It is my pleasure to welcome talented western romance author Loretta Rogers who's here to tell us Why Women Love Cowboys...
As soon as you read the word ‘Cowboy’ close your eyes and conjure up an image. Whose handsomely rugged face do you see? Is it your favorite cowboy movie star?
If you enjoy western movies, you know cowboys are supposed to wear white hates, rescue women in distress before riding off toward a slowly setting sun. Cowboys were supposed to live by the code of the West where the outlaws were all bad and the good guys weren’t always good.
All Western movies contained the same basic formulaic elements: the heroic cowboy expunged all traces of evil from a frontier town, then won the girl in the end.
Women realized that the frontier and the age of the living cowboy were dead, yet they were enthralled by the cowboy persona. The mass marketed cowboy was bold and virile. Each Western movie depicted the cowboy fulfilling the typical masculine ideal: he destroyed all evil forces, conquered his enemies, possessed tireless strength and physical skills, and always found love with a beautiful woman. The superficiality of the cowboy's image was the secret of his appeal. Don’t we all still idealize the Western hero because he did all that we fantasize about, but have no prospects of accomplishing?
American women were attracted to Western films for many of the same reasons that men were. Women viewed the unrealistic cowgirls and western heroines as fantastic extensions of themselves. When frustrated by urban life, demanding children, and over-worked husbands, American women could envision themselves in the place of Maureen O’Hara or Dorothy Malone. The notion of standing up to male authority figures, then ultimately succumbing to the charms of a rugged hero appealed to countless American women movie-goers.
Once women readers enter the fantasy world of the mass marketed entertaining western romances, they’re hooked. Just as movie goers had envisioned the West as an escape valve a century before, women who read cowboy fiction, whether historical or contemporary, continue to love the cowboy hero for their vicarious link to the mythical untamed land of opportunity.
Now, answer the question, which actor floated before your eyes, fluttered your heart, and made your secret woman’s place, yearn? Was it—Clint Eastwood (remember Rowdy Yates of Rawhide), Russell Crowe (High Noon), Tom Selleck (Quigley Down Under), Viggo Mortensen (Hildago), John Wayne (The Searchers), Sam Elliot (The Shadow Riders), Paul New and Robert Redford (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) or perhaps, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Gregory Peck and Paul Newman (Hombre)?
It doesn’t matter who you chose, the fact remains that women love cowboys.
Loretta C. Rogers aka L. W. Rogers
Author of: The Twisted Trail, Brady’s Revenge, Isabelle and the Outlaw, and
McKenna’s Woman
http://www.lorettacrogersbooks.com/
"A man's got to have a code, a creed to live by, no matter his job."
- John Wayne
If you enjoy western movies, you know cowboys are supposed to wear white hates, rescue women in distress before riding off toward a slowly setting sun. Cowboys were supposed to live by the code of the West where the outlaws were all bad and the good guys weren’t always good.
All Western movies contained the same basic formulaic elements: the heroic cowboy expunged all traces of evil from a frontier town, then won the girl in the end.
Women realized that the frontier and the age of the living cowboy were dead, yet they were enthralled by the cowboy persona. The mass marketed cowboy was bold and virile. Each Western movie depicted the cowboy fulfilling the typical masculine ideal: he destroyed all evil forces, conquered his enemies, possessed tireless strength and physical skills, and always found love with a beautiful woman. The superficiality of the cowboy's image was the secret of his appeal. Don’t we all still idealize the Western hero because he did all that we fantasize about, but have no prospects of accomplishing?
American women were attracted to Western films for many of the same reasons that men were. Women viewed the unrealistic cowgirls and western heroines as fantastic extensions of themselves. When frustrated by urban life, demanding children, and over-worked husbands, American women could envision themselves in the place of Maureen O’Hara or Dorothy Malone. The notion of standing up to male authority figures, then ultimately succumbing to the charms of a rugged hero appealed to countless American women movie-goers.
Once women readers enter the fantasy world of the mass marketed entertaining western romances, they’re hooked. Just as movie goers had envisioned the West as an escape valve a century before, women who read cowboy fiction, whether historical or contemporary, continue to love the cowboy hero for their vicarious link to the mythical untamed land of opportunity.
Now, answer the question, which actor floated before your eyes, fluttered your heart, and made your secret woman’s place, yearn? Was it—Clint Eastwood (remember Rowdy Yates of Rawhide), Russell Crowe (High Noon), Tom Selleck (Quigley Down Under), Viggo Mortensen (Hildago), John Wayne (The Searchers), Sam Elliot (The Shadow Riders), Paul New and Robert Redford (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) or perhaps, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Gregory Peck and Paul Newman (Hombre)?
It doesn’t matter who you chose, the fact remains that women love cowboys.
Loretta C. Rogers aka L. W. Rogers
Author of: The Twisted Trail, Brady’s Revenge, Isabelle and the Outlaw, and
McKenna’s Woman
http://www.lorettacrogersbooks.com/
"A man's got to have a code, a creed to live by, no matter his job."
- John Wayne
Thank you, Loretta, for joining us for Cowboy Lovin'!
There's still time to win a free western romance from Stacey Joy Netzel and Donna Marie Rogers! And stay tuned for the event's last guest author - we're going out with a bang! - and an exclusive first look at the third book in my Wayback Ridge trilogy....
5 comments:
Hi Loretta,
I love Gregory Peck in Hombre. Or anything for that matter. He was all man to me. Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid ? Awesome cowboys.
Thanks for the post.
Carol L.
Lucky4750@aol.com
Loretta, I really enjoyed Isabelle and the Outlaw! In my post a few days ago I had a picture of Matthew McConaughey from his Stetson Cologne ad--though he didn't play a cowboy in the movies (yet that I know of) that's who flashes behind my closed eyes. Mmmm! Loved him in the action/adventure Sahara, too.
I enjoyed your post and have to admit that when I think of cowboys movie stars don't usually come to my mind. It's mainly nameless faces, but still it's like you wrote I'm a woman who loves cowboys.
I have to say Sam Elliot is the top of my list ..John Wayne is close behind in second place and please don't make me have a duel over either of these guys..they are my special guys. Cowboys will always be my favorite heroes. susan L.
Hi Loretta, your books sounds awesome as only these books can be. I will always have a cowboy in my heart and love to read about them. It sadden me to see less western books on the book shelves in the store. They are still my favorite and love to see more around. I hope Sam Elliot and John Wayne stays in a lot of memories for a long time. I have to admit I like Sam Elliot in any movie but especially westerns. susan L.
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