TAYLOR SWIFT
This 2017 music video showed Taylor Swift "killing off" her previous public personas.
What is "Look What You Made Me Do"?
This two-word phrase describes the most common stereotype about blonde women's intelligence.
What is "dumb blonde"?
Redneck identity is primarily associated with this type of geographic area.
What is rural (or Southern/countryside)?
This type of television programming makes working-class people into entertainment and spectacle.
What is reality TV?
This term describes when multiple identity categories like race, class, and gender overlap and interact.
What is intersectionality?
In "Miss Americana," Swift broke her political silence to oppose this Tennessee Senate candidate.
Who is Marsha Blackburn?
This iconic actress, known for films like "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," helped establish the blonde bombshell archetype.
Who is Marilyn Monroe?
These are three common symbols or practices of redneck culture.
What are trucks, hunting, country music, Confederate flags, or blue-collar work? (accept any 3)
This show about a Georgia family exemplifies how working-class lives are consumed as entertainment.
What is "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo"?
This concept refers to the knowledge, taste, and credentials that signal class status.
What is cultural capital?
This aspect of Swift's identity is central to her brand as "America's sweetheart" and affects her media reception.
What is whiteness (or being white)?
According to the Spectator article, blonde women face this type of prejudice that undermines their credibility.
What is prejudice based on intelligence (or being stereotyped as unintelligent)?
The NPR article discusses how redneck identity has become increasingly associated with support for this political figure.
Who is Donald Trump?
According to the Slate article, hillbilly representation evolved from sympathetic Depression-era figures to this.
What are objects of ridicule/horror (or contempt)?
This describes the process of making social groups seem fundamentally different or alien to justify exclusion.
What is othering?
Swift's feud with these two celebrities exposed racial dynamics in how the media responds to white women's victimhood.
Who are Kanye West and Kim Kardashian?
The difference between blonde stereotypes and stereotypes affecting marginalized groups is that blonde stereotypes lack this.
What is systemic oppression (or structural/institutional discrimination)?
This is the key racial component of redneck identity.
What is whiteness (or being explicitly white)?
This is the difference between representation and exploitation in media.
What is representation gives voice/agency while exploitation uses people as objects for profit without dignity/control?
This term describes systemic advantages based on race that operate even in working-class communities.
What is white privilege?
Swift's evolution from avoiding this label to embracing it reflects broader changes in celebrity feminism, though critics say she ignores intersectionality.
What is feminism (or feminist)?
In Western culture, blonde hair is associated with this idealized quality, making it both advantageous and limiting.
What is femininity (or feminine beauty standards/desirability)?
These economic realities—including job loss and this current health crisis—shape contemporary redneck identity and politics.
What is deindustrialization/loss of manufacturing jobs and the opioid crisis?
This term describes the tension between authentic subculture identity and selling it to mainstream audiences.
What is commodification (or commercialization/selling out)?
This feminist film theory term describes how media presents women from a heterosexual male perspective.
What is the male gaze?