Darn, posted that before I was finished.:)

I don't think a great many traditional folk songs could pass such scrutiny. Rapes, murders, daggers in the breast, suicides -- you've heard them all. Coward of the County is pretty tame compared to some. In Lady Maisry, the lady makes the mistake of falling in love with an Englishman, gets called a whore by her father, and gets burned at the stake by her father and brothers. (How did that page run to London so fast, presumably from Scotland?) One can find hundreds of examples, I supect.

Any number of songs deal with jolly sailors or soldiers impregnating women. Most songs allegedly from the point of view of the woman in this and other situations sound suspiciously like they were written by men.

And look at rock music. Has anyone ever actually listened to the lyrics of Under My Thumb? And yet the Stones were considered a pretty cool and with-it band.

And the blues! Well, I suppose at least there we have female blues singers who can dish it out pretty well.:)

I always thought that Stand By Your Man was supposed to be taken ironically, and is a great feminist anthem. Am I reading too much into it? How could anyone married to George Jones not turn into a feminist?