Humanities Research Spotlight | Dorothy McGinnis - College of Humanities

Dorothy McGinnis

Name of project/research: Country or Cuntry? Buckle Bunnies, Blondeness, and Resistant Storytelling in American Country Music

Dorothy McGinnis, a Communication student, loves country music, so much so, that it inspired her research project, “Country or Cuntry? Buckle Bunnies, Blondeness, and Resistant Storytelling in American Country Music.” McGinnis was raised on country music, specifically the legendary women of country music such as Reba McEntire and The Chicks. “I am fascinated by the complexities of the genre, how it upholds and subverts the traditional expectations of race and womanhood set forth in American cultural dialogues,” McGinnis said.

It was in her Applied Communication Research class this past summer where her research began, with the help of her instructor, graduate teaching assistant Damon Darling. “I stayed after class and asked my professor about research and how this worked and from there it snowballed,” she said. Once the snowball was rolling, she formulated her research question, selected songs she would focus her analysis on and then, spent a few weeks in her basement performing the coding , McGinnis said. Once her first draft was completed, she spent a few weeks editing with the guidance and support of Darling.

McGinnis’ research focuses on two artists, Tanner Adell and Megan Moroney, breaking down how race, gender, and sexuality manifest in streaming music. McGinnis said, “I wanted to use this process to think deeply about how our ideas of what it means to be a woman arise out of our media consumption, especially in an ideologically fraught setting like country music.” Through her analysis she was able to analyze and deconstruct the song's rhetoric to give a more critical grounding. “I have always loved music and am passionate about poetry. I love treating songs as poems and giving thoughtful analysis to lyricism,” she said.

Through this project, McGinnis improved her writing skills and learned that she has the ability to devote time to an idea and be successful in that pursuit. With Darling’s encouragement, she submitted her work to the Western States Communication Association conference, where she was recognized with a Top Debut Paper award. Her advice to other students wanting to begin research is to find faculty who believe in you and take advantage of the library. In the future, McGinnis hopes to expand research methodologies in future studies and try new qualitative methods.