Birth Control, Sex Workers and Standing By Your Man:Country Music and Second Wave Feminism

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When Tammy Wynette's Stand By Your Man was released in 1968, a time of great unrest in the United States, and in the midst of second wave feminism, it was panned by many feminists as the antithesis of the movement. Wynette’s pain-tinged voice, warbling on about forgiving badly behaved husbands wasn't exactly the message the likes of Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan would have wanted women preaching to other women. But this isn’t to say that during this period, there weren’t women in country music singing songs about feminist issues. Many were, about topics like birth control, sexual freedom, and empowerment through identity, plus many a miniskirt, however, not many of these singers saw themselves as feminists. Partly because they didn't feel that their working class backgrounds were represented by second wave feminism, as well as country radio stations refusing to play anything they deemed “women’s libby,” which would hurt their career. 

Perhaps it is the sadness in Tammy Wynette’s voice as to why I hear sarcasm and a woman trapped in Stand By Your Man, rather than undying love and submission to a terrible husband. Divorce wasn’t readily available to all women in 1968, be that because of no fault divorce not being legal in all states, or financial, community and/or religious reasons, as well as societal expectations. Some women were simply trapped, and maybe this song spoke to them and gave them a voice. With this being said, the song was advertised as “Tammy Wynette’s answer to Women’s Lib,” and was a big radio hit because of its traditional sentiments. Tammy herself viewed it as a love song and was open about being raised to have a dependence on men, despite her huge success.
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Though hesitant to describe herself as a feminist, Dolly Parton’s discography and existence is full of female empowerment. Her songs have tackled stereotypes, class struggles, being unashamedly oneself, infidelity and independence, often writing from experience and giving a voice to many, especially working class women. Just Because I'm a Woman from 1968, is Dolly at her most personal and vulnerable, as the tune takes on two subjects she usually prefers to keep private: sex and her husband. Based on her husband's judgement after asking if she had slept with anyone before him, the song explores and questions the double standards women face when it comes to premarital sex - is her past really so much worse just because she's a woman? Though the song is quintessentially Dolly in terms of honest lyricism, it isn't her most famous, simply because it didn't receive the airplay it deserved, which she puts down to the radio stations viewing it as too feminist. If a radio station could downplay a song from one the genre’s biggest stars, imagine the damage done to the smaller female artists who wanted to sing their three chords and the truth.

One artist who benefited from having songs banned from the radio was Loretta Lynn. Not one to shy away from controversial topics, Lynn’s banned songs were often her most popular, with songs like Fist City - a less polite Jolene - and Don't Come Home A-Drinking, a wife fighting off her drunk, horny husband, being her first number ones. But the most controversial, and most important, song was The Pill, which despite the pill being removed from anti-obscenity laws in 1970, and available to all women in 1972, the song was deemed too taboo for country radio stations to play in 1975. A song about a woman looking forward to enjoying hot pants, miniskirts, and a sex life with her husband without consequence, was considered too raunchy for radio but was very personal to Lynn. 

A mother of six, Lynn was never on the pill but praised it, saying it was good for people, and that she would have taken them like popcorn and been able to plan her children better. She was also proud that a doctor told her that her song raised more awareness in rural areas than any government programme. Like Dolly, despite being a voice for working-class women, she never labelled herself as a feminist. Though she sang songs about feminist issues, more so than her contemporaries, she could not see the big city, mostly upper-middle class women of the Movement being able to relate to and acknowledge the struggles of women in the poor rural communities she grew up in.

“Despite many female country singers of the 1960s and early 70s not being able or wanting to align themselves with second wave feminism, they have a plethora of songs which bring feminist issues to the forefront.”

It would be easy to assume that a song about a prostitute, “turned out” by her own mother to escape poverty, would be another taboo subject banned from Country radio, but Bobbie Gentry's Fancy, in 1969, was a hit on both the Pop and Country charts. Part social commentary, part feminist statement, Gentry aligned this song, as well as her as herself, with the women's liberation movement, saying in a 1974 interview that it was her strongest statement and that she agreed “wholeheartedly” with the issues they stood for, such as equality, daycare centres and abortion rights. Arguably more Southern than Country, centry found success and influence within the country music scene, with Reba McEntire releasing a cover in 1991. Reba’s version has, at least to me, an angrier undertone, perhaps directed towards prostitution being her only way out of poverty, whereas Gentry’s has the sexy sultriness of a Tennessee Williams Southern Gothic, is non-judgmental and without shame. Gentry’s Fancy did what she had to do to get to where she is, what difference does it make that it was sex work that brought her riches? 

Despite many female country singers of the 1960s and early 70s not being able or wanting to align themselves with second wave feminism, they have a plethora of songs which bring feminist issues to the forefront. Other examples are Jeannie C. Riley's Harper Valley PTA, which tackles ageism with fashion, and Wanda Jackson’s My Big Iron Skillet, where a woman warns her physically abusive boyfriend/husband that she is ready to fight back. It could be argued that country singers were much better at exploring feminist issues more so than their pop counterparts, but another reason for hesitancy to join the movement was because of the power of country radio. Even today, country music as an institution isn't kind to their female singers - The Chicks have only recently started to recover from the hate and radio silence they received after publicly criticising George W. Bush twenty years ago, and you will rarely hear back-to-back female singers on the radio. Luckily, singers are now more able to voice their views and maintain and reach a following outside of the powers of the radio, with singers such as Lil Nas X, Kacey Musgraves and CMAT being able to find success beyond the bias.

Words: Rosie Carter