The Growth of Female Representation in Rock Music Female rock musicians have always had difficulty penetrating the male rock world. Women’s participation in rock music usually consists of bolstering male performance in the roles of groupie, girlfriend, or backup singer. Even in punk rock and emo culture, women are often treated as a novelty by the music press and culture critics. However, the 1990’s saw a flare-up in the music press about a new group of female musicians: the angry women. This new developing genre, Riot Grrrl, created a platform for female artists to express anger through rock music, allowing them to assert their ideas of feminism and sexuality. The Riot Grrrl movement spawned ideals in music and in young-women politics that …show more content…
Riot Grrrl began in 1991, when a group of women from Washington, D.C. and Olympia, WA held a meeting to discuss how to address sexism in the punk scene. Inspired by recent antiracist riots in D.C., the women decided that they wanted to start their own “girl riot” against a society that provided no validation of women’s experiences (Schilt). Thus, the name “Riot Grrrl” was born. The re-writing of the word “girl” came from a desire to focus on childhood, where a majority of self-esteem and belief in one’s self is at its strongest, where the re-writing of the word as “grrrl” represented the anger behind the movement; it sounded like a growl as well. The genre, Riot Grrrl, “co-opted the values and rhetoric of punk” in the name of feminism (Carlip, …show more content…
Grrrls within the movement demanded the reclamation of previously insulting terms by writing “whore” and “slut” on their bodies (Kulaas). This was used as a way to call attention to the taboo subject of young women’s sexuality and desire. While the movement never found a solution in dealing with this sexual energy, it raised awareness regarding this subject. Riot Grrrl also reclaimed “girl” and “lady” to indicate identification with feminism, queerness, and an alternative youth community. As a response to the hierarchical position in punk music, Riot Grrrl created a decentralized form of rule within the movement. The environment was supportive and unity-minded, allowing young women to share experiences and insights without feeling threatened or dominated as in mainstream society. By eliminating the middle man and following the DIY method, grrrls spread a political agenda and call to revolution without the restrictions of male control and eliminating the hierarchial roles between performer and audience member at music
I. Introduction Gender plays a big role in music, I became aware of gender role in music when noticing how most songs talks about women and how they are being either exploited or empowered. Most music videos even in the 80s either objectified women or respect sexuality. Women are usually sexually alluring in music videos, stage performances and even in the song lyrics. Most music video uses video vixens or video girls that are usually dressed or performing sexually. For example, “Siouxsie Sioux frequently performed wearing black leather and rubber bondage attire, as well as heavy eye make-up, making overt statements about her sexuality.
Rock n’ roll gave people the voice they did not have in the early years. As the genre of music became more wide spread, people actually began to speak out. Altschuler touches on the exploration of how the rock n' roll culture roughly integrated with replaced and conflicted with preceding cultural values. Many of these values were very touch topics. Besides black civil rights, sexuality were one of the most sensitive t...
Although considered the day Rock ‘n’ Roll was born, many other events in American history have given foundation to this much loved idea. Rock ‘n’ Roll is much more than just music, rather it is the movement which underlines cultural imperialism. Rock had been promoting a culture of comfort and freedom from social constraints as well. Although the style of ‘Rock music’ is easily adaptable into many different sounds, it is still thoroughly identified by its definingly amplified rhythm. The sudden worldwide popularity of rock and roll resulted in an unparalleled social impact. Rock ‘n’ Roll influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language in a way few other social developments have equaled. The social impact is so large that rock stars are worshipped worldwide. In its early years, many adults condemned the style of music, placing a stigma on its name, and forbid their children from listening and following its ways. Many considered Rock ‘n’ Roll culture as a bad influence to all people, but as the genre aged and the now not-so-young crowds had matured, Rock was respected and
To exemplify, “[s]even of… 19 female performed songs [from 1958-2005] were about lost love, two were about strong love” (Pruitt, p. 18). Lyrics are traditionally limited for women in country music within the scope of how they affect men. However, male-fronted songs, while predominantly about heterosexual love, have a variety of topics available, such as “‘country life,’ … ‘aging,’ ‘fame,’ ‘family,’, ‘homesickness,’ ‘infidelity,’ ‘liquor’” (Pruitt, p. 17). Themes outside of love are uncommon for female country singers on the charts, though women are underrepresented on country music charts. In fact, until 1968, women were absent from the top five country charts (Pruitt,). Even though women have always taken part in country music, their role is depended upon
Women in popular music have created a tremendous history in the wake of feminism. They have made their presence visible by identifying themselves as feminists. Being a woman was hard during that stage. Women were not allowed to do many things due to gender inequality such as the right to vote and to own a property. Therefore, from that moment onwards, women decided to stand up and make some changes. During the early stage of feminism, women developed their skills in popular music to create awareness. They associate popular music with feminism. Although there were racial issues between the black and white during that time, both sides continued to establish in different ways, through different genres of music. Black women focused on ‘black genres’ such as blues, jazz, and gospel, whereas white women performed in musical theatres. Female artists such as Lilian Hardin, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Nina Simone were among the notable exceptions of female instrumentalists during feminism. In this essay, I will assess feminism focusing on the second-wave.
These specific ploys that are performed by the Guerrilla Girls are in the way they dress, the masks they wear, pseudonymous names of dead women artists and the witty factual evidence in their works. These are all examples to evoke audiences in challenging not only the art society which dictates the value and worth of women in art, but also to confront yourself and your own beliefs in a way that makes audiences rethink these growing issues. Over the last twenty years, the Guerrilla Girls have established a strong following due to the fact that they challenged and consistently exhibited a strong supportive subject matter that defies societal expectations. In an interview “We reclaimed the word girl because it was so often used to belittle grown women. We also wanted to make older feminists sit up and notice us since being anti- “girl” was one of their issues....
This paper is an analysis of the grunge movement, an exploration into genre classification, audience and artist identity and how it is related to media and cultural capital. This paper will also highlight the vast difference between literary perception of the movement (analysis and articles written about grunge) versus the perception of inhabitants of Seattle that witnessed the grunge movement as it happened (extracted from interviews in the grunge documentary, Hype!).
Gender diversity is unequally represented across all fields in the music. From the board room to the recording room, research shows a worrying gender imbalance. This imbalance is not in favor of women. Research shows that gender divide across all music industry jobs is 67.8% male to 32.2% female. Of the 95,000 songwriters and composers registered with PRS for Music, only 13% are female Statistics consistently show that women in music earn less than their male counterparts. This is hard to believe when artists such as Beyonce and Taylor Swift dominate the charts. In almost all cases, women are finding themselves passed over for pay raises, promotions, and recognition and record deals. In an article written by (Baker 2013), men that entered the industry at the same time as many of her friends were already at senior level positions, men received more record deals and more awards like Grammys and AMAs. There are many reasons possible reasons for the lack of gender diversity. The most common complaint is that we live in a male dominated world and that women are considered a diva or difficult when they express their opinions and/or challenge an idea. Another reason for the lack of gender diversity is that women feel intimidated when it comes to the male dominated music industry and may not feel confident asking for raises, promotions and expanded contracts. However, the lack of gender diversity is being addressed
Additionally, I will look at fan feedback of the band and see if even the people who are buying the albums and going to the concerts are even acknowledging the successes of the band as something of merit, or are viewing their music in terms of how the patriarchy tells them to (i.e as a guilty pleasure). This is where I will apply the idea of discourses (whole systems of thought, speech, and knowledge production that structure institutional and social practices, (O’Brien & Szeman, 2014), ISAs, and feminist ideas of patriarchy spurring off Gill’s challenges of postfeminist assumptions of power that “women have not overthrown but rather internalized the disciplinary regime that dictates particular and compulsory ways of looking and acting” (O’Brien & Szeman, 2014), the idea that not only is the band not given respect musically, but perhaps these young women themselves become convinced that their music is more of a “guilty pleasure” than it is “quality
These groups are listed as skinhead, punk, hip-hop, hardcore/heavy metal, straight edge, goths, hackers, gamers, online communities, virginity pledgers, and riot grrrls. Although the book itself is slender and small, each chapter is about fifteen pages. The chapters hold a brief description of the individual categories and explain the history of how the group became known to have that title. This comes hand-in-hand with identifying the sociological concept and theory. After providing a brief overview at the beginning of each chapter that introduces the sociological novice to some of the core elements of theories in deviance and subcultural studies, Haenfler combines a philosophical depiction of the variations that come with the subculture’s manifestations. These specific concepts help introduce the reader to more analytical/theoretical perspectives, in which these phenomena can be described and
One of the most noteworthy features of modern music videos is the portrayal of gender according to the worldviews, experiences, and expectations of the music artistes, or in line with gender stereotypes associated with specific music genres (Conrad, Dixon, & Zhang, 2009). In this regard, this paper attempts a critical interrogation of gender representations in music videos, specifically in terms of how women and men are represented in music videos of artistes in the Hip Hop genre. In doing so, this paper seeks to determine the stereotypes that underpin gender portrayal in hip hop music videos, contextualize the factors that may be responsible for the propagation of such stereotypes in music videos, and explore the implications for audiences – particularly teenagers and young adults who constitute much of the fan-base for the hip hop music genre.
In rock music its target audience is the youth. And by youth I am not referring to teenagers, but instead to the mentality of youth, the adults and teens still in the sociological stage between being a ‘kid’ and accepting the responsibilities of ‘adulthood’ [Weinstein pg6] These youth negotiate the genre and change it to their liking. For example both males and females have different subgenres of rock targeted specifically at them. Males are seen from a young age as being naughty and rowdy, not very responsible and thus given more freedom. While girls are seen as quiet and polite, with very low aggression. These traits have reflected in the genres that are targeted at the two genders. Males were targeted with Heavy Metal as it expressed the qualities the very qualities they will have to give up in order to become adults and how they will lose their freedom. While for females rock music is soft and romantic, females will typically grow up faster than males and leave youth behind in order to take up responsibilities. An example of how the music was negotiated to fit the two genders is seem in the 1960s when performers such as Carole king and James Taylor transformed themes of protest into sentimental commentaries, romance and illusions of youth. [Weinstein pg 12-13] While heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath sung about politicians and how disgusting they are for exploiting young people in the name of greed which is shown in the song Wicked World. This very characteristic of rock being created by the youth for the youth is still alive today, for example during the 2004 presidential election Green Day released American Idiot. The song was about how the media and political are brainwashing Americans to remove their individuality. The singer wanted to warn America of this and prevent them from turning into ‘idiots’ and
In 2010 Dr. Cynthia Frisby published an article in Media Report to Women about a research study that she conducted to find any correlation between music genre, artist gender, and artist ethnicity. Common slang terms used to de...
Dunn, Kevin, and May Summer Farnsworth. "“We ARE The Revolution”: Riot Grrrl Press, Girl Empowerment, And DIY Self-Publishing." Women's Studies 41.2 (2012): 136-157. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 May 2012.
The lyrics of music play an important part of interpreting the meaning of the song. The roles which women have been allowed by the society to embody have changed drastically. Women may question their roles because of what they see portrayed by popular culture or media. Change in female’s identity can be seen in how women are viewed or how they portray themselves in popular culture specifically through music. In general, music continues to...