Blog Post 1-Our infatuation with the Marlboro Man

 

When we think of the quintessential male in the United States, no image is more powerful than the cowboy.  The cowboy was a cornerstone in our nation’s history with the tales of the wild west and has influenced how we see men in our society.  Deviance is defined as differing from a norm or the expectations of a society. Understanding what deviance represents, that it is not associated solely with criminal behavior can help identify our society’s need to label and organize people into neat boxes.  Stephen Pfohl in the book Images of Deviance and Social Control, describes the relationship of deviance and social control as a battle and he states, “winners in the battle to control “deviant acts” are crowned with a halo of goodness, acceptability, normality.  Losers are viewed as living outside the boundaries of social life as it ought to be, outside the “common sense” of society itself.” (Pfohl 1994:2) We expect men to be tough, rugged, aggressive and dominant and if you do not fit into those categories, then by society’s standards, you cannot be a real man.  The media has been pushing this image for decades from the Marlboro man to the present day cowboy. A large media platform that is pushing this image today is the power of country music.

            Time magazine reported that over the last sixty years that country music was the most popular genre of music in the United States. (time.com) Many country music artists use this stereotype as a foundation for their songs and the image is very blatant.  There is no subtly in Brad Paisley’s song I’m Still a Guy, this song is covered in gender stereotypes as well as what Brad considers the emasculation of men in the United States.  The song was a huge hit for Brad and some of the most loaded lyrics were:

With all of these men lining up to get neutered

It’s hip now to be feminized

I don’t highlight my hair

I’ve still got a pair

Yeah honey, I’m still a guy

Oh my eyebrows ain’t plucked

There’s a gun in my truck

Oh thank God, I’m still a guy

            In Justin Moore’s song Bait a Hook, he is singing about a love that he lost to guy that drives a Prius and isn’t into fishing or hunting.  One of the lyrics portrays the man in a feminine light where Justin heard that she had to drive the man home after he had two umbrella drinks.  This is significant to me because he is not only implying that he is drinking a “feminine” drink but that a real man can hold his liquor.  

            In Trace Adkins’s song Ladies love Country Boys, the lyrics are about women who fall in love with that iconic bad boy.  He talks mostly about higher educated women with great careers that shouldn’t fall in love with a cowboy but that they just can’t help themselves.  The video takes place in the city and Trace is demonstrating that no matter where the woman comes from that the love the rugged cowboy.  In the video, there is a billboard of a cowboy without his shirt on with the tag line, “What is a real man made of?” 

            Country music is just a segment of our media world that demonstrates their control over what is deemed “normal” in our society.  If a man is feminine in any way then he cannot be considered a man.  We could dive in deeper than the social boxes that this constructs to the reasons why our males are so aggressive and violent and why we have such a high level of male to female crime.  As a nation when we hear these songs or see these videos it helps us demonize others and continually make people feel they are less than human. 

Word count: 645
 

Reference

Pfohl, Stephen. 1994. Images of Deviance and Social Control, 2^nd Ed. McGraw-Hill. New York, NY.

Marlboro Man image. www.tvacres.com. Date accessed, January 22, 2012

Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/archive/collections/0,21428,c_country_music,00.shtml. Date accessed January 21, 2012

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/b/brad_paisley/im_still_a_guy.html

http://www.cmt.com/videos/justin-moore/700160/bait-a-hook.jhtml

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBQ01X-1AlI