Nadine Hubbs, author of Rednecks, Queers, and Country Music, discusses how many Americans disdain country music in an attempt “to distance [themselves] from a group seen as unacceptable: a white working class assumed to be reactionary, hyper-patriotic and bigoted.” How does Hubbs complicate stereotypes about country music and its working-class fan base?
You can listen to the 13.33 minute podcast segment and peruse Hubbs’ playlist here.
February 27, 2019 at 2:39 pm
It’s widely acknowledged that the political complexion of this nation is increasingly becoming one of “Urban Elites” clashing with so-called “Middle Americans.” The long-held notion of some kind of shared American experience is eroding to the extent that people who live only miles apart from one another can have drastically different outlooks on the direction of society and can consume completely different media – exemplified by the fact that people living in the urban enclaves of Appalachia are fundamentally different to those living in bordering rural communities. With this in mind, and the increasingly polarised nature of our politics since the 1990s, underscored by the devolving of respectful discourse into attacks on individuals’ character, it’s no surprise that we seek to weaponize the differences that divide us rather than try to reconcile the damaged relationship between our communities through understanding.
The main takeaway I had from Hubbs is that human nature has us wired to believe that it is more convenient to rationalise disliking people who think differently than us than to try to understand why they may think the way they do. Hubbs’ assertion that country music takes the working-class people of America “seriously” is something that the mainstream media we often consume has failed to do. Working-class people have little in common with the homes of the Kardashians or rappers who decry police brutality and other issues of social justice. This ties into a greater idea of the power of representation in media, and how its value cannot be understated. ABC tried to revive shows like Roseanne, but to what end? To tell the working-class people of America that they get one TV show that is even remotely reflective of the struggles they regularly face? The privilege of elitism is astounding when reflected upon. When Hubbs talks about Toby Keith’s song, it’s mentioned that “about 80% of US military causalities in Afghanistan were working class,” yet when somebody who isn’t a member of the working-class hears that song, they jump immediately to criticism and condescension, suggesting the working-class in uneducated.
While members of racial minority communities, like myself, are strong proponents of seeing more faces like our own in the mainstream media, we don’t have any more of a right than working-class people to desire content that we can relate to. The feeling of being represented in the media one consumes and is exposed to plays into a greater sense of belonging and confidence in oneself, and the divergence of our media, which Hubbs aptly metaphorized saying, “we don’t rub elbows anymore, and we may not rub elbows with working-class music… we keep our distance.” This quote reminds me of the idea that the political class of America has abandoned working-class people through the decline of manufacturing – keeping their distance and not acknowledging their problems as valid. Maybe a reason for this distance and the putting down of country music is guilt in not wanting to face our complicity in perpetuating the socioeconomic divides that have taken place, which Hubbs alluded to when she said, “while we’re often in denial that we have class differences, country songs everyday are showing us otherwise.” Perhaps the existence of country music runs counter to some people’s beliefs that there is no cultural divide in America because it does not fit into the convenient worldview they have espoused of neoliberal economic policy lifting up everyone. Donald Trump said it best when he described the working class as “The forgotten people of America.”
February 27, 2019 at 10:28 am
I found Hubbs’s first few thoughts incredibly interesting– regarding that country music really takes the working-class seriously, and that it is about “normal” people’s joys and concerns. I feel like it is incredibly easy, especially at a place like Middlebury, or my small-town of Hanover, New Hampshire in which I went to high school– to forget about the rest of the world, and the dynamics that exist, which Hubbs is most likely referring to as “normal,” when she says so.
Her take on “hillbilly human humanism” is particularly interesting to me and complicates stereotypes of the working-class– she says that country music oftentimes has contains the message, “nobody is better than anyone else.” When talking the anti-borgouise take on country music stereotypes, she also talks about how someone not working-class would be “offended.” Personally, I believe that “offended” is not a feeling which is justified by hearing a song like “Redneck Woman” or “Take This Job and Shove it–” as music is a special place of personal expression, and the message of the song being to “tell off” anyone who has talked down to the working class, using themselves and their experiences as examples.
Like Hubbs says as well, the country is often in denial of the social class differences that exist, and I think that the complication of these stereotypes is necessary. To have a disdain towards country music because of the class that has been stereotyped to listen to it is exactly the problem.
One of my best friends from home (she’s actually from Norwich, VT, but my high school was half New Hampshire and half Vermont) only listens to country music– she hates pop, rap, etc. and embraces and defines herself by the fact that she has a “different” taste in music, and also drives an old blue Ford truck. When she goes to school at Richmond, all of her friends embrace her for it, and think that it makes sense– as she has from Vermont– that she has this type of music taste. But the truth is, we are from a town in NH/VT that does not resemble the rest of either state, although she is one of the only people I know from our area that loves country music, I am sure that a lot of the rest of New Hampshire and Vermont also have her music taste, if we are playing into the general stereotype. I think it is interesting to think about this when also thinking about rap music, and social class. In my friends case, she does not experience “the joys and sorrows” that Hubbs says are told in country music. But though she does not, is it wrong for her, in some ways, to attempt to love the genre, and embody that image? Can you call it “appropriation?” I also wonder if this coincides with Hubbs’s point about the denial of social class– but my friend also rejects the stereotype, which is interesting to think about.
This all said, I, like Caroline, found the discussion around the association with the “bigot class” striking. This adds a whole other layer to the stereotype complication, which I never realized existed.
Adding onto that, I bring that up because when I was reflecting on the podcast– though I raise the question (as just a thought question) that it may be problematic for my friend to attempt to embody and enjoy country music, etc. even though she is of the upper-middle class, it is a music genre– and may mean nothing more. The point that Hubbs raises about taking the upper-middle class off the hook also complicates my question in that way (like Marcelo was discussing).
February 26, 2019 at 9:47 pm
Although I had not consciously recognized it before, I believe that I may hold some of the stereotypical opinions on country music that Nadine Hubbs claims to exist. Hubbs describes country music as reflective of the reality of white, working class America – expressing the everyday substance of “people who call themselves normal folks.” But, with the growing division between the working class and a middle-to-upper class, she claims that such a gap also exists between “us” (assumedly the middle-to-upper class) and country music (the working class). She pairs the two groups – the working class and country musicians/listeners – along with their associated stereotypes, providing justification that intends to negate their negative implications. For example, often times our view of these “country music hillbillies” comes with a connotation of bigotry, likely rooted in the group’s generally overly patriotic reflection. However, Hubbs describes this abundant patriotism to come from the fact that the majority of those writing country music are, in actuality, quite familiar with people serving in the military – people who are predominantly working-class individuals.
I found her discussion around why middle-to-upper class Americans associate country music with the “bigot class” to be particularly intriguing. She explains that it is their method to take themselves “off the hook” for social ills by delegating blame to these country-music-loving, working-class group. With these stereotypical associations being rather widespread, it is often that those within this upper-class bracket come to equate such music with these images of social-ill-bringing, only further strengthening the music’s stereotype by potentially disregarding lyrics that may deviate from some themes on the grounds of internalized disgust for the sound. Like Marcelo, I found the majority of Hubbs’ arguments to be thought provoking and well-grounded; however, I also agree that she somewhat disregards other marginalizing aspects of oppression that this group is not burdened by. Particularly, she, in a way, invalidates the racial aspects of oppression, failing to fully recognize the white working-class’ freedom from them. I enjoyed the podcast overall, though, and would be interested in exploring these topics further.
February 26, 2019 at 8:21 pm
In Hubbs’ podcast, I couldn’t help but feel fascinated by her commentary on some of the mainstream stereotypes of country music. Hubbs begins her interview by stating that the country genre is situated within a sphere of resistance–it collides and presses up against accepted ideals of the white American bourgeoisie.
I really enjoyed the part of the podcast where Hubbs discusses the song F–Anita Briant, by David Allen Coe. Briant was the runner up of the 1958 Ms. America pageant and also someone who opposed equal protection rights to LGBTQ individuals. Consequently, Coe wrote a song to diss Briant, and it gained quite a bit of popularity. This part of the podcast took me by surprise, as country music fans are
typically portrayed by mainstream media to be rather intolerant. As such, Hubbs’ discussion of country music lovers as activists for the LGBTQ community (mainly to rebel against the elite) surprised me.
I did have one problem with Hubbs’ podcast; I beleive she oversimplified one section at the end of the podcast concerning social inequity. In this particular section, Hubbs states, “To blame America’s social ills on some of its least influential citizens is distortive, wishful thinking. So how do we stop or slow down a stereotype?” Within the context of the podcast, this comment made me a bit uneasy, as racial privilege still factors into larger conversations surrounding country music fans’ identities. Many of these “hillbillies” still benefit from systems of oppression and white privilege, making their ascent and potential assimilation into the bourgeoisie much more pragmatic. I believe that Hubbs could have done a better job at conveying that in her podcast.
Overall, I found the podcast to be quite enlightening.