Gender, Whiteness, and power in rodeo : breaking away from the ties of sexism and racism / Tracey Owens Patton & Sally M. Schedlock.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Patton, Tracey Owens.

Contributor:

Schedlock, Sally M.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rodeos--Social aspects--West (U.S.).

Rodeos.

Women rodeo performers--West (U.S.).

Women rodeo performers.

Cowgirls--West (U.S.)--Social conditions.

Cowgirls.

Discrimination in sports--United States.

Discrimination in sports.

Social conditions.

Rodeos--Social aspects.

United States.

Sex discrimination in sports--United States.

Sex discrimination in sports.

West (U.S.)--Social conditions.

West (U.S.).

Physical Description:

xxxii, 228 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Md. : Lexington Books, [2012]

Summary:

Cowgirls and cowboys have hooked the American imagination with the lure of freedom and adventure since the turn of the twentieth century. Rodeo has since transcended into popular culture as a sport that is emblematic of all things "Western." Rodeo's attraction has even spanned oceans and lives in the imaginations of many around the world. From the modest start of this fantastic sport in open fields to celebrate the end of a long cattle drive or to settle a friendly bet between neighboring ranches, rodeo truly has grown into a money-drawing and crowd-cheering favorite pastime. However, rodeo has a diverse history that largely remains unaccounted for, unexamined, and silenced.

In Gender, Whiteness, and Power in Rodeo, Tracey Owens Patton and Sally M. Schedlock visually explore how race, gender, and other issues of identify complicate the mythic historical narrative of the West. The authors examine the experiences of women and ethnic minorities, specifically Latinos, American Indians, and African Americans who have continued to be marginalized in rodeo. Throughout the book, Patton and Schedlock question the binary divisions in rodeo that exist between women and men and between ethnic minorities and whites-divisions that have become naturalized in rodeo and in the mind of the general public. Using iconic visual images, along with the voices of the marginalized, Patton and Schedlock enter into the sometimes acrimonious debate of cowgirls and ethnic minorities in rodeo.

Tracey Owens Patton is director of African American and diaspora studies as well as professor of communication in the Department of Communication and Journalism at The University of Wyoming. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Circle the Wagons and Let's Talk Rodeo: The Foundation of Rodeo and the Myth of the West 1

Chapter 2 The Equality Cowgirl Can "Just LeDoux" It: The Golden Age of Cowgirls in the Arena 17

Chapter 3 Neo-Victorian Cowgirl Can Git 'Er Done: The New Dichotomized Role for Cowgirls 57

Chapter 4 Pin-Up Cowgirl Has to Head 'Em Up and Move 'Em Out: A New Era of the Silver Screen with Cheesecake and Pin-up Cowgirls 79

Chapter 5 Sex Kitten Cowgirl Knows Money Is in the Mane: Sex, Status, and Salaciousness 103

Chapter 6 Back to Equality Says Let 'Er Buck: The Return to Equality in the Arena 125

Chapter 7 Let's Go, Let's Show, Let's Rodeo: Ethnic Minority Involvement in Rodeo 145

Chapter 8 Concluding Thoughts: "Cowgirl Up, We're More than Barbie and Big Hair!" 191.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780739173206

0739173200

9780739173213

0739173219

OCLC:

794363244