Whistlin' and Crowin' Response

In my paper, I wrote about how while Sohn focuses on the women of Appalachia, she does a lot to reaffirm the gender stereotypes of men. Especially with the chart on page 30, it is easy to see that the men in these families have a much lower education level than the women. Most of the fathers and husbands mentioned in the book worked in the mines all of their lives. Lucy's husband was abusive and Sarah's didn't support her going to school. While Sohn seemed to be attempting to shed a sort of light on the people of Appalachia through this book in order to hopefully provide some information to shatter stereotypes, she instead ends up reinforcing some negative stereotypes the public has of Appalachian men.

Whistlin' and Crowin' Response

It's surprising to me how much Sohn reaffirms stereotypes for men.  The only good man in this entire book is Jean's husband who is crippled and has to rely on her for support.  Although it does well to break women's stereotypes from this region.  These women accomplish things against all odds to support their family. They are all saintly women. I do like how Sohn has had all of these women in her class as students, it really brings a better perspective on how well she knows each woman.  I think Sohn really stresses how hard working the people of Appalachia are.  How the people of this area really have a dedication to their family and to provide for loved ones.  She also does a good job at showing the neighborliness of these women and the people surrounding them.  Although again she does a poor job in general of showing anything good about the male population.

My Take on Whistlin' and Crowin' Women of Appalachia

After reading Whistlin’ and Crowin’ Women of Appalachia, I have to say I was surprised by the lives many of these women were living.  That was the most surprising factor of the book to me because it’s not a normal way of living from where I live.  Clearly, you’re going to have a different lifestyle based on where you grew up, but it was interesting to see how these women grew up in ways where education was so commonly not recognized.  I can’t imagine living a life where men prefer I don’t go to school so I can be by their side to provide for them around the house and our children.  I couldn’t handle that lifestyle.  I need more than that and education should be strongly valued, I would think. 

As for the reading, I enjoyed hearing the women’s stories from them.  It was a nice addition to the book.  It broke away from the feeling that this was a study as well.  I enjoy being thrown into someone’s story, and hearing about their lives from their own accounts really helped me as a reader.

I mentioned in my paper, and I will here as well.  I think it would have been good to find a way to shed a little more light on the men in a positive way if possible.  Unless if this is how most of them are, then you can’t really do so.  It’s hard to imagine that every man would be like this, and this book made me feel as though the men are all close-minded toward these women except a select few.  I have trouble accepting that.  In the end, this book’s focus is on the women of Appalachia so it’s not a critical factor.

I was able to relate to the way these women felt when it came to finding their own independence through college.  I have always liked to consider myself as a pretty independent person, but I really didn’t start to feel that way until I came to college.  It has helped me find a role I want to pursue in life and made me learn more about what is important as well.  Leaving home behind and coming to college helped me discover a lot more about myself, and I can tell it did the same for these women in this book.

Whistlin' and Crowin' Response

When we first were assigned to read Whistlin' and Crowin' I thought that it was going to be very boring. As I began reading, it was interesting to learn about the culture in Appalachia. In my previous schooling I had never in depth studied or learned about Appalachia. Sohn's book was able to give me a different perspective on Appalachian life other than what is portrayed through the media. It was surprising to see how important education was in the lives of some people and not others. Also the different types of support that each of the three women received or didn't receive from people in their lives. If it weren't for the support that some of the women had I don't believe they would have pursued education as passionately as they did, as with Sarah and the support that she had from her mother. I thought that Sohn did a great job appealing to her readers emotions by showing the hardships and obstacles that the women had to deal with in order to better themselves by receiving a college education. I thought by her doing this it created a way for us as readers to connect with the lives of the women.
A stereotype of Appalachia that I have heard and seen in the media is that the people there do not value education and are illiterate. With many people in America not being correctly educated about the culture of Appalachia we are left to believe what we hear and see. One aspect that I picked up on in the book was how some of the men view education towards women and their view on how women should behave. Two of the husbands in particular believed that their wives should be at home with the children, cooking, and cleaning. They felt as if they should be the breadwinners of the family and if their wives became educated then they would outgrow and rise above their way of living. I found it interesting that the women, especially Lucy being abused physically and mentally, stayed with their dreams of finishing school even though they were being abused by their husbands. I agree with their choice of sticking with schooling throughout their hardships and fighting to better themselves for them and their families. I also liked the fact that each of the women greatly valued being a mother and never let their own schooling get in the way of helping their children succeed with their education. I value the strength and courage that Lucy, Jean, and Sarah had to follow their dream despite their overwhelming obstacles. Overall I thought that Sohn did a very nice job with her analysis and study of the education and culture in Appalachia.

Reflections on Whistlin' and Crowin' Women of Appalachia

            I thoroughly enjoyed reading Whistlin’ and Crowin’ Women of Appalachia by Katherine Kelleher Sohn.  It was interesting to see someone focus and write about an area of land that people say negative things about, but really know nothing.  It was more than just a study that Sohn did.   It was showing me as a reader the hard lifestyles of a woman in Appalachia and their goal to becoming literate.  Being able to explore the lives of these women and how far they came and what they went through to becoming literate was really moving.

            What surprised me most was just how Sohn portrayed these women’s lives to me as a reader.  I felt like I connected with what Sohn was writing about these women.  She was able to describe them so vividly, I felt like I knew these women in real life.  The things that happened in each woman’s life, while they were striving to better themselves and get their degrees also surprised me.  The women’s passion for education really makes someone like me reflect on how much some college kids don’t care about education.  They want to get insanely drunk and smoke their brains out.  These women care enough to get the education while taking care of their children and husbands. 

            The only thing I would disagree with is the part where she relates the women to flowers; it was really corny to be honest.  I also disagree with the fact that she didn’t use the actually women’s words.  I understand that it was a scientific study and Sohn should write in proper English, but I feel that actually having the women’s real voice come out would of enhanced the book.  Just look at Huckleberry Finn, the language in that book enhances the geography and the way things were said back then.

            If I had to pick something that I could relate to from this book, it would be seeing older people go back to school.  Before I transferred to Ohio University I went to a community college and saw people in their late thirties to late seventies coming back to school to better themselves.  Most of the people I met were out of work because of the struggling economy and they wanted to take a positive step forward to enhance their education and improve their lives for not only themselves, but for their families especially.  Some were also in college and cracked under pressure and had to dropout and some had children in school and didn’t get the opportunity.  Every person I met encourage me to not fall into the situation they did and always encouraged me until I graduated with my Associate of Arts.  I don’t know what kind of student I would be today; if I didn’t get some guidance and advice from those people I met.  These people are just like the women in the book, they care about their education and are willing to do what they can to better themselves. 

            I think that Sohn’s book helps to support feminism and provide a voice for women, who’s voice seems to go missing in the American culture where we don’t seem to value them as much.  It helps to fight the stereotype of people from Appalachia and the perception that they’re stupid and uneducated.  Finally, the book states that we shouldn’t look down on a particular area based on preconceived notions of said land.  More and more judgmental people should read this book.

Whistlin' and Crowin' Response

Whistlin' and Crowin' allowed me to view education from a different perspective. In past courses, I've researched Appalachian culture through documentaries and photography. This was my first opportunity to read about how education personally influenced 3 individuals lifestyle. I enjoyed approaching this widely studied topic from a different perspective.
I think what surprised me the most was the amount of motivation that these women had to pursuing their degrees. Although there were a few times when the women would talk about how certain classes were difficult, they never actually complained about the workload they had to do. It was a bit of a reality check, because I complain about classes all the time. Jean, Sarah, and Lucy all have children to feed, bills to pay, and chores to be done around the house. My most stressful situation outside of the classroom is when my laundry hamper is full. What I'm trying to say is, if these women could graduate college while raising children and a home, there is no excuse for any regular college student to be less motivated than they were.
My only real complaint about this book was how detailed it was. I think the topic at hand could be interesting, but I didn't really enjoy reading about all of the tedious, detailed tasks that each woman does in her workplace.  Like I said in my rhetorical analysis, I think the book could've been spiced-up a little more if Sohn had included interviews from the husband or children's perspectives.
I think that Sohn succeeded in making a point about stereotyping Appalachian culture. What is portrayed in the media might look true on the surface, but when you sit down and talk to people, you'll see that they're human too. They have their faults, but they're also kind, smart, organized, and motivated. They should not be placed on a lower pedestal than anyone else just because they earn a lower salary. They choose to live the life that they life, and use what they're given to excel in the world. That is what I got out of reading this book.

Whistlin' and Crowin' Women of Appalachia Response

Well, we finished reading Whistlin' and Crowin' Women of Appalachia a few days ago and I've had some time to reflect back on  what it means, how it pertains to my life and what to get out of the book. The most important thing I have gotten from this story is we need to stop the stereotyping  It's just not right, we as humans have no right to go around and make fun of others because of the way they are raised or the way they live their life. Sure it may be a little different than ours but that gives us no right to go and poke of another. Sohn's text focused most importantly on these women going back to college and getting their degrees and that's all well and good but that's not what really interested me the most. What interested me the most throughout this text was our class discussions on stereotypes and relating it to Sohn's text of course. In America stereotyping has come a long way, as of today we do not see as much stereotyping as in the past, but its still there. I do agree with Renee Middleton's argument that in order for it to come to an end it needs to stop within us first. We can't go around yelling at other people to stop stereotyping if we can't do it ourselves. The one way to do that is when you're about to stereotype someone or make fun of someone just stop and think, would I really want someone to be doing this to me? or my family and friends? I guarantee the answer's probably going to be no. So before we go stereotyping others we need to start with ourselves. 

I do believe that Sohn has constructed a great study about Appalachia and these women but I'm not sure if it's the best study out there. One thing that really bothered me the most about her work was she didn't include the original conversations exactly how she heard them. How are we as the reader supposed to truly understand and get a grasp of the situation if we are not being exposed to it. By Sohn editing out a lot of the conversation and converting it to somewhat normal english she is taking away from who they women really are. How are we really supposed to get a true understanding and feel for what it's like. I think that Sohn wanted us to get a grasp for what these women sounded like and for why they were being stereotyped but how can we do that if they sound just like you and me? That was my biggest issue with Sohn's text, not truly showing who these women are. Aside from that I thought the book was great.