Annie Lenox through her performances and music videos evoked the use of “gender-bending”. Lennox was one of the first performers who employed this strategy. By doing this Lennox showed that we could view women in different ways unlike the identity assigned for them by the media and society. The Eurythmics used their videos as a tool for performing gender roles, stereotypes by evoking the use of drag through camp.
In Rodger’s article, she describes the Lennox’s transformation as fully beginning when she became part of the group “Eurythmics”. This happened around the same time MTV launched their music channel. “Music videos were quickly becoming an integral part of popular music” (Rodger 18). With the emergence of music videos as an important part of music, it was important to make these videos stand out and be different. Lennox did this by putting on a performance in her music videos. She did this through props as shown in her “Love is a Stranger” video. She employed the use of costumes, makeup, wigs, “movement and body language” (Rodger 19). She also uses fetish gear in the video. Her body movements change depending on which gender she is depicting. Her movements are more fluid in the beginning when she is big haired blonde beauty and as the video continues, her movements become more rigid.
Through her music videos, Lennox adopts gender bending. The way she looked in “Love in the Stranger” goes from feminine to masculine androgynous. In the first half of the video, we are not sure if Lennox is male in a female drag objectively speaking because even as a woman she has some masculine qualities. In the second half of the video when she is in a suit it is same, Lennox could be a woman in male drag. It is through depictions like t...
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... their authenticity because she is so easily able to adapt and assume a gender. By destroying film literally in the “Love is a Stranger” video Lennox critiques the commercialized images of women in the media. This is another example of how her performance was deliberate and sought to evoke certain references and images in to popular culture.
Overall, through Lennox’s performances in her music video she was able to construct another narrative for women in music at the time. Through this she employed the use of gender bending, drag as masquerade, camp and gender subversion. All of these were made possible using props and her mise-en-scene, which provided the right look and atmosphere for these performances to be able to take place. In conclusion, Lennox was part of the women who started a movement still used today through other female contemporary artists.
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.
The case is made that woman are more noticed by men when they have the big butts and fake hair. The female actors in the movie do not make much attempt to discredit this accusation, furthermore accepting the rhetoric that all males like the fake girls they see in the magazine and that’s the reason all women do this. This is a seamless example of how popular culture has continued to view woman and how woman continue to fall victim to the stereotypes of popular culture. During the exchange of ideas about the female stereotypes there are references made about famous Hollywood elites such as Beyoncé which places more light on the fact that popular culture plays a huge role in female
Cyndi Lauper’s music has had an influence on women in the 80s. Through it, she showed women that it is ok to be themselves. In her first number one song, she was able to show that girls can just have fun being themselves without having men or boys around. In another one of her most famous songs, she told women that “Girls just wanna have fun” (“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”). In this song she spoke to her father about having fun with self confidence and not relying on boys. In fact, according to one article, “ Lauper’s success is the culmination of years of hard work and sacrifice” (Cyndi Lauper). She never gave up on her dream. The fact that she was so successful in music, gave women the will be strong. Sometimes people would tell her to give up, but she would not give up and this made her work harder for her dream to become success. In his article about her, Kurt Loder wrote about Lauper in the Rolling Stones: “A wild and wonderful skyrocket of a voice Lauper's extraordinary pipes connect with the right material, there sults sounds like the beginning of a whole new golden age.” T...
Later in 1972, she wrote the book “Mother Camp: female impersonators in America”. In this book Newton had spent time with drag queens for two years, she went with them to the loud bars they appeared, the chaotic dressing rooms where the homosexual men transformed themselves as women and the cheap apartments that the
Tomboy and Laurence Anyways are two films that portray transgender characters and the issues that they face. Tomboy follows a transgender boy named Mikaël who moves to a new neighborhood with their family and Laurence Anyways follows Laurence, a transgender woman as she tells the story of her transition and her relationship with the love of her life, Fred. The two films explore various aspects of Mikaël and Laurence’s lives and how they are affected by their gender identities.
... among the first people to break out of these roles Diana leaves herself open to ridicule. This can be seen in the strained relationships she has with her best friend and others in her high school. Moreover, because Diana defies the gender stereotypes she has a hard time being accepted by both boys and girls—society does not know how to treat her since she does not fit into any of its categories.
She emerged as part of the 1990's "queer new wave" of young film and video makers who dealt with gay and lesbian themes with a new directness and vitality.
For example, when the documentary showed the band members and how they were symbolizing women. The band members had the woman against the wall with either no clothes or just undergarments on and throwing slices of meat at her. A lot of films and music portray this message that women are just a piece of meat and that they are only good for sexual experiences. Another example was Snoop Dog’s lyrics in his film, Diary of a Pimp, “you gotta break these hoes for Snoop” learning the lifestyle of a rapper and a pimp illustrating prostitution of women. Dreamworlds documentary also mentioned this when talking about the lives of women when a man is not present in their life. It illustrated scenes of sadness and loneliness. Women are not creatures who desire sex all the time and the purpose of the film was to teach us that how women are presented in music videos is not right. Women are more than just their bodies and do not need to continue to be objectified. Every media production should follow the Bechdel Test in communication of women and their actions. Women in music and films should not always be talking about men or living their life under the control of a man. Media acts as if women can’t be independent. If media continues to show women getting treating as objects and knowing that media influences society, then in society people will continue to think as if treating a woman as such is acceptable. Treating women as objects is not acceptable at all. However, what we see from media shows
a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a 1, p. 66-87. Sommers-Flanagan, R., Sommers-Flanagan, J., & Davis, B. (1993) The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. What’s happening on music television: A gender-roled content analysis.
Madonna is a controversial legend whose attitudes and opinions on sexuality have forced the public to take notice and change the image of females in society. Madonna believed women’s sexuality was a natural aspect of life; therefore, she dared to challenge the rules and definitions of femininity and sought to expand the meaning of it. In a male dominated world, she wanted to focus on the importance of women and let them have a voice of their own. Madonna shattered all the myths on traditional beauty standards and made her statement on sexuality and feminism, which changed how society viewed the standards of beauty. She impacted female power by encouraging sex- positivity into her music and her style. It is mainly because of Madonna that ordinary women, and women in modern entertainment have more choices and freedom which continues to influence further generations.
...ality between males in females. They have succeeded in a lot of issues; but there is still a lot of work hat needs to be done to create a better world for women. The images we receive from the media clearly downgrade the capabilities of women by only focusing on their physical appearance. Hip-hop videos teach us that women are inferior to men, which is something many females have fought to end. The way in which women are portrayed in music videos influence the decisions we make every day. When young girls see those women dressed with provocative clothing, dancing in a seductive ways, and hear the names they are called, they create the ideology that those behaviors are acceptable. There is still a lot to do to end with the stereotypes that hip-hop videos have created, but if women unite to end this inequality and misrepresentation everything is possible.
Even in today’s society, sexism is still prevalent and inhibits the people who are affected by it. For the purpose of this essay, sexism will be defined as any action that consciously contributes to a gender stereotyping society. In her essay, Marilyn Frye notes this definition of sexism stating that “making decisions on the basis of sex reinforces the patterns that make it relevant” (846). Therefore, any decision that contributes to the gender binary and its framework is considered sexist. The musical Gypsy has instances in which the main character, Rose, can be considered both going against and contributing to the “patterns that make sex relevant.” In one scene, Rose can be seen subjecting her children to gender roles which feeds in to sexism,
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
To conclude, the use of body for Feminist and Performance artists in the 1960s-1970s was significant in confronting the way women were viewed as artists in a male dominated art world. It was a vital element in raising consciousness and showing action towards the ideas of feminism. (Holt.J, 2009) Feminine nudity was a controversial problem, which female artists wanted to provoke in order to gain equality. The body became a form of expression to transform social stereotypes, and used as a primary medium, which reasserted aspects of a women’s figure that had been traditionally ignored or repressed by the male majority. (Holt.J, 2009) The body had just become one platform used by feminism and performance artists such as, Cindy Sherman, Carolee Schneemann and Hannah Wilke to rebel and promote their ideas, in order to gain equal rights.
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...