Country Boys and Redneck Women: New Essays in Gender and Country Music (American Made Music Series)

Essays that overthrow stereotypes and demonstrate the genre's power and mystique. Country music boasts a long tradition of rich, contradictory gender dynamics, creating a world where Kitty Wells could play the demure housewife and the honky-tonk angel simultaneously, Dolly Parton could move from traditionalist "girl singer" to outspoken trans rights advocate, and current radio playlists can alternate between the reckless masculinity of bro-country and the adolescent girlishness of Taylor Swift.

In this follow-up volume to A Boy Named Sue, some of the leading authors in the field of country music studies reexamine the place of gender in country music, considering the ways country artists and listeners have negotiated gender and sexuality through their music and how gender has shaped the way that music is made and heard. In addition to shedding new light on such legends as Wells, Parton, Loretta Lynn, and Charley Pride, it traces more recent shifts in gender politics through the performances of such contemporary luminaries as Swift, Gretchen Wilson, and Blake Shelton. The book also explores the intersections of gender, race, class, and nationality in a host of less expected contexts, including the prisons of WWII-era Texas, where the members of the Goree All-Girl String Band became the unlikeliest of radio stars; the studios and offices of Plantation Records, where Jeannie C. Riley and Linda Martell challenged the social hierarchies of a changing South in the 1960s; and the burgeoning cities of present-day Brazil, where "college country" has become one way of negotiating masculinity in an age of economic and social instability. Country music boasts a long tradition of rich, contradictory gender dynamics, creating a world where Kitty Wells could play the demure housewife and the honky-tonk angel simultaneously, Dolly Parton could move from traditionalist "girl singer" to outspoken trans rights advocate, and current radio playlists can alternate between the reckless masculinity of bro-country and the adolescent girlishness of Taylor Swift. In this follow-up volume to A Boy Named Sue , some of the leading authors in the field of country music studies reexamine the place of gender in country music, considering the ways country artists and listeners have negotiated gender and sexuality through their music and how gender has shaped the way that music is made and heard. In addition to shedding new light on such legends as Wells, Parton, Loretta Lynn, and Charley Pride, it traces more recent shifts in gender politics through the performances of such contemporary luminaries as Swift, Gretchen Wilson, and Blake Shelton. The book also explores the intersections of gender, race, class, and nationality in a host of less expected contexts, including the prisons of WWII-era Texas, where the members of the Goree All-Girl String Band became the unlikeliest of radio stars; the studios and offices of Plantation Records, where Jeannie C. Riley and Linda Martell challenged the social hierarchies of a changing South in the 1960s; and the burgeoning cities of present-day Brazil, where "college country" has become one way of negotiating masculinity in an age of economic and social instability. Why "Ladies love country boys" : gender, class, and economics in contemporary country music / Jocelyn R. Neal -- "Hey! If I should grab ya" : "college country" and the ruralization of Urban Brazil / Alexander S. Dent -- Act naturally : Charley Pride, autobiography, and the "accidental career" / Matthew D. Sutton -- Holding on to country : musical moorings for desired masculinities in Aboriginal Australia / êAse Ottosson -- Taylor Swift's "pitch problem" and the place of adolescent girls in country music / Travis Stimeling -- Gender and the Nashville songwriter : three songs by Victoria Banks / Chris Wilson -- As if they were going places : class and gender portrayals through country music in the Texas State Prison, 1938-1944 / Caroline Gnagy -- Negotiating gender, race, and class in post-civil rights country music : how Linda Martell and Jeannie C. Riley stormed the plantation / Diane Pecknold -- Remarkable women and ordinary gals : performance of identity in songs by Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton / Kate Heidemann -- "Backwoods Barbie" : Dolly Parton's gender performance / Leigh H. Edwards -- Kitty Wells, queen of denial / Georgia Christgau -- Gender deviance and class rebellion in "Redneck woman" / Nadine Hubbs. Cover 1 COUNTRY BOYS and REDNECK WOMEN 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 CONTENTS 6 Introduction 8 Why “Ladies Love Country Boys”: Gender, Class, and Economics in Contemporary Country Music 22 “Hey! If I Should Grab Ya”: “College Country” and the Ruralization of Urban Brazil 45 Act Naturally: Charley Pride, Autobiography, and the “Accidental Career” 63 Holding On to Country: Musical Moorings for Desired Masculinities in Aboriginal Australia 83 Taylor Swift’s “Pitch Problem” and the Place of Adolescent Girls in Country Music 103 Gender and the Nashville Songwriter: Three Songs by Victoria Banks 121 As if They Were Going Places: Class and Gender Portrayals through Country Music in the Texas State Prison, 1938–1944 145 Negotiating Gender, Race, and Class in Post–Civil Rights Country Music: How Linda Martell and Jeannie C. Riley Stormed the Plantation 165 Remarkable Women and Ordinary Gals: Performance of Identity in Songs by Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton 185 “Backwoods Barbie”: Dolly Parton’s Gender Performance 208 Kitty Wells, Queen of Denial 230 Gender Deviance and Class Rebellion in “Redneck Woman” 250 Selected Bibliography 274 Notes on Contributors 286 Index 290