Making King Coal’s Queens Known
Maggie K. Smith
Appalachia has been a region that has held true to traditions and withstood
progressiveness. Appalachia has been displayed as the worst place to live in the United States
through the media which has the stereotypical lens that zooms in on poverty within our region.
Along with poverty accusations have been made that without economic wealth a region is led to
depression and that because of this the people of the region do not live “wholesome” lives
(Lowrey). I believe that because of the poverty and lack of progression within this region that
there is more discrimination specifically within the gender roles of Appalachian people and how
power plays into that complex. “The sociological literature of industrial societies offers an array
of explanations for its roots…hegemony…low rank on the socioeconomic status scale…and
cultural deficiencies of the deprived”(Gaventa). Gender roles have been able to be strong and
persistent in Appalachian culture because the industry of Coal Mining too those three reasons
and further fed the stereotypes of what acceptable labor is for men and women.
When looking into the history of Appalachia, extractive industry always surfaces as a
defining characteristic for our region. Current headlines about mountain top removal are making
it even more known that as a region we are being divided on who is for the cause and who is
against it. While coal is a hot topic and headlines papers in big cities and little towns and seems
to be something on every Appalachian’s mind, most of us fail to realize the inequality within the
industry that provides our power. When looking at statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Cenus from 2010 around 52% of women are working, and only 1% of that 52 serve in the coal
mines, 99% of the workers in the mines are male (Courtland). If you are a female working in the
mines it is usually in a job that requires less risk and is less hazardous. Women are typically
placed as general labor when they are hired into the mines. During an interview with Suzanne
Tallichet this past October (2014), she stated that one of the reasons we are not seeing a change
in the way women are treated within the mines is because there is not a single male who is
willing to stand up to his superior for the equality of labor within his workforce. The men who
are in control of managerial positions are appointing lower ranking males to manager positions to
secure the field of control over the female miner population. Barbara Angle who was once a
woman coal miner said: “It’s basically the last locker room in the world. These guys take a lot of
pride in what they do, and justifiably so. But it’s hard for them to accept that women can do the
same work.” As a region we have failed to recognize women miners as an equal contributor to
our nation’s power. Through my research and through the research of others I have discovered
what gender roles within the mines was truly like and how we as a region need to put aside
conservative beliefs and let the women of our region show their power and serve this community
as equals within any industry they feel like they can serve.
Gender roles are a semi-complex topic because both men and women put each other and
themselves within the boxes of the social normality that they have been programmed to see as
the most comfortable for them to accept. When our social normality’s are compromised,
hegemony is being affected because the power and dominance is experiencing a shift. The
baffling aspect of the shift of hegemony was that the discrimination from this social issue was
that it is expected there to be heterosexual tension but it is never expected for there to be
homosexual tension. In my research from testimonials from coal mining women and from
scholars who have done dissertations on females in predominately male labor fields, that women
who are on the outside of the mines, such as wives are more discriminatory than some of the
male miners. Typical views of women in mining communities who are not entering the mines is
that coal mining is just a man’s work, which unfortunately it is extremely male dominated. In
West Virginia mines for every 100 men serving, there are only 2 women (Cole). The industry is
structured to be this way though because if it wasn’t required to allow some women in the mines
there would not be any at all. Appalachians wonder why they have not heard of any female
miners, it is because there barely is any.
If social norms are what we are accustomed to then why would a woman want to put
herself in such a comprising position? When women decide to go into the mines they enter that
field for the same reason that other miners do, money and heritage. Just as men need to provide
for their families, women are sometimes pressured to be put in the role of provider for their
families. The mines are usually the only option they have that will make a decent amount of
money. As well as men, women are born into coal families and have generations before them
serving in this industry, with such deep roots into an industry there is a undefinable pull within a
person that appeals them to that industry because it feels like a member of their own family.
Coming from Appalachian our ties to heritage are so strong that we seldom make decisions
based on those roots. Women who are just pursuing a career in a field they know as a way to
provide for their families have been called whores, have been physically harassed, and have even
been told that they would have better luck sitting a cot up at the mouth of the mine and making
money that way because it would be faster and easier (Oral). In Marat Moore’s Women in the
Mines: Stories of Life and Work a women was working in the mines in order to establish a
steady income and career for herself so that she could get her children back and maintain her
family. The reasons they became a worker within the industry is the aspect that is rarely taken
into consideration and is rarely heard because no one asks them, their stories.
The behavior of the male miners according to conversations with Suzanne Tallichet went
one of two ways. One the male miners would allow women the opportunity to prove themselves
and show that they could handle the work load. Those women were looked at as equal by some
of the men. The women who were accepted were generally ones who did not show weakness or
take the tormenting and harassment, every time someone was to make a slur or a sexual gesture
at them they would turn around and make that person feel incompetent. The cleverness and quick
wit of these females was what saved them. The other side of the male population was completely
against women being in their workforce, Barbara Angle as mentioned earlier once said that the
mine is the “Last Locker-room”, which is true. The majority of other roles have been gender
integrated for quite some time but due to Appalachia’s ability to combat progressivism we have
not allowed such equableness to occur because the fear of a shift in dominance. Surprisingly the
older generations of men were protective over the women and more accepting, younger
generations saw them as a job threat and thought that eventually the industry would be diluted to
a man and woman world, equally.
Upon reading and watching testimonials and hearing stories from Family support was
something that I was surprised these women have seeing as they were working such dangerous
and dirty jobs. Tanya James was one of the women whose husbands displayed the most support
He said it is difficult having a wife who works in the mines. The dangers of her job cross his
mind every day but he has never asked her to quit because he knows it is what she loves. The
love that James has for the industry that has done so much for her family is comparable to the
love we have for the region, as Appalachians Progressivism is something we can embrace, while
holding onto their heritage because we have the ability to preserve. Women are just as
hardworking and capable of completing the work as a man, and because of the struggle we have
had to be equal or acceptable because of our gender we are dedicated to the careers we choose.
Today there are women are placing themselves in CEO positions, plumbing jobs, electrical
engineers, farming, and other predominantly male fields and they are obtaining these jobs
because of their work ethic and dedication. These women working in the mines are mothers and
daughters, matriarchs of our region and we have yet to give them their place in history.
References
Cole, Kelli S. "Center for Working-Class Studies." Female Coal Miner. Youngstown University,
Web. 11 Dec. 2014.
Courtland, Carolina. "Do Any Women Work at the Dirty, Difficult, and Dangerous Jobs That
Men Do? Any Women At All?" Web log post. Staked in the Heart. N.p., 07 Aug. 2012.
Web. 11 Dec. 2014.
Gaventa, John. Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley.
Urbana: U of Illinois, 1980. Print.
Lowrey, Annie. "What’s the Matter With Eastern Kentucky?" The New York Times. The New
York Times, 28 June 2014. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.
"Oral History with Suzanne E. Tallichet." Interview by Maggie K. Smith. Morehead, Kentucky,
28 Oct. 2014. Transcript.