Rural Americans: What's the difference between a hillbilly and a "good ol' boy"?

Question

HI. I am doing research on rural American subculture for a project, specifically on rural American archetypes. I know "good ol' boys", rednecks and hillbillies are three different types of rural Americans. I asked if "good ol' boys" and rednecks are the same thing in another question:

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20180...

I was told, "No, A Good ol' boy is a man who embodies some or all of the qualities considered characteristic of many white men of the southern US, including an unpretentious, convivial manner, conservative or intolerant attitudes, and a strong sense of fellowship with and loyalty to other members of his peer group, while a redneck is working-class white person, especially a politically reactionary one from a rural area."

I know the difference between hillbillies and rednecks, but how is a hillbilly different from a "good ol' boy"?

Please help- thank you.

Answer 1

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The term "good ol' boy" refers to an insiders' boys' club, a loose network of White men that stick together and always have each other's backs. Lots of times, a "good ol' boy" is someone well-connected, even wealthy and educated.

The term "hillbilly" refers to someone who lives out in the country--in the hills, as it were, specifically Appalachia--and is lacking in education and sophistication.

A good ol' boy can be a hillbilly. That's possible. But that's far from necessarily the case.

Here's an example: George W. Bush is a good ol' boy, but he's not a hillbilly.