Author Topic: Women on ranches. Not wives.  (Read 2593 times)

Offline Oregondoggie

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Women on ranches. Not wives.
« on: November 29, 2007, 05:32:31 am »
Don't know if you all know of Molly Gloss.  She's a Portlander writing about the West... women of the West.  Tuesday night, she read from her new book "The Hearts of Horses" (Houghton Mifflin), about a young gal who was a circuit rider, a breaker of horses, during WWI in Eastern Oregon.  Gloss earlier wrote "The Jump-Off Creek" featuring "tough, smart, independent women" in the West.

In the question/answer period, she mentioned the influence Teresa Jordan's "Cowgirls, Women Of The American West" had on her.  Startled me because Annie Proulx may have drawn on Jordan's opening paragraphs  (*see below) for the added opening paragraphs of Brokeback Mountain.  Two miners in the same mother load.

As Gloss described her research methods, I heard echos of Proulx.  Lots and lots of information about lots and lots of stuff before writing a line.
 
Duly bought a copy of Molly's book for signing.  When she asked who to inscribe it to, I said Jack Twist.  Are you Jack Twist, she said.  Sort of, I said...

Muchly charmed by Molly Gloss and might start riding lessons (again) at the stable she goes to.  Started reading her book tonight after the fuss over Dancing With the Stars died down.  Yes, I admit it.
 
(*"Fifty miles from nowhere, Southern Montana... 2:00 A.M.  The alarm jangles.  Cassie reaches from under the eiderdown and turns it off, then lies for a moment and listens to the wind beat against the windows...

"Cassie rolls out of bed and feels for the pair of Levi's she left on the chair.  She pulls them over her long-johns and wiggles into a heavy wool sweater.  Then she stumbles to the kitchen, pours herself some coffee from the pot she never unplugs during calving season, and finishes dressing... Only her wedge of brunette hair betrays her sex... She pushes the door against the wind, and steps into the blackness."  From "Cowgirls, Women of the American West", by Teresa Jordan.  Elisions mine)

Offline Brown Eyes

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Re: Women on ranches. Not wives.
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2007, 11:46:38 am »
This is an intriguing topic to ponder in light of the ways that female characters are treated in BBM.

There's definitely a long history of very strong and independent women who settled in the West from the 19th century on.  I worked on an exhibition on the history of women's suffrage once, and of course the famous thing about how the women's suffrage movement progressed is that states and territories out west granted women the right to vote much, much sooner than eastern states.  This was often largely a way to attract women to settle in more remote territories and states, but it was also partially in recognition of the very strong, independent culture of women in the west. 

The first four territories/states to grant women's suffrage were Wyoming (the first in 1869), Utah (Utah territory granted suffrage in 1870 but then repealed it in 1887 and restored once again in 1895), Colorado (1893) and Idaho (1896).  When Susan B. Anthony died in 1906 she was buried with a flag with four stars on it representing these four states were women's suffrage had been achieved.  Those four states were followed by two more western states, Washington (1910) and California (1911).

And, in thinking about how BBM depicts western women in the late 20th century, this deep history is pretty forms an interesting backdrop. 

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Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: Women on ranches. Not wives.
« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2007, 09:06:53 pm »
Thanks for telling us about this, doggie. I heard an interview with Gloss on NPR and her books are on my must-read list. Currently I'm reading "Augusta Locke" by William Howard Henderson, a novel based on a true story about a woman who moved to Greeley Colorado and then to Wyoming and lived as a man on a cattle ranch at the turn of the century. It's a little pedantic and slow going but has some fascinating parts.

These Western writers are a chummy group as I saw when I went to a writer's conference in Casper last year. They borrow liberally from each other, as you've noted. It was at the Casper conference where I was introduced to The Virginian, which is the grandaddy of them all. I really enjoyed reading that book (which was a discard that I bought at the Casper library) and noting the parallels to BBM, which are many.

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Offline brokeplex

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Re: Women on ranches. Not wives.
« Reply #3 on: December 02, 2007, 10:32:04 pm »
Great point about strong western women. If you are ever in Ft Worth go to the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. I know that in my moms family, Texas cotton farmers, the women ruled the roost and made the key decisions about the economics of the family. Seems natural to me to have strong women, I don't understand women who defer to their husbands.

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Offline serious crayons

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Re: Women on ranches. Not wives.
« Reply #4 on: December 03, 2007, 01:58:37 am »
(*"Fifty miles from nowhere, Southern Montana... 2:00 A.M.  The alarm jangles.  Cassie reaches from under the eiderdown and turns it off, then lies for a moment and listens to the wind beat against the windows...

"Cassie rolls out of bed and feels for the pair of Levi's she left on the chair.  She pulls them over her long-johns and wiggles into a heavy wool sweater.  Then she stumbles to the kitchen, pours herself some coffee from the pot she never unplugs during calving season, and finishes dressing... Only her wedge of brunette hair betrays her sex... She pushes the door against the wind, and steps into the blackness."

Wow, Oregondoggie. You are so right about the similarities -- and apparent inspirational connection --  between this passage and the italicized prelude section to Brokeback Mountain. The pre-dawn awakening. The prominent, two-time mention of wind. The quick, informal dressing in jeans. The pouring of old coffee. And maybe especially the wedge of hair.

Not that morning isn't probably like that for lots and lots of people in the West. But still. A "wedge" of hair???




Offline Oregondoggie

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Re: Women on ranches. Not wives.
« Reply #5 on: December 03, 2007, 02:47:51 am »
Proulx drew water from many streams... turned it into wine... In Brokeback Mountain, the opening paragraphs, two of the most poignant and heart rending  ever written, stoke our attention.  We are ready to climb the mountain where two boys "once owned the world and nothing seemed wrong."