The Words We Sing

I first heard the song Hometown Girl, by Josh Turner, on hour 12.5 of my 14 hour drive back to college after spring break. I was inching my way through the boondocks of southern Minnesota in a freak spring snowstorm, trying not to die, and desperately attempting not to think about how badly I had to pee. With no aux cord in my car, I had to resort to a more retro way of distracting myself from the emotional, and increasingly, physical pain of my situation. I turned on the radio.

The station I got the best signal on happened to be a country station. It always shocks my Minnesota friends when they realize that they actually listen to more country music than I do, because, “Come on, you’re from Montana.” It’s not that I despise it or anything, it’s just not my go-to. I was pleasantly surprised then, to find myself trying really hard to sing along to a song that I didn’t know the words to, just because it was so catchy. However, avid scholar that I am, I finally told myself that I should just listen to the words this time around so that the next time it came on, I would actually be able to sing along. Big mistake.

In Hometown Girl, the singer describes a certain girl from his hometown who moved to New York City after high school and conveys his longing for her. The first aspect of this song that caused me to crank the volume of my radio in dismay was the way in which the woman was described. Of course she is a stereotypically beautiful, wholesome, “girl-next-door,” cheerleader, with a “waterfall of curls” held back by a ribbon. I think I actually puked a little in my mouth when I heard that little detail. This stereotypical perfection is annoying but wouldn’t have induced anything stronger than irritation if that would have been the extent of the descriptions. However, the phrase “pretty little homegrown hometown girl” is referenced twice in every refrain and is the very last line of the song. The adjectives pretty and little are fine to use when describing flowers but become incredibly demeaning when they are the primary adjectives used to describe an actual person. They are entirely superficial and in no way acknowledge the woman as an individual worthy of respect.

After I finished my car ride from hell, I was still quite rattled by this song, and decided to look at the lyrics to make sure that what I thought I was hearing were the actual words. I promise that I gave this song the benefit of the doubt until Google sadly proved me right. During my research, I realized that a handful of the descriptions in the song actually do refer to her personality. Unfortunately, they simply give evidence as to why she is the perfect girl for the singer instead of describing her as an individual. One of these gems is the phrase, “she’s a good girl but she’s not uptight.” I despise this line because how it reinforces the idea that a girl needs to be “good enough” for a guy to take home to meet his mother, but still needs to have enough sex appeal to keep him interested. Just no.

Finally, something that struck me, four good ‘ol country songs later, was the way in which the woman is referred to as a girl, even though the singer tells us that she is at least 21. I found this to be extremely patronizing and devalue her competency and independence. I realized then, that the singer goes on to further devalue her independence and rationality by implying that the woman’s choice to go to New York City is an immature, rash decision that she will regret later because she’s just a silly, pretty, little girl.

After getting back to my sketchy apartment, Hometown Girl continued to stay on my mind. My irritation with it gradually dissipated though (along with my post near-death experience adrenaline rush) and was replaced with sadness. Sadness with how it emphasized the importance of a woman’s looks over her personality, and the way in which the only character traits that the singer found important enough to mention, were the ones that qualified her to be good enough for him. Also sadness with how it played right in to the stereotype of the flighty, irrational, irresponsible female by referring to a grown woman as a girl who couldn’t make the “right” decisions for herself.

I realize Hometown Girl isn’t the only song that perpetuates these stereotypes and societal ideals or is even the song that perpetuates them the strongest. It was simply a painful reminder, catching me unaware, that our supposedly “equal” society is actually quite far from equal. Gender stereotyping and societal ideals of gender are deeply woven into the fabric of our society. So deeply in fact, that we hardly notice them. Not even notice that they are the bedrock of a seemingly sweet and catchy country song. If we ever hope to achieve a more equal version of “equality” in our country, we must start by becoming aware of where and how those gender stereotypes and societal ideals are being perpetuated. I believe that the answer is right there; in the movies we watch, articles and books we read, and most certainly, in the music we listen to.

Josie Braaten is the Courier's editorial intern. She is a sophomore at Minnesota State University, Mankato.