Whistlin' and Crowin'

Nate Coghlan           

Blog two

Whistlin’ and Crowin’

            After reading Whistlin’ and Crowin’ Women of Appalachia many of the common stereotypes about the culture are contradicted. I found it surprising how different a culture that was so often referred to as “hillbillies” could be so far from it. Although the Appalachian culture does use its own unique form of language and secludes itself from the modern society so many of us are used to this is done intentionally. When reading about these extremely independent women and Sohn herself one theme continues to stand out and that is a love for the hills in which they live. After each of these three women have the opportunity to expand upon their educations all three remain in Appalachia. I also found it interesting and surprising that although this is a male dominated society women are far more likely to graduate from high school. This strikes me as interesting because value for men in Appalachia is found in the coalmines where education will take you further in the rest of the country. This allows for women to continue their education and for the most part generally have the best opportunities to leave Appalachia.

            When reading Sohn’s book there were different things that I enjoyed reading and other parts that were necessary but dry at times. One part that I liked reading was each of the three women’s personal experience sections. This part allowed the reader to really get to know the women that were being studied in this dissertation and help me to understand the culture on a much more personal level. As for something that I felt was extremely useful but didn’t enjoy reading was the style in which it was written. Sohn used a very factual structured format to present her case into how women of Appalachia could substantially better themselves through further education. I understand why Sohn chose to use this format, but as a reader it was relatively dry and at times felt as if things were dragging on.

            In this book I felt that Sohn’s main purpose for was to break the on going stereotypes of Appalachia specifically looking at women. I thought that Sohn did a great job arguing the fact that women were better off with higher education and also proved a point that Appalachian women are not all uneducated housewives. However, I do disagree with a portion of her research when she was trying to show the independence and strength of each of the women in her study. By using subjects like Lucy and Sarah she unfortunately reinforced the stereotype of uneducated stubborn men in Appalachia. In both women’s cases the husbands did not support their educational endeavors and with Lucy the physical abuse only adds to the negative perception.

            Women of Appalachia was an eye-opening book and although it does not relate to me beyond the scope of Athens it does give me a better perspective to the culture. I think that Sohn’s book is useful in adding to the conversation on how Appalachian culture is constructed in American culture. It is generally perceived as being behind the rest of the country but this book helps to identify that Appalachia is in no hurry to attempt catching up. These rural communities in the hills enjoy their culture and will hold onto their way of life as long as possible.