That's a great point about women of yesteryear like Loretta Lynn who had such a high profile and projected an image of strength. One reason I haven't written more about this issue is that I don't quite understand it, either.

But women face real barriers in country music. I began paying more attention after I heard, for example, that country music stations won't play two female artists back-to-back. Stations dispute it--and the equal-play initiatives may be changing it--but it seems true of some stations in my part of the Deep South. I seldom hear two female artists back-to-back, alas.