Why is Country Music so Polarized i.e. Shunned?

There is Country music, and then there is the music that everybody else listens to. Or so it seems. Ironically, people are not being honest. Because Country radio format is still popular, and while most genres have had declining record sales in the past 15 years, Country sales have been steady. Sound Scan says Country is a fairly popular genre.

SO WHY is that ever annoying phrase " Oh, I listen to everything, except Country" tossed around so much? It really irks me. For one thing, there are so many different types of Country. As Country fans ourselves, we don't like every single Country song - we have our favorite Country artists/songs just like we do any other genre.

So non-Country fans give me some Country CD by X-artist and say "Oh you like Country, so I got this for you. And its mostly Country that I don't like. They assume it is all the same. So why is it that Country has this stigma- is still maligned- even after the popularity of such artists as Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, and Taylor Swift?