Local Brews, Local Legends: Images of Race, Gender, and Exploitation in West Virginia Craft Beer
Document Type
Panel Presentation
Keywords
Appalachia, race, gender
Biography
Hallie Knipp is a second-year English MA student studying Appalachian culture.
Major
English
Advisor for this project
Dr. Allison Carey
Abstract
Greenbrier Valley Brewing Company, located in Maxwelton, West Virginia, produces beers which are all, somehow, related to Appalachian history, folklore, or culture. Focusing on five of GVBC’s curren selections’ packaging and descriptions and related Appalachian Studies and literature I will explore themes of race, gender, and exploitation in Appalachia. By doing so, it will become evident that gender roles in Appalachia, while superficially appearing to be shallow reflections of the gender binary generally accepted in the larger society, are actually specific and multifaceted representations of masculinity and femininity in relation to place. Further, I will explore white Appalachians’ connection to race and how Appalachian identity has historically been racialized. Finally, the essay will examine the concept of adventure tourism and Appalachia’s complicated relationship with it. GVBC has carefully selected images which project a certain depiction of West Virginia and Appalachia at large; this essay will provide an analysis of those images in order to explore how citizens of the region imagine themselves and how the region presents itself to outsiders.
Local Brews, Local Legends: Images of Race, Gender, and Exploitation in West Virginia Craft Beer
Greenbrier Valley Brewing Company, located in Maxwelton, West Virginia, produces beers which are all, somehow, related to Appalachian history, folklore, or culture. Focusing on five of GVBC’s curren selections’ packaging and descriptions and related Appalachian Studies and literature I will explore themes of race, gender, and exploitation in Appalachia. By doing so, it will become evident that gender roles in Appalachia, while superficially appearing to be shallow reflections of the gender binary generally accepted in the larger society, are actually specific and multifaceted representations of masculinity and femininity in relation to place. Further, I will explore white Appalachians’ connection to race and how Appalachian identity has historically been racialized. Finally, the essay will examine the concept of adventure tourism and Appalachia’s complicated relationship with it. GVBC has carefully selected images which project a certain depiction of West Virginia and Appalachia at large; this essay will provide an analysis of those images in order to explore how citizens of the region imagine themselves and how the region presents itself to outsiders.
