My research considers the performance of hillbilly woman on the television program Hee Haw. In my project I look at episodes from 1969 to 1977 to consider how the cultural stereotype of hillbilly woman is performed through dress on the program. I situate my research in a historical context to understand what this performance mode may have reflected culturally for the show's viewers.

My methodological approach includes a textual analysis of six episodes. In my analysis I draw upon Richard Bauman's performance studies model for a consideration of dress as mode of communication. Additionally I look at newspapers from the time period for critics' reviews and viewer opinions.

While the episodes I look at are several decades old, the cultural phenomena they highlight remain extant. Hee Haw pandered to stereotypes of poor or working-class whites for which we still have pejorative terms such as “white trash” and “cracker.” I am most concerned with the implications of these terms for people of color. White trash implies there is undifferentiated trash—blacks and Latinos especially—and that there is a white variant. My research highlights the larger historical phenomenon of both romanticizing and ridiculing subjects of massive social change. In the case of the hillbilly there is increased visibility as a regional people experience greater mobility from the rural to the urban.