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Race, Gender & Class
Journal Article

Southern Rock Musicians' Construction of White Trash

Jason T. Eastman and Douglas P. Schrock
Race, Gender & Class
Vol. 15, No. 1/2 (2008), pp. 205-219
Published by: Jean Ait Belkhir, Race, Gender & Class Journal
https://www.jstor.org/stable/41675366
Page Count: 15

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Topics: White people, Rock music, Musicians, Singing, Stereotypes, Men, Masculinity, Racism, Symbolism
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Southern Rock Musicians' Construction of White Trash
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Abstract

Based on interviews, song lyrics, websites, and observation of concerts, we examine how southern rock musicians construct themselves as poor, rural, white men. While popular culture often uses negative stereotypes to degrade poor whites, we show how southern rock musicians reclaim what they view as positive attributes of "white trash." They do this by embracing symbols of southern white trash (including the confederate flag), glorifying rural poverty, and celebrating drunken violence. We bring a focus on capitalism into our analysis by uncovering how class is central to southern rockers' racialized and gendered identity work, situating them as marginalized workers in a culture industry, and drawing out implications for class reproduction.
Race, Gender & Class © 2008 Jean Ait Belkhir, Race, Gender & Class Journal