First, Amanda Marie Martinez writes for NPR under the headline, "Personifying a country ideal, Loretta Lynn tackled sexism through a complicated lens." Here's a salient excerpt:
After Lynn died earlier last week, reports often identified her as the template for strong, even progressive, women in the genre. Many stories have fixated on the impact of the artist's most notorious song, "The Pill," using it to define her as a feminist, albeit a reluctant one. Upon news of her death Reuters described the singer as a "leading feminist," while Vulture referenced her "feminist country songs." These assertions are being made even as Lynn made continuous strides to distance herself from the term, as she did in her 1976 book Coal Miner's Daughter, where she explained: "I'm not a big fan of Women's Liberation." The singer's long-established support for far-right politicians, from the infamous segregationist George Wallace (whom she described as a friend in one interview in 1975 and had even recorded a radio ad in support of in 1968), to the presidency of Donald Trump, further detach her from the feminist label.
What separated Lynn from others, however, was that she documented women's troubles while leaning in to her rural Kentucky roots. As Lynn sang "You're Lookin' at Country" and "Coal Miner's Daughter" in long prairie dresses, peers like Riley or Gentry were seen as sex symbols in miniskirts and hot pants. Lynn didn't just sound like country, she looked the part more than anyone. That she sang about women's struggles while masterfully projecting the image of an uncorrupted country girl made her all the more convincing as an artist.
Not only is it a common refrain to credit Lynn with feminist ideals, but she is also championed for voicing the concerns of rural, Appalachian Southern women's struggles. While there is no denying many of Lynn's listeners found this vocalization powerful, one should also remember how Lynn fit the stereotype of what a Southern woman signified in the minds of many both then and now.
Ron Elving's piece for WAMU is more oriented to Lynn's presidential politics than to her gender politics. It's titled, "How Loretta Lynn, country music and a rural Republican tide changed U.S. politics." The story features a photo of Lynn with George W. Bush campaigning in Little Rock in 2000. An excerpt follows:
At the peak of her fame in the 1960s and 1970s, Lynn was part of a key change in the politics of country music — a change akin to the shifting partisan leanings of the music’s most loyal fans.
That change made a big difference in American politics when it happened, helping to elect Republican presidents such as Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and both Presidents Bush.
And it continues to make a big difference today.
Some of Lynn’s fans were surprised this week to learn she had supported former President Donald Trump
She once told an interviewer she had gone with Trump in part because her audiences would have booed her if she had endorsed Hillary Clinton. (The 2016 Democratic nominee had alienated some country music fans with what seemed a slighting reference to the phrase “Stand By Your Man,” the title of Tammy Wynette’s ethos-defining song about marriage.
Surprise at Lynn’s alignment with Trump was a reprise of the reaction some of her fans had when she appeared on stage in 1988 with the Republican nominee for president, George H.W. Bush.
On that occasion, referring to one of her own signature songs (“You’re Looking at Country”), Lynn told the crowd and the cameras that looking at Bush was “looking at country.” And in case there was any doubt, she leaned into the microphone and proclaimed: “I know George Bush, and he is country.“
That provoked a few smiles and much head scratching at the time. Bush had been born in New England and raised in Washington, D.C., as the son of a senator from Connecticut, Bush went from a super-elite private prep school to Yale.
Don't miss the rest of Elving's column. It's a humdinger, with further analysis of the rural vote in relation to country music, including this:
If Bush Sr. was an unlikely hero of the countryside, Trump was even more so. Trump did not have even ephemeral connections to country life or country music, but he forged a bond of affinity with those who did.
He was, of course, from a wealthy family in New York. But he had created a tough businessman character on a reality TV show and was able to translate that into a “tell it like it is” political persona as a candidate. He also made a show of embracing the pop culture tastes and social attitudes of blue-collar America, especially those of rural working-class whites.
Trump was able to tap the feisty, often defensive spirit that has long informed the Appalachian region (broadly defined) that spawned much of what Americans came to call “country western.” It is akin to the fiercely defiant spirit that animates J.D. Vance’s memoir Hillbilly Elegy and that attracted Trump’s endorsement of Vance’s Senate candidacy in Ohio.
On Trump's attractiveness to rural America, don't miss this and this. And on J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy, don't miss this and this.
All of this linking of country music and politics reminds me of Dolly Parton's efforts to be non-partisan, some of which were featured in this excellent podcast, especially the episode called "Dixie Disappearance" from December 2019.
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