Stand by who?

I'm a huge music fan and I like a lot different genres. There's nothing like turning the radio on and hearing a song that takes you back to a person, place or time that is indelibly etched in your mind. I tend to listen to one style of music for a while and then move onto another. I don't like to mix my music or my men.

Right now, I'm into country music.

I was never really a country music fan until I worked in a sales office where the sales manager piped it in over the loudspeaker. I wasn't sure if he was trying to motivate us or torture us but the more I listened to it, the more I grew to like it. Besides, who doesn't love, "All My Ex's Live in Texas"?

I love the way music illustrates emotions and circumstances and how it reflects the common attitude of a generation. Let's look at the evolution of women and relationships in country music.

My first memory of a country classic that depicted a woman's "role" was the 1968 song, "Stand by Your Man" by Tammy Wynette.

Yes, if you wanted to keep a man, this was what you had to do:

You'll have bad times
And he'll have good times
Doing things that you don't understand
But if you love him you'll forgive him
Even though he's hard to understand
And if you love him
Oh be proud of him
Cause after all he's just a man

Did you get the message, ladies? He's gonna be a dick, but cut him some slack cuz he's just a man and men are dicks. Get over it.

Fast forward to 1986 and the lovely ditty, "Whoever's in New England" by Reba McEntire. This was Reba before she had a hit show and a clothing line.

When whoever's in New England is through with you
And Boston finds better things to do
You know its not too late 'cause you'll always have a place to come back to
When whoever's in New Englands through with you

You can tell these are the daughters of the women who listened to "Stand by Your Man". The message here is that the man is the provider and if he wants to boink women while he's away on business trips, that's okay, as long as he comes back home to you.

Women today are the daughters and granddaughters of the ones who believed all that rubbish. They don't sit back and stand by their men when they're behaving badly. And they know how to take matters into their own hands.

Oh, yes, we've come a long way, baby. Let this be a lesson, boys.