3rd Article Review- Abbie Minsker

Abbie Minsker

WGST 202

T/TH 9:30-10:45

Professor Currans

Blog Topic: Women in Country Music

Article Review #3

 

Hubbs, Nadine. ‘Redneck Woman’ And The Gendered Poetics Of Class Rebellion." Southern Cultures 17, no 4: 44-70.

In  “’Redneck Woman’ and the Gendered Poetics of Class Rebellion”, Nadine Hubbs discusses the impact of one of countries biggest stars, Gretchen Wilson. The song “Redneck Woman” is not only her signature song, but also a defiant statement. In 2004 Gretchen Wilson released her greatest hit, which then lead to fame and respect. Hubbs begins by explaining the gender roles challenged by the use of the word ‘redneck’ in respect to a woman. She then discusses the reference to the poor and working class, and the audiences reached by country music. Lastly, she effectively relates Wilson’s song to other well-known country hits that share the same message. Hubbs states that ‘Redneck Woman’  beat the status quo, or in other words stepped over the boundaries of how society views gender, and that “it affirms working- class identification, giving voice to perceptions of the middle class as snobbish, elitist, competitive, pretentious, and morally lacking by comparison to working- class values of family attachment, loyalty, personal sincerity, and honor” (64).

To argue that using the identity “redneck” along with a woman challenges society’s gender frames, Hubbs begins by discussing the meaning of the term. “Redneck” generally refers to white, unsophisticated males who are often southern and express tough masculinity. Hubbs explains how “listeners are likely to be drawn into the song ‘Redneck Woman’ by the implications of the title, including the implication that the song might shed some light on its gender- and class- freighted contradictions” (49). Wilson has cultivated an image as being country music’s “redneck woman”. Hubbs explains how Wilson is known for riding four-wheelers through the mud, driving fast cars and modeling jeans in front of her big Chevy truck. These are not the usual roles that we see women playing in society. She also talks about drinking beer instead of champagne and shopping at Wal-Mart instead of Victoria’s Secret. “’Redneck Woman’ both conforms and talks back to long-standing perceptions of working- class women as excessively or inappropriately gendered” (59).

Hubbs’s main argument focuses mainly on how Wilson’s song ‘Redneck Woman’ gives a voice to the poor and working class. Referring to writer Richard A. Peterson, Hubbs explains how “Peterson reckons that country music offers fewer songs about American- dream upward mobility than what he calls ‘poverty pride’, which asserts that it is better to be poor than rich” (50). I along with Hubbs agree that Gretchen Wilson did just that in her hit song. Hubbs also discusses how country music tends to reach to a specific audience; working class people who are generally white, southern, rural and heterosexual. Hubbs also refers to Wilson’s lyrics saying “Victoria Secret, their stuffs real nice, but I can buy the same damn thing on a Wal-Mart shelf half-priced”. This helps support the lower and working class rather than shopping at a high end store. “To this extent ‘Redneck Woman’ might be heard as staking a claim for power and authority on the terms of the dominant culture” (66).

Lastly, Hubbs relates to messages Wilson portrayed in her song ‘Redneck Woman’ to other famous singers’ statements in their songs and videos. She compares her to Tanya Tucker, the only female star associated with the 1970s Outlaw Movement, and known as the bad girl of country. She also makes a big comparison to Kid Rock and his song “Son of Detroit” and uses both “redneck” and “pimp” as certain identities. He, along with other male rock artists, talk a lot about drinking, racing cars and trucks, where “Wilson’s declarations are similarly macho” (58). Carrie Underwood is another woman artist who has been known to change her persona to downscale and belligerent with her song “Before He Cheats” where she talks about revenge and keying her unfaithful man’s car along with hitting it with a Louisville slugger bat. Wilson along with these other artists has a strong way of putting a point across but they do it well.

In conclusion, Hubbs states that “’Redneck Woman’ thus scores its symbolic victory over the class status quo, directing new- bourgeois self-resourcing techniques to anti- bourgeois ends in a gendered declaration of working- class consciousness lasting three and a half minutes, and perhaps beyond” (66). Wilson’s song ‘Redneck Woman’ created a name for her along with another powerful statement in the world of country music. “Loretta Lynn was the Coal Miner’s Daughter, Johnny Cash the Man in Black, and now Gretchen Wilson is the Redneck Woman” (1). In her hit song she managed to challenge gender roles as well as make a stand for the lower class in society. This article relates to the article “Country Music Video in Country’s Year of the Woman” by Julie Andsager and Kimberly Roe. Andsager and Roe conducted research on the success of women in country music, which is explained by Hubbs as Gretchen Wilson as an example. Andsager and Roe really focused on comparing men and women, whereas Hubbs really focuses on the success of Gretchen Wilson and other artists who challenge gender and class in country music. Although Andsager and Roe discovered that men still dominated the country music world, they also discovered that women are making their way up. With women, like Wilson, Hubbs explains how their messages are also defiant statements. I highly recommend this article, not only as a country fan. Gretchen Wilson is a great inspiration as a woman.