Geography 490c The Country and the City Fall 2009

Rodeo and Rural Identity

Questions for Discussion

Why is the focus on identity in the two articles about rodeo that I found in the geographic literature?
What is the function of rodeo for preserving historic rural identities?
Is the recent rise in popularity of the PBR and rodeo in general part of a cultural response to rural restructuirng?
How did the ideas of Indians as cowboys and gay cowboys become a contradiction?
How was the image of the cowboy transformed from despised laborer to wholesome hero?
How did rural restructuring at the turn of the century help to transform ranching? How did it lead to the creation of rodeo as a sport?
Can the conceptual framework from the Penrose article be applied to analyze the situation in the Warren article? Are similar discourses about nature implicit in the Warren article?
Why did all-Indian and gay rodeos develop? To what extent do All-Indian rodeo and gay rodeo both challenge and reinforce dominant power relations.
The article by Warren is titled "Real Cowboys. Real Rodeos." To what extent is there a "real cowboy" or a "real rodeo"? Who decides who is a realy cowboy and what constitutes a real rodeo? How do they decide? (Who is the critical infrastructure? for all you Culture, Nature, Landscape folks.)

Geo 490c The Country & the City Spring 2009 Department of Geography and Meteorology Valparaiso University
Today's Readings Penrose, Jan. 2003. When All the Cowboys Are Indians: The Nature of Race in All-Indian Rodeo. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 93, no. 3: 687-705. Warren, Patricia Nell. 2006. Real Cowboys, Real Rodeos. Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide 13, no. 4 (July): 19-23. . Reading Notes This class session started with a desire to explore the geography of cowboys and rodeo after reading a recent article in National Geographic which was only recently posted online. What I found in the scholarly geography literature were two articles about rodeo and identity. Both give a nice overview of the history and geography of cowboys and rodeo, but zero in on exceptions to the stereotypes involved in each.. As you read think about why geographers and other scholars have zeroed in on identity in relation to rodeo. Also think about what connections you might make between the two articles.	Rodeo and Rural Identity Questions for Discussion Why is the focus on identity in the two articles about rodeo that I found in the geographic literature? What is the function of rodeo for preserving historic rural identities? Is the recent rise in popularity of the PBR and rodeo in general part of a cultural response to rural restructuirng? How did the ideas of Indians as cowboys and gay cowboys become a contradiction? How was the image of the cowboy transformed from despised laborer to wholesome hero? How did rural restructuring at the turn of the century help to transform ranching? How did it lead to the creation of rodeo as a sport? Can the conceptual framework from the Penrose article be applied to analyze the situation in the Warren article? Are similar discourses about nature implicit in the Warren article? Why did all-Indian and gay rodeos develop? To what extent do All-Indian rodeo and gay rodeo both challenge and reinforce dominant power relations. The article by Warren is titled "Real Cowboys. Real Rodeos." To what extent is there a "real cowboy" or a "real rodeo"? Who decides who is a realy cowboy and what constitutes a real rodeo? How do they decide? (Who is the critical infrastructure? for all you Culture, Nature, Landscape folks.)

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