Gender and sexuality is shown through the lyrics, dress, and attitude of country music stars. If you think about it, a country music star has to fit a certain criteria, as almost all famous country music stars do. White, rough childhood, tough, and strict. A male singer typically swears, sings about his love that left him broken, and how he vows revenge to anyone that’s wronged him. A female singer speaks much of the same, she sings about love, or the hope for love, and more times than not about getting back at another woman that stole her man. The country music world and the people in it are very set in their ways. Of all the music genres in the world, country music is the least genre willing to adapt to a changing society. You frequently see the tabloid or online gossip sites stating that so-or-so is predicted to come out of the closet, but it doesn’t happen frequently. There have been sparked rumors that Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, and even America’s sweetheart Taylor Swift are gay, though none of these claims has been proven. Some of these stars have even braved the tabloids and have written lyrics depicting life in America where not all are free to marry. Take for example Garth Brooks’ song “We Shall Be Free.” In it, he not so subtlety states his support for freedom of marriage to all people, singing, “Cause we shall be free/ When we’re free to love anyone we choose.” Not to anyone’s surprise, he was later accused of being homosexual, which he denies. What has the music world come to if an artist can’t state what they believe in throughout their songs without media scrutiny. Hopefully in the next few years, this genre that is very set in their ways will adapt and give change a chance.
Kelly Rothe
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