The Honky Tonk Music - Essay Example

The Honky Tonk music was loud music coupled with strong dance beats and electrification of instruments. It represented the fact that life in the country was changing and people were adopting a honky-tonk life (Kingsbury, McCall and Rumble, 2012). The Honky Tonk music was specifically popular among the poor industrial workers who were primarily working in the oil fields among the Gulf Coast. Honky Tonk music was frequently heard in the local taverns where the industrial workers usually came. This gave the music an image steeped in alcoholism and drunkenness.

In terms of gender, Honky Tonk music was strongly masculine. This was mainly because it represented the African American industrial workers who were predominately males. The music industry, at that point in time, was dominated by men. Their views were generally exposed in most of the songs while women represented a very small part of the entire music industry. Solo women singers were looked down upon in the music industry. Women, at that point in time, were still mainly confined to their homes.

Men in Honky Tonk music were portrayed as modern while women were rural. This music had very few female stars such as Rose Maddox and Wanda Jackson. It was later in the 1980s that female stars began to experiment with this style. Even thus, masculinity was the main theme of the style.The Honky Tonk music evolved mainly as a result of the changing society. Most of the southern labor was moving to cities and industrial areas to enjoy the perks offered by city life. These people were becoming more modern with time but country life was still the main part of their identity.

These people were forced to live in cities because jobs were usually available only in cities at the time of Depression. Since these people were forced to live in cities when they were mainly rural people.