Bob Dylan was never IN the folk world ..Nor is Mary C. Carpenter... doesn't make 'em good or bad...just not folk...ask me in 40 or 50 years whether either of them have begun to acquire 'folk' status.(Allison Krause can...and sometimes does, do trad. stuff...but not all the time..)

Use of the word 'folks' in the way you do simply involves a standard logical fallacy called "equivocation"...see this page for more explanation

Downes explanation of logical fallacys

This is a very common thing people do...usually with the best of intentions, but I mention this because when flawed logic is then used to defend positions, we end up yelling at each other unnecessarily.

In this case, there is really a different meaning applied to two usages of the word 'folk'- which is why I more & more tend to refer to 'traditional' music (which, of course, has its own dangerous variety of interpretations!)

To reply to your question.."Why do "folkies" seem to have an attitude about the definition of folk music? " ...well, if anyone who comes by can define it anyway they want, pretty soon they are overwhelming the scene with stuff that is not like what we started with...and then the problem becomes...What do we old 'folkies' call the stuff WE like after the new kids have taken the name just because it is an easy and established catagory?Sure some of us have an attitude! (yes...my attitude is more noticable than some...like some environmentalists, I guess)

disclaimer: I am NOT 'in charge' here...I can't stop or control anything! I just defend my ideas...

(gee that was more like $.15 worth!)