Country as aesthetic and music genre is based on the culture of rural farming populations in the southern United States and the Midwest. Farmers and ranchers within the community value tradition and conservative ideals, community, and hard work in their field. The aesthetic places great emphasis on practicality, with a range of activities and items originating from their work and landscape. The style is popular with many people throughout the United States, even if they are not farmers or ranchers, and has been used as a visual trope for weddings, settings for TV shows, and political propaganda.
Visually, the aesthetic shares many traits with Western, but there is no emphasis on the 19th century, adventure or lawlessness, and instead focuses on the idea of home and being settled within the farmer lifestyle. And unlike Cottagecore, which romanticizes the countryside and uses feminine aesthetics, Country is a lived reality, even if some visual tropes are used to the point of excess.
The people who participate in this aesthetic are unlikely to be aware of the aesthetic community as a whole. The lifestyle has cemented itself among the American mainstream, with it being a theme of multiple home decorating magazines, clothing brands, and even personality types. It is a point of pride for many people to be a "country girl/boy," as their culture emphasizes patriotism and values that are atypical for many modern cities.
Country Girls[]
The Country Girl blends this aesthetic with teenaged Girl-Next-Door manners and personality types, and are typically depicted as innocent, relatable, and kind-hearted. The aesthetics are a more traditionally feminine interpretation, and would not emphasize traditionally masculine activities as much and would instead focus on gentleness and beauty. However, they typically would be able to handle themselves in these activities as needed, and are quite experienced in animal husbandry and homemaking.
Country girls are typically teenagers, and storylines and aesthetics concerning them would focus around High School Dream-esque concepts of becoming independent from their fathers, first love, and experiencing the big city (and returning home). These women are often horse girls, and paragons of Southern white femininity. The best example is Taylor Swift's persona during the start of her career.
The aesthetic involves elements of Cottagecore and Shabby Chic. In addition to the rough-and-tumble aesthetics, there will be traditionally feminine tropes such as:
- Fairy lights
- Lace sundresses and camisoles
- Love imagery such as diary entries, love letters, and confessions
- Sunflowers and daisies
Visuals[]
- Alcoholic drinks - usually beer, whiskey, gin and not "classier" drinks like wine and champagne
- Burlap, denim, and gingham fabrics
- Connecting with farm animals
- Fields of wheat and corn
- Guitars
- Guns
- Hay - hay bales and haystacks
- Karen-like imagery such as "Live, Laugh, Love" decorations
- Mason jars
- Pick-up trucks
- Red barns
- Tire swings
- Wood decorations, especially themed around the American flag or their home state
- Sunflowers
- Horseshoes
- Chickens
Fashion[]
- Plaid shirts
- Blue Jeans
- Camouflage apparel
- Cowboy boots
- Hiking/work boots
- Baseball and trucker caps
- Cowboy hats
Media[]
TV Shows[]
- Holly Hobbie franchise
- Holly Hobbie & Friends (2005)
- Holly Hobbie (2018)
- Friday Night Lights (2006-2011)
- Letterkenny (2016–present)
Movies[]
- Field of Dreams (1989)
- Cow Belles (2006)
- Flicka (2006)
- Footloose (1984)
- Walk the Line (2005)
Music[]
The eponymous music genre is the type of music that these people listen to. The country music genre is incredibly popular and has a rich history, which is best described by the Country Music Hall of Fame, an American institution that documents the history of this genre.
Activities[]
- Animal husbandry
- Canning, the process of storing foods in jars and cans
- Cooking traditional comfort foods like chicken pot pie and biscuits
- Hard labor such as chopping wood
- Horseback riding
- Hunting deer
- Line and square dancing
- Repairing and maintaining farm equipment and cars
- Riding tractors
Resources[]
External links to help get a better understanding of this aesthetic.