Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article misstated the university Professor Kinitra Brooks works at. Cowboy hats are everywhere right now. You see them on artsy posters in ...

And if you spent the remaining 10 percent planning how you're going to hop on the Western cowgirl trend this summer, you're also not alone. I mean, c’mon, fringe? Yes! Vests? Yes! Cowboy boots?

The cowboy has been burrowing his way into our brains over the past few years. There’s the swaggering Western melodrama of Yellowstone, the nation’s most popular TV series. Last year ...