Bro Country (Scholarly Article)

I thought I would stray away from Beyoncé for a little bit and talk about the music industry for a little bit. I found a scholarly reviewed article called "Girl in a Country Song: Gender Roles and Objectification of Women in Popular Country Music across 1990 to 2014" written by Eric E. Rasmussen and Rebecca L. Densley. In this article, there was research done about the portrayal of women in country music over the past decade. They talk about how country songs from 2010-2014 were more likely to objectify women than country songs from the 1990s. They speak on how objectifying of women is common in the country music because it is a heavily male dominate industry. The country that has emerged from the years 2010-2014 is referred as "Bro Country" which is the contemporary country music of today. I think that with the increase of feminism in America, men have created this "Bro Country" as a backlash which increases objectification of women.

A source from this article defines "Bro country" as, "A bunch of guys singing about trucks, headlights, rolled down windows, jeans, alcohol, moonlit makeouts, and sex on river beds beside old dirt roads (Smith 2013, para 5). I agree that this is what the majority of what recent country songs talk about in their lyrics. In this list there is a mention of good country fun, but also sexual acts with women. When they talk about "moonlit makeouts" and "sex on river beds" that is a way men objectify women. The lyrics make people think that women are just here for sexual pleasure which is objectifying them. Another piece of evidence that supports that "Bro country" increasing women objectification comes from something popular country singer Kenny Chesney said. He suggested that, "...if women don't wear cute-off jeans or a bikini top, or sit on a tailgate and drink, then you really weren't worthy" (Carlson 2014, para 6). This is objectification of women because it gives women a false sense of worth. Chesney gives women this idea that if they don't wear something revealing, then they "aren't worthy" which can lead to anxiety about oneself. The American Association mentions that, "Self-objectification can also lead to outcomes such as negative feelings toward one's own body, anxiety about one's own physical safety, depression, and disordered eating" (Calogero 2004; Fredrickson and Roberts 1997; Noll and Fredrikson 1998).

-HH :)

Rasmussen, Eric E., and Rebecca L. Densley.Girl in a Country Song: Gender Roles and Objection of Women in Popular Country Music across 1990 to 2014.