The Symbolic Annihilation and Recuperation of Queer Identities in Country Music
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University of Mississippi eGrove Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2017 Object Of Your Rejection: The Symbolic Annihilation And Recuperation Of Queer Identities In Country Music Lauren Veline University of Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd Part of the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons Recommended Citation Veline, Lauren, "Object Of Your Rejection: The Symbolic Annihilation And Recuperation Of Queer Identities In Country Music" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 874. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/874 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of eGrove. For more information, please contact [email protected]. OBJECT OF YOUR REJECTION: THE SYMBOLIC ANNIHILATION AND RECUPERATION OF QUEER IDENTITIES IN COUNTRY MUSIC A Thesis Presented for the Master of Arts Southern Studies The University of Mississippi Lauren Veline May 2017 Copyright © 2017 by Lauren Veline All rights reserved ABSTRACT This thesis addresses the double-marginalization of white queers living in Bible Belt communities by examining the symbolic annihilation of queer identities in country music. Bible Belt queers face unique obstacles and have different needs than queer communities elsewhere due to the cultural context of their communities. The urban-centric (“metronormative”) standards of queer identity and visibility presented in the media do not translate to their lived experiences. Moreover, while white, non-urban southerners possess a source of popular-media expression through country music, queer identities are noticeably absent. The invisibility of Bible Belt queers in the media perpetuates a cycle of hostility and sexual stigma that negatively affects queer individuals, most notably those living in the American South. I argue that, due to the socializing function of media representations, an openly queer country artist could be a powerful vehicle for negotiating -- or perhaps changing -- the social atmosphere of sexual stigma in the Bible Belt. However, the value systems that propagate sexual stigma and hostility towards queerness are also replicated in country music. Using questionnaires and secondary literature, I examine such value systems and the experiences of queer individuals in the country music industry and contextualize the production-content-audience chain, thereby revealing possible points of intervention for successfully introducing queer expressions. The results of this thesis confirm the prevalence of sexual stigma in the region and genre and the potential benefits of an openly queer country artist. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I must thank my parents, Bob and Linda Veline, for their unending support (financial and otherwise) and for answering the phone every time I called in a fit of school-related panic (which occasionally happened between the hours of midnight and three in the morning). I would like to thank everybody at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture for making my graduate school experience so fulfilling and memorable (disregard the part where I implied that your classes may have been panic-inducing, I’ve forgiven you), especially Dr. Darren Grem, for advising my thesis and providing support and guidance throughout the process, and Drs. Katie McKee and Simone Delerme, for being on my committee. To all of my friends who let me bounce ideas off of them, thank you for patiently pretending to listen even though we both knew I was just talking to myself. A special thanks goes out to the 75 individuals who completed an eight-page questionnaire for my research and got absolutely no compensation or recognition for it. I would also like to acknowledge all of my southern studies brethren. I’m so grateful for each and every one of you. I sincerely can’t imagine how I would have ever made it through graduate school without you all (and happy hours at City Grocery). On that note, I should probably also thank the bartenders at City Grocery for their service, their support, and for never (openly) judging me. If y’all ever find my debit card, just throw it away. I already reported it stolen. iii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................v PREFACE PASSAGES ......................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................3 CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .............................................................10 CHAPTER 2: THE COUNTRY MUSIC VALUE SYSTEMS .........................................23 CHAPTER 3: HOMOSEXUALITY IN COUNTRY MUSIC AND THE BIBLE BELT 64 CHAPTER 4: PRIMARY RESEARCH AND CONCLUSION ......................................113 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................141 LIST OF APPENDICES ..................................................................................................151 VITA ................................................................................................................................167 iv LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE Table 2.1: Percent of Population Claiming Religious Affiliation, by State .................................. 29 Table 2.2: Percent of Population Claiming Evangelical Protestant Affiliation, by State ............. 29 Table 2.3: Percent of Population Claiming Southern Baptist Convention Affiliation, by State .. 37 Table 2.4: Bentley and Lambert Lyrical Comparison .................................................................. 64 Table 3.1: Brad Paisley, “I’m Still a Guy” (2008) ........................................................................ 71 Table 4.1: Age Distribution ........................................................................................................ 115 Table 4.2: Gender Identity .......................................................................................................... 115 Table 4.3: Sexual Identity ........................................................................................................... 115 Table 4.4: Residence During "Formative" Years ....................................................................... 115 Table A.1: Billboard Year-End Top Country Artists, 2010-2015 .............................................. 153 Table A.2: Billboard Year-End Top Country Songs Artists, 2010-2015 ................................... 153 Table B1.1: Raised/Formative Years, State ................................................................................ 154 Table B1.2: Current Residence, State ......................................................................................... 154 Table B1.3: Which of the following best describes you? ........................................................... 154 Table B1.4: Do you consider yourself a "Southerner"? .............................................................. 154 Table B2.1: Words used to describe the Bible Belt .................................................................... 158 Table B2.2: Raised in a Christian church ................................................................................... 159 Table B2.3: Believe Christianity was/is central to the daily life/culture of where you were raised/currently reside ................................................................................................................. 159 Table B2.4: Witnessed/experienced homophobia/anti-LGBTQ actions that were motivated by Christian beliefs .......................................................................................................................... 159 Table B3.1: Words used to describe/associate with country music ............................................ 163 Table B3.2: Religious ideology predominantly associated with country music ......................... 164 Table B3.3: Political ideology predominantly associated with country music ........................... 164 Table B3.4: Region predominantly associated with country music ........................................... 164 v We finally got a flashing light, they put it in last year And everybody got real happy when the grocery store got beer And last time the census men came a-knockin', we were busting at the seams Aw, but don't you forget it, as big as we're getting This town's too small to be mean Big enough for a zip code, a VFW A good Mexican restaurant, a beauty shop or two Got a Methodist, a Baptist, and a Church of the Nazarene Aw, but don't you forget it, as big as we're getting This town's too small to be mean Yeah, it's too dang small to be mean Too small to be lying Way too small to cheat Way too small for secrets Cause they're way too hard to keep Cause somebody's mama knows somebody's cousin And somebody's sister knows somebody's husband And somebody's daughter knows somebody's brother And around here, we all look out for each other You'll end up in the paper, wreck your family name What goes around comes back around by Friday's football game We only got