“Boys ‘Round Here”: Masculine Life-Course Narratives in Contemporary Country Music

Abstract

Country music remains one of the most popular genres in U.S. American society but is historically under-researched compared to rock, rap and other styles. This article extends the social science literature on the genre by examining themes of masculine identity in popular country hits of the current century. A content analysis of 35 top country hits from the last 15 years of the Billboard charts reveals three key masculine archetypes: the lover, the family man and particularly the country boy, which is the dominant masculine image within the last few years of the genre. Together, the three create a life-course narrative where the rambunctious country boy will eventually settle into monogamous heterosexual romance, with marriage and fatherhood presented as the ultimate achievement of successful manhood. A fourth, lesser, archetype, the roughneck, presents an "arrested development" version of the country boy, fully-grown but rejecting the social and familial responsibilities of the other archetypes. These narratives simultaneously challenge some aspects of hegemonic masculinity (urbanity, white-collar labor) while reinforcing others (whiteness, heterosexuality).

Exploring the Language Usage in Mark Twain’s Novel “Adventures of Tom Sawyer”: Hegemonic Masculinity Analysis

“…These forms of commercial culture reinforce aspects of hegemonic masculinity by promoting idealistic images of men in masculine personas, such as the lover, the family man, etc. (Pruitt, 2019). Because the bad boy archetype is put on a pedestal, when boys are not displaying bad boy traits, they are less popular, called as average, and judged as a loser, as can be seen in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.…”

Farmer Suicide in Wisconsin: A Qualitative Analysis

“…However, social norms around grief and stoicism 36 may prevent farmers from dealing with the grief that they experience in an adaptive manner 37 . Rural America, which is the context in which most farmers live, is governed by a masculine hegemony, 38 which endorses stoicism while not accepting outward expression of emotions, 39 including grief. In the absence of a healthy outlet to express grief, farmers may feel that suicide is the best option to deal with their intense feelings of grief once and for all.…”

#yeeyeenation

“…Cross-over appeal is arguably a tried-and-true strategy for new artists to find a foothold, particularly those, like Smith, who exist primarily in the bro-country category, a raced and gendered aesthetic where White men sing about "trucks and dirt roads" (Neal 2016, p. 3). Male artists with similar sounds to Smith, like Cole Swindell, have followed related routes to commercial success, modeling their careers on the bro-country icon, Luke Bryan (see also Pruitt 2019).…”

“… 9 For example, Gene Autry (1907–1998), Roy Rodgers (1911–1998), Hank Williams (1923–1953), and Alan Jackson (b. 1958) to name only a few (see also Pruitt 2019, p. 176). …”