Fancy Paper Version 5

  A Not So Fancy American Dream Story

In one aspect Fancy is a typical American Dream story in that she goes from poor to upper class in one lifetime. On the other hand, she is far from the typical American dream story because of the steps that she took to achieve that dream. The listener can tell that Fancy comes from poverty and ends up with the good life from her lyrics: “We didn’t have money for food or rent/ To say the least we were hard pressed.” Then later: “I charmed a king, congressman / And an occasional aristocrat / Then I got me a Georgia mansion / And an elegant New York townhouse flat / And I ain't done bad” (McEntire 4). Fancy ends up with more than the average person might expect from the American dream, and though Fancy’s story is not typical, she used what she had and made the most of her life to attain the American dream. She used her feminine wiles to charm men, rich men no less.

Fancy’s mother puts her on a path that most would not think could lead to the American Dream. Fancy was transformed by her mother from a scared young girl into a woman. “Mama washed and combed and curled my hair/ Then she painted my eyes and lips / Then I stepped into a satin' dancin' dress / That had a split up the side clean up to my hip / It was red velvet trim and it fit me good / Standin' back from the lookin' glass / There stood a woman where a half grown kid had stood” (McEntire 4).  As a last act, her mother gives her a locket that says, “To thine own self be true.” This will resonate with Fancy for the rest of her life. Her mother is giving her the only chance that she feels that she can, she is telling her daughter “This is all that I can give you kid, go make the best of it.” Fancy’s mother does all that she can to give her daughter a leg up out of the life she was born into. To me, this can be equated to how some families go into debt to pay for their children’s education. The idea behind both paths is the same. Parents give all that they can to give their children the best chance at the brightest possible future.

Now that Fancy is on this path, she has no choice but to follow through. She quickly learns what her new life role involves, and what she must to do survive. She soon meets a benevolent man that takes her in off the streets. She works for him in a capacity that the lyrics do not really go into, other than “one-week later I was pourin’ his tea in a five room hotel suite.” (McEntire 4).  Soon after she is charming powerful men: “I charmed a king, congressman/ And an occasional aristocrat / Then I got me a Georgia mansion / And an elegant New York townhouse flat / And I ain't done bad” (McEntire 4). Because Fancy has ended up in a much higher economic bracket than she started, she has indeed realized the American Dream, in that aspect. Haunted by how she got to the top, Fancy is no doubt there.  

Fancy came up from severe poverty to end up in a Georgia Mansion, she fulfilled what many would call the American Dream, attaining wealth and privilege. Many people feel hard work is required to reach the American Dream; though most do not have to make the choices that Fancy did. She always carried with her the pain that her mother felt for putting her on that path, even though it was all that her mother could do for her. Many prostitutes do not end up in this place in the world. Fancy mentions not wanting to spend her life with her head hung down in shame, but how does she avoid that? Was her momma’s locket that strong of a guiding and grounding force for her? 

Fancy is not just an atypical American Dream story, were this a true tale, then it would also be an atypical prostitution story. Many call girls start doing drugs as a way to escape the shame that they feel for what they are doing. In what turns out to be a terrible vicious cycle, they become addicted to the drugs that they have turned to for comfort. Then they must prostitute themselves more to pay for the drugs that help them hide from the shame that they needed the drugs for in the first place. Truly, this is a dizzying cause and effect that - more often than not - leads to a downward spiral for these women. I knew a woman who started ‘hooking’ as a way to earn money after losing her job. Because she felt so much shame over this, she turned to drugs. Soon, she did not feel shame anymore; she did not feel anything except the “monkey on her back.” What started out as a way to pay the rent one month, turned into a cycle where she eventually lost everything. This is a more accurate portrayal of prostitution and drugs than the song Fancy is. An article in the Journal of Biological Systems describes how poverty is a driving force behind prostitution.

“…as some turn to prostitution to fund their drug/alcohol addiction behavior, (3,2,6) which often leads to entrapment of women who prostitute in this sex-for-drugs lifestyle (2) and others resort to drug/alcohol misuse to effectively sell their bodies without remorse. (5,6,7)” (1)

Works Cited

1.      Bhunu, C.P. and Mushayabasa, S. “Prostitution and Drugs (Alcohol) Misuse: The Menacing Combination. 20.2 (2012): 17 pages. Print.

2. Gossop M, Powis B, Griffiths P, Strang J, Sexual behavior and its relationship to drug-taking among prostitutes in south London, Addiction 89(8):961–970, 1994.

3. Kuhns JB, Heide KM, Silverman I, Substance use/misuse among female prostitutes and female arrestees, Int J Addict 27(11):1283–1292, 1992

4. McEntire, Reba. “Fancy” Rumor Has It. UMG Recordings. 1990, CD

5. Silbert MH, Pines AM, Lynch T, Substance abuse and prostitution, J Psychoactive Drugs 14(3):193–197, 1982.

6. Weeks MR, Grier M, Romero-Daza N, Puglisi-Vasquez MJ, Singer M, Streets, drugs, and the economy of sex in the age of AIDS, in Stevens S.J, Tortu S, and Coyle S.L, (eds.), Women, drug Use. and HIV Infection, Haworth Medical Press, New York, 1998, pp. 205–229.

7. Young AM, Boyd C, Hubbell A, Prostitution, drug use and coping with psychological distress, J Drug Issues 30(4):789–800, 2000.