The Masculine Voice

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.