The Historical Role of Women in Appalachia

BY: Casey Clune

March 1, 2016

Major Iddings

HR: None other than sources

Word Count: 1200

When one attempts to find an image of the average Appalachian woman, generally one image in particular is always going to surface. Within that image will be a collaboration of all the negative stereotypes surrounding the inhabitants of the region put together to represent one individual. The woman will be a mother, a heterosexual wife, with too many kids that are all poor, unclean, and uneducated. She will probably not have a job but live her life at the mercy of her hillbilly companion who works day and night to support his family. Seen by many bigots as an almost lost cousin to the United States, the Appalachia region is a historically young region that has lost much of its individuality to a mixture of stereotypes. However, even though the region as a whole is labeled as being a minority in comparison to the other states that are not within Appalachia, it is both surprising and infuriating how neglected the perception of Appalachia women is and how non-Appalachia regions often don’t acknowledged their historical contributions to the region. Women from the region are not simply creatures with the sole purpose to birth children and satisfy the requirements of being a housewife. Historically there has been much more to them than often meets the eye.

History often speaks about Appalachian women as the housewife and the homemaker but historically there is more to the Appalachian woman than a simple spectrum with only one option. However, where did this sexist stereotype emerge? According to Sally Ward Maggard’s “ Coalfield Women Making History”, she offers insight into the stereotypes that confined and trapped, and still confine and trap, many Appalachia woman for many generations. Maggard writes, “ Romantic images portray women as enigmatic but talented people who make beautiful quilts, spin wool into thread…Good at handicrafts, gardening, and cooking(229).” In contrast to this desire for women to lead a domestic life that could put the Greek goddess Hestia to shame for their devotion to home and hearth, the other option for the young Appalachian women, according to Maggard as seen through most stereotypes, is to embody the sexually suggestive nature that entertainment often assigns to such women as “Daisy Mae…Dukes of Hazzard(229)” 0r “Ellie Mae…Beverly Hillbillies(229)” Regardless of whether viewed as the naïve woman that all men(and some women) desire or the epitome of motherhood, it is quite clear that the role of women has historically been to be seen and not heard. Desired either as a mother or as an object of sexual gratification. Regardless of choice A or B, the role of the woman is to please, as for what she herself wants; no one ever really bothers to ask.

Though there is a stereotype surrounding the presumed weak, passive, naïve Appalachian women, when one burrows deeper into the history of the mysterious realm of Appalachia it is not long before they are surprised to discover that the neglected persona of the Appalachian woman is not as simple as many would think. Many women in the region are very aware that, because of the negative stereotype that is often cast upon them, they have to work harder than the average man or women from outside of the region. Katherine Sohn, a huge spokeswoman for the very limited voice of Appalachian women confronts this issue through both her work and website, and within her within her narrative biography she claim to want to “illustrate the importance of lifelong learning once education begins and ultimately to create a more positive picture of Appalachian women who have been unfairly stereotyped even in this day of multicultural awareness(Sohn Website).” From Sohn’s perspective, the identity of the Appalachia women is one that is often forced upon them, leading them to either live a life victimized by stereotypes or embrace education in order to overcome them. Sohn ventures further to state that, “In Reid Luhman’s study of eastern Kentucky state university, speakers of Appalachian English varieties were judged to be lacking ambition, intelligence, and education, though their grades provide otherwise (Sohn, 128).” It is already hard enough to live in a society where, from birth, you are often regarded by outsiders as being unintelligent and almost foreign in the nature of the perceived average American. However, for females in the region who are perceived as being historically limited to only certain ways of life in the society, there is an even higher level of restriction. This idea that women are limited in the realm of opportunity is suggested by Sohn who later states, “I think it’s a lot different for the girls than it is the boys. The boys can always go out and make a living(Sohn,134).“ For a male there are often many more opportunities for work than there often appears to be for women. This is unfortunate because young girls are subjected to information that basically states that they should either be stupid and sexy, or marry and become wives, when there is much evidence that they can be far more than that if they chose.

From the outsider’s perspective on Appalachia women, there is undeniably a level of discrimination that has historically carried itself alongside the evolution of the region in regards to women’s rights. However this discrimination is also paired with the strong female desire to not be victim of circumstance. It is safe to assume that because of the stereotypes that are often cast upon females, many women, especially those that lack education, could easily get trapped in certain circumstances. Eula Hall’s “One Thing You Can Tell Them” writes about the difficulties of women and states, “I feel the same way about all the abuse and problems of women in our area…at first I couldn’t get some women to even try and drive a car…Finally we have some women going to GED classes (Hall,194).” However, though there are women who do live undereducated lives that often lead to the life of enclosure that many outsiders picture, women are also pioneers in fields that many do not often expect. Within Uneven Ground: Appalachia Since 1945, the author writes about the incredible infiltration of the female Appalachia worker into the usually male dominated coal mines, “The number of women employed in Appalachian coal mines grew from none in 1973 to more than 2,500 in 1979. Women miners continued to face harassment and discrimination in wages and work assignments, but the efforts of the Coal Employment Project represented the growing movement of women into the public workforce in Appalachia as in the rest of the country (“Growth and Development”,198-199). This increase in the female work force indicates a side to the Appalachia woman that many had not pictured before. A women was finally seen as capable of doing something that had been restricted to men for ages, not only that be she was now in league with women from outside regions as well. The Appalachian woman has more choices in life than just to be a mother or to be objectified. The Appalachian woman is capable of doing anything she desires: wife, lover, activist, or poet- regardless of stereotypes. For the Appalachia women, as well as all women in general, the possibilities are endless.

Reflection:

When starting this paper, I had no idea about the history pertaining to the women of Appalachia. In a sea of discrimination, and often ill treatment, they always seem to pull through. Not only have they fought hard as activists to gain the same rights as men but at the same time they have held very firmly onto the threads that tie them to their culture. Being both on the inside and outside of the culture, I feel like, through women, many more dimensions of the region are made visible. They were not only mothers throughout history but they were also on the front lines for many of the regions more dire events, especially in relation to the workforce strikes concerning the coalmines. Banning together, they were able to help change not only the ill treatment of many people within the region but they were able to become a voice to women everywhere in regards to balancing identity with circumstance.

Works Cited

Ballard, Sandra L., and Patricia L. Hudson, eds.. Listen Here: Women Writing in Appalachia. Ed. Sandra L. Ballard and Patricia L. Hudson. University Press of Kentucky, 2003. Web. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2jcf21.

“GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT”. “GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT”. Uneven Ground: Appalachia Since 1945. University Press of Kentucky, 2008. 177–220. Web. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2jctgr.11.

Hall, Eula. “If There’s One Thing You Can Tell Them, It’s That You’re Free.” Back Talk from Appalachia: Confronting Stereotypes. By Dwight B. Billings, Gurney Norman, and Katherine Ledford. Lexington: U of Kentucky, 2001. 194. Print.

Maggard, Sally Ward. “Coalfield Women Making History.” Back Talk from Appalachia: Confronting Stereotypes. By Dwight B. Billings, Gurney Norman, and Katherine Ledford. Lexington: U of Kentucky, 2001. 229. Print.

Sohn, Katherine, and Amy D. Clark. “Silence, Voice, and Identity among Appalachian College Women.” Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community. By Nancy M. Hayward. Lexington: U of Kentucky, 2013. 128-34. Print.

Sohn, Katherine. “Katherine Kelleher Sohn – Narrative Biography.” Katherine Kelleher Sohn – Narrative Biography. Sohn, 2009. Web. 01 Mar. 2016. <http://www.kathysohn.com/narrative_biography.htm>.