Southern man

In New Zealand, the southern man is a stereotypical southern heterosexual male, well used to the loneliness and conditions of open mountain or hill country, and completely out of his depth in the city.

The stereotype draws on images of high country farmers and hunters, particularly from areas such as Central Otago and the Mackenzie Basin, who work large sheep stations, often employing the horse and dog rather than mechanised transport, due to the terrain they have to cover.

Already a well-known stereotype, it gained an extra boost due to its use in the advertising campaign of Otago's best known beer, Speight's, in a series of advertisements which have been running since the early 1990s.

Ironically, the New Zealander who probably best exemplified the characteristics of the southern man was a North Islander - writer and bushman Barry Crump.