Fictional Appalachian Women and Their Real – Life Counterparts
ERH-303WX
Date Due: 12/10/16
Date Sub.: 12/10/16
Research Essay II
Help Received: Cited Sources, peer review, professor
Matthew Kenkel
Throughout the course of Cultural Rhetorics, varying depictions of Appalachian women have been presented in works of literature. Some of the depictions challenge preconceived notions that an individual could have. Other depictions of Appalachian women fit stereotypes that an individual could have. But, all of the depictions of Appalachian women have had one thing in common. No matter if they challenge a reader’s preconceived notions or fit a particular stereotype, the depictions of Appalachian women present in many works of literature are unable to fully describe the complexity of the experiences that the women had to endure and the effect that they had on Appalachian culture. Of the several different depictions of Appalachian women, the depictions of women organizing labor movements, conducting powerful militancy, and involved in literary work did exist in real life, but are depicted in ways that do not cover the true scope of the women’s experience and effect on Appalachian culture.
In The Kentucky Cycle, following the beginning of the strike against the mine, Tommy Jackson is recognized as one of the strike leaders. But, Tommy ends up betraying the workers on strike. After the betrayal, the miners see no point in continuing the strike and give up. What follows is a scene where the miners on strike are rallied and lead by Mary Anne Rowen, Tommy Jackson’s wife. Mary Anne’s actions are described by another character, Joshua, who says, “And my mama rolled the rock off their hearts and pulled them back into life and we marched, all the women and me, banging pots and pans and singing songs until the men, shamefaced, joined us.” (Schenkkan 246). This part of the scene shows Mary Anne leading the union movement back to life, rallying the men who have already quit. Not only that, but as the scene goes on, Mary Anne’s revived union movement is successful. There were women like Mary Anne that existed outside the simplistic confines of a fictional story. One example is Ella May (Williams 276). Not only was Ella May a single mother of seven children, but also a musician (Williams 276). During a strike in April 1929, May used her musical skills to organize and gain leadership positions within the textile strike (Williams 276). On the surface, if one compares Ella May to Mary Anne of The Kentucky Cycle, similarities can be drawn. Mary Anne helped to organize a labor movement, much like Ella May did. But, if one analyzes the lasting impact of Ella May and Mary Anne, there are different results. Nowhere in The Kentucky Cycle is the effect of Mary Anne’s actions on culture recognized. While in real life, Ella May defied the limits on women-like conduct that were present in Appalachia (Williams 276). She did this all the while promoting traditional Appalachian culture through music (Williams 276). Therefore, even though a character like Mary Anne can challenge reader’s preconceived notions about how women are supposed to conduct themselves, it does not provide evidence or context of the true effect on Appalachian culture by the real women like Ella May. This effect is seen in Appalachian women like Zilphia Horton. Horton used the same Appalachian folk songs that were taught by Ella May in order to help organize the civil rights movement in Appalachia between 1960 and 1965 (Carawan 92). One women described Horton’s work at the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee as, “we were based at Highlander for those years and could build on what had been learned there during the Labor Movement – that singing could be a strong unifying force in struggle” (Carawan 91, 92).
In The Unquiet Earth, a strike is brought to the point where the miners are forced to work at gunpoint. In the midst of that controversy, the wives of the miners take action against the company that owns the mine. The scene where the wives attack the company’s coal truck drivers is described by the author as, “they are banging on the truck with their baseball bats, with their fists…the women start to whip him…then they haul him up like a sack of flower and dump him in the ditch.” (Giardina 145, 146) The abovementioned scene is brutal and militant. It is militant for a cause that is justified in the book. Similar to that scene, Appalachian women took part in militancy against coal companies in real life. In October of 1973, women from a Brookside, Kentucky coal camp were able to shut down a mine owned by Duke Power Company (Maggard 228). The women formed what was known as the Brookside Women’s Club (Maggard 228). One woman that was part of the club described her dramatic experience on the picket line while laying down in the road to stop strike breakers from entering the mine, “[I was] terrified! I was scared to death. We knew that if those cars started coming through we had to stop them” (Maggard 246). Again, like the example from The Kentucky Cycle and Ella May, the miner’s wives depicted in The Unquiet Earth and the real life example of the Brookside Women’s Club seem similar. Both depict women as unifying to carry out powerful labor militancy. But, The Unquiet Earth does not possess the full range of the effect and experience that the women involved in labor militancy had. Therefore, The Unquiet Earth can lead readers to believe a depiction that is extremely simplistic. For example, the Brookside Women’s Club had to endure severe discrimination and violence during and after taking their part in the picketing against the mine (Maggard 247). Furthermore, the women that participated in the Brookside strike came from background such as homemakers, who were dependent on wages earned from male coal miners and suffered economic consequences for shutting down the mine (Maggard 246). But, in the end, the Brookside women demonstrated that they were not just “homemakers”. They showed that Appalachian women could be strong militants if necessary.
Near the end of The Unquiet Earth, Rachel’s daughter Jackie has grown up and received a degree in journalism. Jackie, having grown up in an Appalachian mining town, represents a woman who is able to “breakout” of Appalachia and begin her work as a press secretary for a West Virginian congressman. She eventually returns to Appalachia to become an editor for a local newspaper. As a woman who was born and raised in Appalachia, an Appalachian woman who is self-supporting, and by being a woman writer from Appalachia, Jackie breaks several stereotypes. There are many real life examples of Appalachian women like Jackie from The Unquiet Earth. Helen Matthews Lewis is an example. Lewis grew up in Appalachia and was able to “breakout” of Appalachia much like Jackie did. Also like Jackie, Lewis was a journalist, who wrote about Appalachian studies. However, Jackie’s character does not show any of the struggles that Appalachian woman-writers had to go through. Helen Lewis was described as a woman who, “accepted the public arena and paid a heavy price for [her] vision of a just and humane world” (Fisher 2). Lewis fought through harsh criticisms for being an Appalachian woman writer and was still able to, “reframe for a new generation of scholars and activists the most basic assumptions about Appalachian culture, community, and inequality” (Fisher 4). Lewis’s writings left a major impact on Appalachian culture because of the barriers she broke and what she wrote about. Working hand in hand with feminist philosophy, Lewis helped to create an environment where, “rural and poor women were emerging as leaders of the most creative and progressive community-development efforts” (Fisher 6).
Many works of literature that depict Appalachian women depict them in what is often a simplistic manner. Even the depictions that could be considered realistic, similar to those in The Kentucky Cycle or The Unquiet Earth, are unable to demonstrate the full struggles and cultural impact women had on Appalachia. This argument did not seek to directly critique the works of literature themselves. Instead, this argument sought to point out that it is crucial for readers to keep in mind the fictional character’s real life counter parts because they worked in ways that the fictional characters, while realistic, are unable to fully describe.
Reflection
Throughout my research for this essay I challenged myself with the topic I picked. I believe that it is difficult for a male to write about how women are depicted and about the accomplishments of real life women. I say it is difficult for a male, because I am coming from a completely different perspective. I have never known the actual struggles associated with being a woman. So, I have to work almost twice as hard to ensure that I do my topic justice. So, I learned how to operate outside of my own “comfort zone”. Also, I learned that I was guilty of taking the Appalachian women I had read about in The Unquiet Earth and The Kentucky Cycle for face value. I did not know the full scope of how the women characters in those books had real life counterparts who accomplished a lot. Through my research on those women, I found out the significant impact that they had on Appalachia’s culture. I learned about how they broke cultural norms and boundaries while inspiring other Appalachian women to do the same.
Bibliography
Ballard, Sandra L., and Patricia L. Hudson, editors. Listen Here: Women Writing in Appalachia. University Press of Kentucky, 2003, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2jcf21.
Carawan, Candie. “Candie Carawan: (December 27, 1939– ).” Listen Here: Women Writing in Appalachia, Edited by Sandra L. Ballard and Patricia L. Hudson, University Press of Kentucky, 2003, pp. 89–94, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2jcf21.20.
Fisher, Stephen L., and Helen M. Lewis. “Introduction.” Helen Matthews Lewis: Living Social Justice in Appalachia, Edited by Patricia D. Beaver and Judith Jennings, University Press of Kentucky, 2012, pp. 1–11, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2jcrhb.5.
Giardina, Denise. The Unquiet Earth. Ballantine Books, 1992.
Lewis, Helen M, Patricia D. Beaver, and Judith Jennings. Helen Matthews Lewis: Living Social Justice in Appalachia. Lexington, Ky: University Press of Kentucky, 2012. Internet resource.
Maggard, Sally Ward, and Ronald D Eller. “Coalfield Women Making History.” Back Talk from Appalachia: Confronting Stereotypes, Edited by Dwight B. Billings et al., University Press of Kentucky, 1999, pp. 228–250, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2jcp5m.21.
Schenkkan, Robert. The Kentucky Cycle. Grove Press, 1993.
Williams, John. Appalachia: A History. The University of North Carolina Press, 2002.