 (talk) 23:17, 1 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well, minority populations are highest in cities and lowest in rural areas, for a variety of socioeconomic reasons. The fact is that Trailer Parks are the Ghettos of rural areas, and so just as white people can indeed live in the Ghetto, black people can indeed live in Trailer Parks. This doesn't change the racial stereotype associated with each. Yes they are racist and classist, but you can't whitewash that and say "We can't have a mention of whiteness on this page because that's racist." because you're in denial of the reality of the term. It's definitely classist, yes, and it specifically refers to a rural phenomenon, and those combination of factors have resulted in a specific racial stereotype simply because of geo-ethnic demographics. This stereotype is part of the term no matter how racist it is and so it warrants inclusion.

If you really care THAT much, and aren't just trying to rid wikipedia of any bad stereotypes of white people, then go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghetto#United_States and start an argument about how it's racist to associate African Americans with ghettos in America. 128.2.51.144 (talk) 14:36, 10 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

White people are tt with their mullet, ripped jeans, rotten teeth, meth-ruined skin, and El Caminos.67.78.233.99 (talk) 05:27, 22 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Tornado bait

Isnt this term used with Trailer Trash as well? --Halaqah 23:08, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

How about some references?

Comeon, this is borderline uncyclopedia grade stuff "Park managers, usually portly women, usually reside in the parks' finest double-wide coaches and have their wheels sunk into the earth for a more finished style and may even have their banisters upgraded from the standard metal to real oak wood."?? . --82.83.191.196 21:57, 12 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Trailer house parks off limits to US military.

The US Military has told its personnel that many trailer house parks are off limits. The reasoning is trailer house parks have a high amount of drugs. Note the Army, Marines, and Navy personnel who have been in war in Iraq and have traveled to dangerous places around the world are not allowed to enter many trailer parks, even if their family lives there. Source: Sibling is in the Army.

..........................

There are better and there are worse trailer parks. Obviously any trailer park in which meth is readily available is a potential menace to military discipline, which could be more troublesome than violence. But this said, trailer parks hold people who are best described simply as poor -- such as elderly people who cannot afford staying in single-family dwellings or overpriced apartments, migrant farm workers, and young families saving for a down payment on a single-family house or condominium. Some are part-time residents escaping harsh winters of the American North. I have done Census work and I have done political canvassing. Some trailer parks have severe blight, and some have no obvious blight. I can say the same of apartment complexes and neighborhoods of single-family houses, too.

The words 'trailer trash' suggest an ugly, and unmerited stereotype. Just because people are priced out of first-rate housing does not mean that the people are scum.Pbrower2a (talk) 23:04, 30 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Photo has been deleted

Hello. I deleted the photo, which was placed within this article because it was in no way visibly depicting a 'trailer park' or even a single 'mobile home'. For the level of detail visible within that photo it was definitely unclear as to whether or not the homes depicted in it were mobile or stationary. This could potentially be a photograph of a few solidly founded houses and not mobile homes/trailers. There simply isn't enough detail to tell. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.106.7.0 (talk) 05:37, 27 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah also it says the photo is of an "unkempt trailer park" but it hardly looks like a trailer park and it looks like someone was just doing some hardware in the driveway it's not exactly "unkempt"... also this article is just ign'ant.24.78.195.134 (talk) 17:57, 14 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Why is "unkempt trailer park" still on this page? I agree, it is not only stupid and pointless, but it is an oversized photo of excessive resolution that isn't of a trailer park! It is a view of the clutter between two residences, and it would take a sharp eye to even notice that these are trailers. And, among residential areas with trailers, this one is the Park Avenue of trailer parks, if it even is one. This one has two oilless pancake compressors, ladders, and other nice contractor equipment that would either be stolen after dark or not owned by a trailer resident anyway. By definition, a photo of a trailer park must show wheels (or bare axles left after wheels were stolen or repurposed on the family car), rust, screen doors, lawn furniture (broken, like with the seat webbing rotted out so you can no longer sit in it), cats, dogs, kids (of dubious lineage), one bike that works and a few that don't, etc., etc., etc.. I lived in two trailer parks for two years in the 70s (and insist they be referred to as "TP" from now on), and know about these things.--208.127.100.74 (talk) 16:14, 30 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with your decision to delete the photo since it didn't seem to represent the topic of the article at hand. Also I don't see the need to add a different photo because a photo attempting to represent a slur is likely to be taken offensively. Sailor4510 (talk) 15:28, 27 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

"Doing nothing and still complaining about it"

This description of "Amie" sounds unencyclopedic, and the paragraph concerning the Fox show about "supposed trailer trash" sounds a little like vanity posting to me. — Rickyrab | Talk 21:41, 8 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

While he did live in a trailer, the reference to "The Rockford Files" is irrelevant. His character does not depict or represent the topic of this article, no more so than the trailer the astronauts stayed in after returning from the moon. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.77.13.232 (talk) 23:52, 18 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I completely agree that The Rockford Files reference is utterly inappropriate in regards to the term trailer trash, and so deleted it.Kathimcgraw (talk) 20:55, 25 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

People with Trailer Trash Legacires

There are many individuals in this country that have trailer park pasts. Especially those who have family members that were in World War 2. I, myself, have had family members that returned from that war and lived in trailers for some time. They lived there until they could find work, and get themselves established. They went on to become members of the so called affluent upper crusts. Even millionaires. If you talk to those still with us today or their children, they never lived thin those places. There have been many, that have had poor beginnings. If people would do more research on what they refer to as trash, they would be surprised. At one time if you came from certain staes, you were referred to as trash. If you lived in certain neighborhoods in cities, you were refered to as trash. In fact, the city I live in there are now areas that were refered as trash, that are now considered the place to live. The affluent and wealthy live in those neighborhoods now. In fact they consider themselves as the cultured people. Some of the areas are now refered as being one of the best places to live. Maybe the younger people should start researching newspaper archives a little better, if those archives still exist. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.7.24.165 (talk) 09:03, 20 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Well, that's the nature of sloppy wiki articles like this one. During WW II the American workforce was geared at producing weapons and vehicles. No wonder it couldn't meet the need for housing immediately. A similar situation was given in Europe, where entire cities were reduced to rubble by warfare. So, on both sides of the Atlantic probably millions of people lived in makeshift homes, especially refugees. So it's really insensitive to tie a derogatory pejorative to a form of lodging. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.115.83.92 (talk) 10:19, 29 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Article for Improvement/2015

Some other TT characteristics that surface when You ask the Question "What does Trailer trash mean??.:divorced or un-married, Salvation Army shopper, fast-food client, bad or missing teeth, dyed hair, slutty looks, etc. But how do you work them into the article? For sure it does NOT mean everyone that lives in a trailer park nor does it solely mean 'poor'. Its more a life style choice rather than a result of social strata. Also...the previous image showed a place, a random photo of a trailer and a driveway and a drivable (it seems) car with some stored lumber, with zero purpose to describe TT. No image is better than that image!Buster Seven Talk 16:27, 23 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

In popular culture

The In art, entertainment, and media section seems to be original research. In particular, the two entries in the Television subsection are highly dubious. –LaundryPizza03 (d c̄) 09:34, 20 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]