Nashville

Exploring downtown Nashville for the first time with a sociological lens was fascinating. I’d never really been in the tourist shops downtown before, even though I’ve lived in or near Nashville my entire life. I knew that Nashville was seen as the country music capital of the world, but I guess I’d never thought of how much the tourism industry endorses the whole country-western image, which is strange because outside of Broadway, you really don’t see many native Nashvillians in western-wear. Another thing that was interesting to observe was the abundance of ignorant, racist trinkets, not to mention all sorts of Confederate paraphernalia, being sold in the souvenir shops. Truly disgusting stuff being sold on the street that is supposedly representing Nashville’s image. Also, we saw a lot of souvenirs perpetuating the idea that your typical Southerner is a stupid, toothless hillbilly.

It made me mad and amused at the ridiculousness of it at the same time. It is frustrating to think of all the many people who come to this spot considered the center of the city, the prime tourist area, and see these types of things and leave this city that I love thinking that the majority of people living here are narrow-minded and bigoted, when I don't believe that is the case at all.

Seeing this in my hometown and examining the disconnect between reality and what was being sold as Nashville identity set a good precedent for the rest of the trip, because it made me wonder about the representations we saw in other cities and what was being sold as their identity, and how that might differ from the reality of the city's true identity.