[As with any
longstanding, popular cultural genre, country music has a complex, evolving
relationship to American society. In this series, I’ll highlight five ways we
can AmericanStudy the genre and those social connections and meanings. I’d love
to hear your country connections and analyses for a twangtastic crowd-sourced
weekend post!]
On the strength
and independence we seem to value, and those we don’t.
One of the
central narratives of the country music scene over the last few years has been the
rise of strong female voices and artists. Of course there have been
examples of such artists for decades, including Monday’s subject Dolly Parton
and many others, but the sheer number of breakout young
female stars on the current country scene is undeniable: from established
talents like Gretchen Wilson, Miranda Lambert, and Carrie Underwood to
on-the-verge artists like Kacey Musgraves, the Pistol Annies, and the Band
Perry (among many many others in each category). Moreover, many of these
artists have risen to prominence with hit songs of female empowerment,
strength, and independence, whether sassy and proud (Wilson’s “Redneck Woman”),
angry and defiant (Underwood’s
“Before He Cheats”), or simply self-confident and wise (Musgraves’ “Follow Your
Arrow”).
Among the most
prominent, popular turn of the 21st century predecessors to these recent
female stars would have to be the Dixie Chicks, a group that from their name to
their early hit “Goodbye
Earl” (2000), the single for which was paired with a tongue-in-cheek B-side of “Stand
By Your Man” for added effect, embodied these concepts of strong,
independent country women. And then came March 2003, when lead singer Natalie
Maines expressed her strong, independent perspective on the imminent Iraq
War, telling a British audience that “We don't want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that
the President of the United States is from Texas." While it’s fair
to say that the overall American reactions to Maines’ comments were mixed, with
plenty of agreement and support from anti-war voices (including country legend
Merle Haggard), it’d also be accurate to call the
reaction of the country music scene and country fans overwhelmingly negative:
from public record destructions and boycotts to private death threats,
and just about everything in between.
Of course I
understand that the specific historical moment of Maines’ comments—and the related,
broader context of the “love it or leave it” version of patriotism which surrounded both the Iraq War
and the Bush presidency—played into that particular response. But on the
other hand, I would argue that gender did too—that the far more extreme and
hysterical response to the Dixie Chicks (compared for example to the
response to Haggard’s anti-Iraq War statements and song) had at least
something to do with the fact that a trio of women were leveling this critique
on the powers that be. Which is to say, 21st century country music
and America in general might well support strong, independent female voices and
artists, might even embrace such figures more fully than at any prior point in
our culture—but it seems clear to me that there remains a glass ceiling on such
support, one connected to images of what kind of independence is permissible from
our artists and cultural figures and what isn’t.
Next country
connection tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What do you think? Responses to this post, or other country connections you'd highlight?
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