The masculine voice in contemporary music is not easily defined. I think this is due to the "crisis of masculinity" which currently plagues men in our society. It seems as though the mainstream male artists are either a reaction to, or an endorsement of, hegemonic masculinity and patriarchy. The orthodox male in our society has been one of strength, power, and dominance over women. Examples include Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen, Ozzie Osborne, Tupac etc.
The masculine voice today contains some artists who are very similar to these, but also those who break out of the mold. John Mayer is known as a womanizer due to his music as well as his personal life; very similarly to Elvis. He is undoubtably popular and empowered because of this male gender and his aura of masculinity.
On the other hand, there are artists today such as Sufjan Stevens who have a very feminine sound. His music is based on beauty and his voice is very passive and not aggressive like all the men referenced earlier. So the contemporary masculine voice seems to be struggling with this time of identity crisis. Some hold on to the gender roles which have proven to be successful, and others create music and gain popularity through new and creative forms. In each case however, men seem to have more freedom to explore new sounds and messages, where women seem to be on a shorter leash for popularity.
The feminine voice in contemporary music is one of strong individuality. It might be due to the dis-empowerment felt by women in society and the music industry. Even just when I think about the mainstream female voices from 10 years ago, I think of women like Britney Spears who just embodied all of the stereotypes of femininity. At that time I would have been more ready to say that the feminine voice was that which complied the best with sexual expectations. It seemed like consumers wanted to hear only what did not challenge any norms or standards. While I think there is still something about a perfect girl which is appealing to our society, most of the big female names in music today are very strong individuals. These women, though they often still gain power through their sexuality, do not as easily fit in the boxes which our society tries to put them in. In many cases these female artists push the envelope and gain a sense of empowerment and a voice due to this. Lady Gaga obviously is the main example of this. Her music and performance empowers her through preaching individuality and being true to yourself.
These women are not only considered the voice of females because of their message in lyric form, but what they do in performance and the sound of their music. Lady Gaga has control over her listeners because she combines all sorts of conflicting messages. Lyrics are only part of the message. The images, the sounds, and what she stands for off stage all combine and contrast to form such a wide-spread intrigue. Another female artist who has a very strong voice and strong stage presence is Florence Welch. Her music and message demands the attention of listeners.
Adele is another example of a strong voice both in sound and message. Her music has a message of empowerment for women and individuality. Her songs give women the idea that they can be true to themselves and break free from the restriction which men and society but on them, and her powerful voice provides the feeling to go along with this.
Miranda Lambert is another young voice who is not afraid to write songs about what she wants.
This song by Amos Lee provides us with an image of a man who acknowledges his co-dependence. Sung in a very soft and rather in-masculine way, the song gives the listener a feeling of authenticity and genuineness. One of the reasons Amos Lee is so good is that he can create a sound which I, the listener, can relate to based on the experience of overwhelming emotion. This goes against a core stereotype of masculinity that men have no or should not show any emotion. Just as clearly as his sound portrays this, the lyrics also fly in the face of some gender stereotypes. Rather than refusing to admit his dependency or to give up a position of power in relation to women, he sings from the heart about how much he misses and needs a woman. In a different sense of empowerment, this song almost empowers men to follow his lead; feel the empowerment and comfort of being true to your feelings. In a world filled with confusion, the character finds himself needing to be held, comforted, and supported by a woman. He openly desires this feeling which a child has towards his mother. Without this woman who is away from him, he feels the emptiness of a childless mother. I find this song to be inspirational and a good piece of music because of the feeling of honesty and authenticity present in the song.
The success of a musical artist is rarely due to just the quality of their song. While I do believe that we, the listeners and consumers, have the capability to acknowledge songs and artists for their musical qualities, we much more often popularize songs based on outside factors. When I describe a musical artist as a "performer" I do not mean that they get up on stage and give a good show. No, musical artists today must be performers on the stage and off. What they do, who they show themselves to be, and what identity they claim off stage has a great impact on their music. We have learned that context matters. So here is a compilation of a few contemporary artist who I believe to be expert "performers" off the stage; performers who gain popularity due to both intentional and unintentional identity formation in the media. Performers who prove that context matters.
Britney Spears
Though we all already know this, it would be ridiculous of me not to include Britney. While much of her popularity can be attributed to sexuality and perhaps even a bit of talent, a great deal is also due to the story surrounding her. Our society is intrigued by what she does off stage.
Matisyahu
I love Matisyahu's music. I think his songs are catchy, his style is unique, and his message is fantastic. But I undoubtedly have come to know him as "the Jewish rapper." His context, his identity both within and outside his music is what is so intriguing. I think this is what makes a successful artist - one who can create an interesting relationship between rapper-Matisyahu, and Hasidic-Jew-Matisyahu.
Bono
Once again, I completely love the music of Bono and U2. But Bono has become such a huge icon not just because of his music, but because of what he stands for. His identity extends into all that the does within and outside of his music. He has in organization and is a huge advocate for many social justice issues.
Eminem
Marshal Mathers is an incredible wrapper who is definitely known for speaking his mind in his lyrics. He is also know due to his past and his life as person not just a rapper. This is such a large part of his identity as and artist that he made the movie "8 Mile" which describes where he grew up and how he got his start as a rapper. His fans know where he came from and this contributes to his popularity.
We have spent the majority of our time in this class thinking about how the music industry exploits artists for their sexuality. Another large injustice of the music industry revolves around race or ethnicity. Following the same structures of power as sexual exploitation, those in power have much more of a voice than those without all the same advantages. It is no secret that white males hold all the advantages and power in our society. We have spent a lot of time thinking about the gender part of that equation, but now I would like to spend a little time examining the history of racial discriminiation and disadvantage in the music industry.
A history of exploiting black culture has been a part of American popular music since its very beginning. Beginning in the 1840's, minstrelsy was the first form of musical theater which was created and unique to our country. If you don't know what it is, minstrel shows were basically performances which were completely based around mocking blacks. Performers in "black-face" would sing songs and portray characters which were perceived to be genuine interpretations of African American culture. It took little bits of black culture and exaggerated them and created this system of gaining success at the expense of blacks. Unfortunately, this was a huge staple of popular music for a very long time, and continues to be a part of some music today.
"These negative images of blacks did have some elements of black culture in them, however twisted and distorted the overall effect was . . . Minstrelsy was the first example of the way American popular culture would exploit and manipulate Afro-Americans and their culture to please and benefit white Americans."
-Robert C. Toll, Blacking Up: The Minstrel Show in Nineteenth Century America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1974), p. 51.
The following performance is from 1950, 100 years after the birth of minstrelsy. This shows how long black-face remained culturally acceptable and not viewed as racist at all.
Perhaps the most relevant and common form of black exploitation in the music industry is the cover song. Artists have been covering songs of other artists for a long time. What we dont often recognize is that many of the songs which we attribute to white performers, are actually covers of songs done by black artists. Because of the power and advantage held by white people in our society, they received much greater success for work which was not even theirs. Here are some examples:
"Mystery Train"
-Junior Parker 1953 -Elvis Presley in 1955
The industry now prevents songs from being stolen by other artists, but I think it is still easier to for some artists to gain popularity based on there race. Rap was formed in the Bronx in the 1970's and 80's by artists such as Grand Master Flash. But the genre was not legitimized and did not achieve success on the charts until 1986 with "Walk This Way." The reason Run DMC achieved mainstream recognition was because he recognized how important it was to appeal to white men. "Walk This Way" is a collaboration of Run DMC and the popular rock band Aerosmith.
Our society has become one of individualism and the music industry is no exception to this. In class we talked about how in the past there have been entire group movements - people writing songs and singing about the same issues. The folk revival movement for example was a movement of not an individual, but a community. Where is that today? This doesn't mean that there are not any contemporary artists who have anything important to say, it means that everyone has their own message, their own agenda. Often times, this message seems to be about individuality. I have found that there are a huge amount of songs which are commenting on conformity. There are endless songs which contain the noble message of "don't conform. Be true to yourself. You can do anything!" Don't get me wrong, this is a great thing to teach people and all, but why does it all have to be about extreme individuality? Why can't a response to conformity be diverse unity. What is missing in our society is the idea that unity and diversity can exist simultaneously - this is true community. So why does our society and its institutions have to endorse either stereotypes which put you in the category of conformity, or individualism? Here are just a few songs which stress the common rhetoric of individuality which, once again I do not think is bad in its own right:
The intentions of an artist's work is a hard thing to know. With some, it seems as though they have no purpose behind their music; the music is just a means towards popularity and achieving celebrity status. With others, their intentions in writing and performing their music seems very clear. But even in these instances, it is incredibly hard to examine the validity of one's intentions. This is because their actions, lyrics, and opinions are mediated and influenced through so many levels of our society. Regardless of whether or not we receive or interpret an artists message correctly, wouldn't you still say their is more value in this than listening to artists who seem to have no purpose, no intentions? Discussion on Joan Baez started me thinking about what other musicians seem to have really influenced society in an intentional way. What other artists are there who have given the perception, however true it may be, that their music comes secondary to another goal? That their music serves as a means towards social commentary or any sort of passion of theirs.
Bob Dylan. It's hard to start off a discussion about social commentary in music without giving a ton of credit to Bob Dylan. When he came on the scene in the 1960's he revolutionized everything about the music industry. Rock n' roll music will never be the same. He went against all the rules of popular music such as when he came out with the 6 minute long "Like A Rolling Stone," changing the standard for song length. More importantly however, he really started the art of writing lyrics which push the envelope. After Dylan, social commentary became more of a fixture in the song writing of all popular music to come.
Marvin Gaye. Yep, believe it or not, this man was passionate. His songs clearly had a theme and passion for love and sex. But his songs, especially from the 1970 album "Whats Going On" commented on all sorts of social issues. While I can only speculate, I don't think it's too far out there to say that Gaye wrote his music out of a passion for teaching love in all its forms. This theme was present in all that he wrote, even those songs without words.
Rage Against the Machine is a band which seems to have a pretty clear message. It serves as a pretty good contrast in approach to Marvin, but none the less, they had a pretty clear message against political power and social inequality. Rage was the ultimate proponent of a truly equal society and there music and context definitely got that point across. Though they received a lot of criticism for commentaries, I still appreciate the way that the intentions behind their music seemed very forefront.
This song serves as a good commentary on gender stereotypes and also shows how a woman can be empowered. The two characters in the narrative are a man a women; the man seems to be very stereotypically masculine. Men have been socialized by the media and other institutions to think that they must be solid, unwavering, and all-knowing. The man in the song thinks he knows it all, the female voice describes how men like this try and tell you that they know better. Unfortunately there are many women who take this "pill" and swallow it. But in the case of this song, the woman recognizes that she has her own voice and that he is "acting like you own me." Because of this, she finds her own power and breaks free from the box that men and gender rolls try and put women in. This sort of song is a great thing to be present in the media as it consciously and subconsciously gives women listeners hope of breaking free from this dis-empowerment.
This song is a perfect example of a woman being simultaneously empowered and objectified. The female character in this song is empowered by the way she seems to have control over the male vocalist. It is pretty clear that she makes him lose control. She occupies his mind and and makes him act in ways contrary to what he feels he should. "I am usually better when I lie / There I go / Stuck inside a shell" indicates that the standard empowerment he feels over women has been diminished by this particular girl. She has broken him out of the way he has been taught to view women, and put him in a new shell - a shell which renders him powerless compared to her. In this sense, the female is portrayed as powerful. But at what cost...
The reason he loses control is not out of a new-found respect for her, but out of her sexual attraction. In the chorus when he sings "I lose control" it is important to note that he doesn't say "when I hear you move," but rather "when I hear your BODY move." He is clarifying that this dis-empowerment, this control she has over him is purely because of sexual attraction to her body. In this way she is turned into an object; nothing more than a body for him to want, to consume, to control. He even directly states "It's a sexual attraction."
The entire song is full of this sense of entitlement. He is a man and he wants this woman. Therefor he should have her. This wall, this room which contains him, is preventing him from receiving what all men in our society have been taught to feel entitled to.
The theme of this article is that porn has made it's way and is continuing to solidify its position in mainstream culture. Through various forms, products, and industries pornography has slowly become more and more accepted. As society slowly but surely begins to except more and more sexual images and "normal" or "ok" so too has the pornography industry solidified its position in our society.
Pornography is obviously one of the most direct systems of objectification. Women are dis-empowered and portrayed as having no function beyond what their bodies can offer men. Surprise, surprise, men are empowered. But interestingly enough, some women believe they too are empowered by this institution of sexual objectification. The porn industry has given women the idea that when they seduce men with their bodies, they are empowered. Though this feeling may truly be felt by many of the women who are a part of the industry, Dines notes that beneath this there is still an objectification, a fundamental objectification which simply cannot be dismissed.
She notes that many labels such as "Girls Gone Wild" create a myth that normal women are sluts. By filming women in drunken situations, GGW shows all viewers and participants that it is not just porn stars who do it, but regular women. However, these "regular" women are found to experience significant troubles and hardships in the rest of their lives due to these encounters with porn.
Discussion Questions:
1. Will this prove to be an even larger problem in the future because young people are getting introduced to this sort of imagery at such a young age?
2. With the rise of the internet the pornography industry has shrunk significantly, could this prove to be a good thing, or only a bad thing for our society with its increased accessibility?
The following song fits very well into themes of this course. The song and its lyrics, rather explicitly, portray perhaps the most blatant form of male domination over women. It almost needs no introduction from me because the song's meaning is so clear. This song presents sexuality in a very dark and dominating way which correlates all too well with stereotypical gender roles. The hegemonic model of masculinity is one which tells men that their masculinity is a function of dominance over women. This can be seen in infinite forms, one of which being the actual act of sexuality. In this song, the artist sings about all of the explicit ways which he will show the power he has over his woman partner. Perhaps one of the most telling lines, which is not too graphic, is when he says: "There will be no tenderness." Another key element to hegemonic male sexuality is the way in which men are to be strong, emotionless beings. This naturally finds its way into the differing ideas of sex between men and women. Men are taught through socialization to view sex as recreation; to show no emotion or "tenderness." It is purely physical and clearly in the case of this song, it is purely for the benefit of the male. In this way, the song "Hatefuck" proves as an example of male empowerment over women.
The key activity of pop culture is consumption, and this can be broken down into three contributing realms of consumption in our society: Power, rituals, and symbolic/material.
The goal of this post is to talk about how the consumerist culture we live in commoditizes celebrities and musical artists. More specifically, I thought it would be interesting to look into examples of the most literal and obvious ways we have turned people into products – the material. For example, we have already briefly referenced the Britney Barbie and how that can be used as a good model in understanding her function in the minds of us consumers. So what are some other ways in which we aid the commoditizing and objectifying of celebrities? Focusing not only on just images and rhetoric in the media, I have compiled a list of actually tangible and purchasable examples. Here are a few examples that came to my mind:
Trading Cards
It sounds bit ridiculous I know, but I can't help but wonder how this tradition of ownership, buying, trading, and coveting has aided the way we turn celebrities into commodities. Your classic baseball card trading is one thing, but this culture has broadened its horizons ranging from Pokemon to porn-stars.
The Exile of Britney Spears Ch 8-15
Christopher R. Smit
We have already established how we as a culture created and consumed Britney Spears. We consumed everything about her and exploited her as a person for our own entertainment and political (power) purposes. In this relationship between Britney and I, guess who holds the power? Me, the consumer. Our society has taught us to consume anything and everything as product; this does not exclude Britney Spears. This all sounds a little weird and uncomfortable, stating that we consumed Britney the way we consume cookies. Perhaps it is easier to say that we consumed Britney the way we consume, say, a Barbie doll. The fact that Britney was literally objectified and produced into the form of a miniature doll, says a lot about this relationship between us and Britney. We hold the power. Just as we can litterally buy a Britney doll and hold it our hands, play with it and manipulate it, we have also been manipulating Britney Spears the person. Using this idea of Britney as our manipulated product, explanation can be offered for the huge down fall we witnessed in her career. We let Britney make her own decisions and those decisions led her to become less "perfect." In her becoming pregnant, this young innocence which we had associated with her dissolved. Her body became physically less like a doll and more like a real women with the advantages of larger breasts, but a bigger, "used" body. We didn't like this and sent her into exile for it. We rejected her, but not completely - still using her as a point of ridicule and gossip, but not using her for her sex appeal any more.
But guess what, Britney's back! On our terms that is. Whether or not she fully understands the power we as a society and the media have over her, she will act in just the way we want her to. If she doesn't we know what happened last time. Just in case you are not on quite on the Britney's-back-band-wagon, lets just say that a few other people are... Who's top of the Google + charts?
In the process of trying to find out what other celebrities have been made into Barbies, I found myself on the Barbie website. I would encourage you to check it out, it is pretty fantastic... http://www.barbiemedia.com/?subcat=7
Discussion Questions:
Do you think our contemporary society turns people into commodities more or less than it used to?
Who do you see having the potential to be the next Britney? The next big cookie for us to spit out of our mouths?
The Exile of Britney Spears Ch 1-7
Christopher R. Smit
Britney Spears is celebrity. Her name is recognized by everybody. Her image is ingrained in the minds of everyone in our society. Her story has intrigued , and continues to intrigue all of us. All of these aspects which make up who Britney is, have been produced by you and I. Who is the real Britney? Who knows. What Christopher Smit does know, and points out to the rest of us, is that we have created and consumed Britney Spears. From her origins as an innocent southern girl, we as a culture of consumption, have used Britney as an item of our entertainment and consumption. We took her and transformed her slowly from this innocent image to a sort of sexualized innocence. As she became popular with her 1999 album "...Baby One More Time" she really became a product of whatever function we desired her to serve. Her sexuality became more and more prevalent, and continues this same pattern now in her recent comeback to popular music. However, in the middle there was that portion of time in which Britney really fell of the map and made started making her own decisions. That didn't go well to say the least...
...but sure enough, we re-made her into what we desired. And today's Britney is just as much of a sex-symbol as the "original" one.
Discussion Questions:
Do you think Britney is at all to blame for her consumption?
How successful do you think this next portion of her career will be?
What could cause her to have another fall from fame?
John Mayer holds quite the reputation as not only a great rock artist, but a womanizer. It makes sense really, I mean he's not the ugliest guy in the world and he has the voice and guitar playing skills that could make a wolverine purr.
Perhaps my personal favorite song from the album Battle Studies, “Assassin” is a catchy look into the differing stereotypical role of sex between males and females. The masculine definition tells men that sex is much more of a recreational act – a game, sport.In this song, the term assassin refers to the male character in the story. Just as an assassin has to remain emotionally detached from what he does, the male must remain emotionally detached from the women he seduces. In the narrative of this song, he has taken this role and mastered it saying “I was a killer, was the best they’d ever seen, I’d steal your heart before you ever heard a thing.” But the story takes a turn when a woman, who is typically just submissive to his actions, uses his own tactics on him. She gets him to become emotionally attached, but she herself has no attachment.
The music follows this progression as it sounds very calm and constant, then getting worked up and frantic sounding when he realizes what has happened. He realizes what he has been doing to women once he experiences it from the other side.
This is an interesting piece to look into in terms of how it might support or challenge the stereotypical male or female role. Do you think this narrative supports the masculine role of domination by initially glamourizing the “assassin,” or does it challenge stereotypes in the self-realization the character’s experiences?
ch. 4 "Forging Masculinity - Heavy Metal Sounds and Images of Gender"
Robert Walser
Heavy metal, just as any other genre, is the site for creation of masculinity. Each category of music has it's own themes with are generally a staple of that genre. Most genres tend to have a specific way in which they respond to questions found in the rhetoric of masculinity. Music as a social institution tends to present ideals of masculinity which lead listeners to pursue. This is problematic because many of the messages are conflicting and are generally very hard, if not impossible, to achieve - only leading listeners to search for other answers found in popular music, often leading them down yet another problematic path. Music presents answers to questions which are fantasy and ultimately unrealistic. In the case of heavy metal, much of its discourse revolves around masculinity as a homo-social, or homo-erotic entity. Narrative and images found in metal music videos lead viewers to believe that a true masculinity can best be found through a bond with other men. This entails a flight from the feminine; the best response to the problems and fear brought about by women. This is partially accomplished simply through the creation of music videos which contain no female characters.
"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath exemplifies this point because while it does contain some imagery of women, those images are very obscure and have a feeling of absence. This video also exemplifies the point the author makes about music videos from this genre being mainly clips of the band performing.
Very interestingly, Walser wrote that the homo-social nature of this genre and culture surrounding it can actually lead to homosexual people within it. He gave examples of metal artists who came out as gay and here is one other persons take on, and list of gay artists in metal music: Top 5 Gay Metal Artists.
She also wrote on how these bands and their music can be experienced by women. Here is one womans perspecive on how she too could relate to some of the metal music: Are You Talking To Me? Respecting Women In Metal
Many factors, more than covered here, contribute to the empowerment of men and they all lead to a very sexist attitude in heavy metal music.
Discussion Questions:
Is it possible for women to be empowered in their absence from metal music? Do lyrics and themes about how men need to find a way to cut out women, almost give them a feeling of power because they know what they are capable of?
Do you think music videos from this genre are almost less sexual in their imagery than popular music today? Is it just a different kind of sexual imagery?
ch. 14 "Seduced By The Sign- an analysis of the textual link between sound and image in pop videos"
Sheila Whiteley
This article outlined the complex relationship that exists between a song and its music video. While both carry weight in different aspects of a musical production, it is argued that "the preferred meaning is largely weighed in favor of the image." Musical content such as lyric and tone do dictate a good deal of the meaning of a song. But when accompanied by visual representation (music video), the song's narrative is ultimately framed by the images. Music videos invited the audience to look rather than listen; this can form entirely new meanings and interpretations. Expression of sexuality in particular can be communicated in a different way though image rather than just sound. Whiteley spends much of her time in the article describing the complex sexual expression found in much of Madonna's work.
Although it is quite disturbing, this is the first example which came to mind. "The Dope Show" is a critique by Marilyn Manson of Hollywood and the music industry. His song comments on the exploitation of peoples image or pretty faces in Hollywood. The song reaches another level when he adds confusing and disturbing images to exemplify his point. The images raise all sorts of questions about sexual stereotypes to say the least. WARNING: the following videos are rather graphic and disturbing. Proceed at own risk.
Whiteley ch. 9 "Female Identity and the Woman Songwriter"
Charlotte Greig
There are certain experiences which are specific only to women, and therefor provide female artists with a territory of their own for song-writitng. Childbearing and motherhood are of a realm which woman have a truly unique perspective upon. Greig makes the point that popular music has a long-held tradition, a very submerge one at that, of female artists expressing their experiences and views on this subject through their music. She argues that this rhetoric has historically not been a large enough part of the feminine voice in music, but has begun to regain its place and power in the text of many female artists.
Country music has been a site for more expression of childbearing and motherhood experiences because of its preference for narrative rather than symbolic lyrics. Greig argues that the most authentic and true expression of emotion is that which naturally emerges from a narrative, as opposed to that which is attempted to be described.
This article describes how "If I Die Young" comes up short in its description of a mothers emotions, thus supporting the claim that narrative lyrics are most effective. Greig gives Dolly Parton's "Down from Dover" as an example of a successful lyric.
Greig also comments on how difficult it seems to be for women singer/songwriters who have had children to try and integrate this experience into their work.
Whiteley ch. 11 "Mannish Girl: k.d. lang - from cowpunk to androgyny"
Stella Bruzzi
This article outlines how k.d. lang managed to escape being put into a box of sexual identity. Musically, through her career lang transitioned from country music, to the genre more widely known as easy listening. Her sexual identity followed a similar path. In the first stage of her career, lang was know for her irritatingly conflicting messages or implications of sexual identity. It is understood that there are many facets of an artists identity such as image, lyric, sound, etc. With lang however, correlation between these different realms did not exist. Through toying with the relationship between visible and implied, lang managed to create a very confusing and intriguing sexual identity. Lang's drag, similar to cross dressing, challenged the originality of sexuality as it clashed with the very prevalent and defined gender roles of country music - all the time not actually coming out as homosexual. lang, as well as Madonna, and Annie Lennox were leading figures in the breaking down of gender stereotypes. However, lang was different because there was never any sense of completeness or coherence. While Madonna and Lennox were constantly changing, for at least one moment they at seemed to be complete in their identity.
Masculine Madonna Hyper-feminized Madonna
The second stage of lang's career began when she came out as lesbian. Through this process, lang transitioned from this conflicting sexual image, to one of androgyny. She switched from a journeying away from femininity, to an aspiration of masculinity. In this process she became androgynous meaning that she had no masculine characteristics and no feminine; completely neutral. It has been argued that this is the ultimate triumph over gender stratification - succumbing to neither masculine characteristics, nor feminine. But Bruzzi argues that her "frustrating universality and tentative equivocation could be construed as absenting rather than presenting her sexuality." This the point that Bruzzi is trying make: that this loss is a mere denial or fleeing from the problems lang has with gender rather than addressing them directly. This same ambiguity and denial can be seen in her lyrics when she refuses to use clear pronouns such as "he" or "she."
Discussion Questions:
Do you agree that androgyny is an inadequate response to issues of gender?
What could be some of the positive effects that icons such as lang have on societal perspectives on sexuality? Negative?
Does this discussion take a different form if we come at it from a Christian perspective? How so?
Whiteley ch. 10 "Sinead O'Connor - Musical Mother"
Keith Negus
The identity of a musical performer is developed through a process of mediation. An identity cannot be simply a function of what is intended by an artist, nor can it be strictly a product of societal influences and restrictions. Rather, an artist has the capability to author their own "text," but has no control over the infinite ways in which their text is mediated and thus received by their audience. Negus uses the example of Sinead O'Connor to show how she authored a text of intimacy and authenticity, and how that text was supported and legitimized by various forms of mediation. The effective artist recognizes this and articulates themselves based on how their text will be interpreted - an interpretation based on a system of interpretive cues present in the society which influence all listeners.
The use of an acoustic guitar and a specific recording technique, which allows the listener to hear her hands on the guitar, connected the music to the body and made it more relate-able for the listener. This difference between electric and acoustic guitar on meaning and reception is all too prevalent in music still today. Many artists use both to relate differing messages in their songs. For example, notice the different feeling that the guitar provides in relation to the lyrics of the songs.
Negus also commented on how much of an artists identity has to do with more than just their music, but the way they interact with the media. Sinead O'Connor for example, created a an image of an artist in opposition to the recording business through journals and interviews which cited her expressing her opinions.
Image is another huge piece in how an artist is mediated and seen by the public. For O'Connor, she established a very recognizable image- an image which had a variety of implications about female sexuality.
Discussion Questions:
What do you think some of the contributing factors may have been which led her to buzz her head?
Do you think she recognized all of them and did it intentionally?
Sexing The Groove Ch. 6 - Bruce Springsteen and Masculinity
Sheila Whiteley
As we have already noted, popular music artists play a special and important role in the creation of sexuality. There are a wide variety of types of artists who in some shape or form, aid in the reproduction and creation of new gender roles. This essay concentrated on the authentic, blue-collar, rock star and his function in the creation of masculinity - Bruce Springsteen being the most prevalent representation of this. Whiteley writes about how Bruce Springsteen went about representing masculinity in a time where much confusion surrounded (and continues to surround) the definition of masculinity. Through his creation of an image of authenticity, Springsteen created a relationship with his audience which brought about huge opportunity for influence particularly in this realm of hegemonic masculine identity.
Bruce Springsteen, in all his sweaty glory, created this aura of authenticity largely through live performances. He believed that a connection could be formed with his audience which was not achievable through music videos. Bruce was always reluctant to release music videos because they would not be an authentic representation and experience of his music. Because he created this sort of relationship with his fans, it could be said that he had an even greater influence on society than most other performers.
Unfortunately, this powerful influence had a negative impact on perceived masculinity and the role of women in society. In an attempt to hold strong to traditional masculinity, Springsteen's music often included lyrical themes of women as passive objects who needed to be rescued by a man. "Cover Me" is a perfect example of how men have found themselves in a time of "crisis," or confusion over what "true" manliness is. In this confusion the one thing they can resort back to is basically that women will always be there to have sex with you when you want them to.
The times are tough now, just getting tougher
This old world is rough, it's just getting rougher Cover me, come on baby, cover me
Well I'm looking for a lover who will come on in and cover me
Promise me baby you won't let them find us
Hold me in your arms, let's let our love blind us
Cover me, shut the door and cover me
Well I'm looking for a lover who will come on in and cover me
Outside's the rain, the driving snow
I can hear the wild wind blowing
Turn out the light, bolt the door
I ain't going out there no more
This whole world is out there just trying to score
I've seen enough I don't want to see any more,
Cover me, come on and cover me
I'm looking for a lover who will come on in and cover me
Looking for a lover who will come on in and cover me
Discussion questions:
What do you think the significance is of his role as the American poster child? How does imagery like that of his "Born In the USA" album cover affect his authenticity and in turn, his sexuality?
Late in his career, how do you think Springsteen managed to toe the line between social commentary, and self exposure?
How could he sing about social justice issues without outwardly admitting his own frustrations and his participation in the social production of masculinity?
Article: "Is Indie Dead?"
Author: Rachael Maddux
Thesis: Originally created to champion the authentically original individual, indie music has now ironically taken the form which it so clearly built its base against. The origins of indie labels are in music which was formed as a counter-culture to popular music, but the popular "indie" music of today has become paradoxical to this very identity. This pattern of the indie music is illustrated by the current state of "indie" as an identity which many people employ.
So indie music and the entire indie culture may all be ironic and for that matter, dead, but it would just be ignorant for me to say that it isn't catchy. While I would not generally associate myself with either of the above categories, it would be ridiculous for me to say that I didn't enjoy some indie music from time to time. Perhaps my favorite indie-rock/world music group is Beirut. I saw them in concert not that long ago and, just to bring today's discussion full circle, I bought their newest vinyl. Enjoy.
Discussion Questions:
Maddux suggest the term "post-indie." What do you think would be a good alternative name for this?
Do you think it often goes unrecognized how great of an influence recording labels, particularly the size of the labels, have on music?
Article: Sizing Up Record Collections: Gender and connoisseurship in rock music culture
Author: Will Straw
One of my new found past-times is record listening. Inspired by my Dad's collection of vinyls I have really started to enjoy listening to records of some of my favorite classic rock and even contemporary artists. Would I call myself a collector? No. If I had the money could I see myself collecting? Absolutely. So what is it about collecting records that appeals to people, particularly men, today? Straw says that though conclusions have not been drawn as to the cause of collecting as a masculine tendency, it is still important to note the role collecting plays in structuring relationships between men.
"To collect is to valorize the obscure." Although records no longer have much value in our society, people can certainly find more obscure things to collect.
Jean-Francois Vernetti of Switzerland has collected 8,888 different 'Do Not Disturb' hotel signs from 189 countries across the world since 1985. I'll let you decide the obscurity of that collection.
The largest collection of clocks belongs to belongs to Jack Schoff who has amassed 1,094 different clocks. Obscure, yet still pretty cool in my opinion.
My favorite portion of Straw's article was when he talked about "hip" and "nerd" identities. In terms of the accumulation of knowledge, which is a common function of masculine-collector-identities, the difference lies in how they show that knowledge. "Hip" identities are marked by the apparent instinctuality of that knowledge, where nerds clearly cultivate knowledge intentionally.
Discussion Questions:
If knowledge is something which should be disguised and down-played in order to be hip, how do you think that effects the transfer of knowledge or lack-there-of?
What examples are there of an item which can be "collected" by a man, but would be seen differently in the possession of a woman?
What is a real man? What is a real woman? These questions have long been answered, not by scientific reason, but by social construction. Throughout history, men and women have been told through all sorts of societal institutions how they should act, how they should look... ultimately- what their identity should be.
Today's reading written by Karen Ross looked at the interesting place masculine and feminine identities are today. These long held definitions of masculinity and femininity as created and reproduced by the media are changing. Changing towards a more equal system of gender you might hope? Not necessarily true. Though there are many who buy into the myth that we are a post-sexist society, exaggerated gender differences and expectations still exist. This chapter written by Ross aimed to make the point that sexual identities are in a time of "crisis," and this plays itself out in many ways, particularly in the media. New "lad" magazines are supplying a justification for "boys to be boys" by fulfilling their pleasures in a socially accepted and endorsed manner. The question is, but when do they break out of this "prolonged adolescents" and be adults? These magazines simultaneously give men permission to be a "real man," while providing support for frustrations of inferiority felt by men who fail at the very identity endorsed and advertised by the magazine. Here is the January 2012 cover of Men's Health magazine.
Notice the part where it says "Seduce her in 60 seconds! Then have sex all night." And tips on how to have "riotous sex." The point Ross makes is that articles and advertisements of this nature are becoming more and more common - more and more easily accessible. Many forms of the media are continuing to provide means by which men can exercise their dominion over women both sexually, and in all other areas of life. But can this power be found by women if they chose to exploit and objectify their own bodies? Ross points to a contemporary cultural definition of femininity in which women use the parts of their body which are strictly female, to gain equality in power with men. But do the ends justify the means? I mean, if women are still exploited and objectified, does it matter whose choice it was?
Most unfortunately, there are those within the Christian faith who also support gender differences. There are traditions of the Christian church which believe in this hierarchy of gender which is a "Godly" family structure. Groups such as the Promise Keepers have taken it upon themselves to help men claim their "true manhood."
John Eldredge's Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul is a popular book which basically charges Christian Men to get out and reclaim the masculinity which God intended for all men. Eldredge manages to stretch scripture into endorsing an idea that men are called by God to be different than women. Calvin College's very own Mark Mulder wrote more on the topic. If you would like to read more from a much more knowledgeable source,Click Here..
Now for a more mainstream example of the media's power to create and reproduce socially constructed gender differences. I leave you with these questions:
What generalizations does this advertisement make about men? About women?
How does this commercial manage to redefine orthodox characteristics of masculinity?
