Reading Response 1 - Gender and Sexuality

Sexuality and music are two issues that are often intertwined in music in Western culture; sexuality helps create and expand different styles of music while making specific statements about masculine and feminine traits. Many bands, whether male, female, or a combination of both sexes, exude some form of sexuality or are equally defined by their lack of sexuality and ability to be androgynous. In the article "On the Expression of Sexuality" from the book Music, Culture and Society published in 2000, Simon Firth and Angela McRobbie try to define and explain the issues of sexuality in 'cock rock' and 'teenybop' music. In Norma Coates’ article “Revolution Now? Rock and the Political Potential of Gender” published in 1997 in the book Sexing the Groove: Popular Music and Gender, Coates concentrates on sexuality and gender in rock music, focusing on masculine bands like The Rolling Stones and female rock singers like Courtney Love and Liz Phair. Both articles address the issues of masculinity and femininity in rock and pop music and the effect sexuality has on these genres in the music industry.

As defined by Frith and McRobbie, cock rock is "music making in which performance is an explicit, crude and often aggressive expression of male sexuality... Cock rock performers are aggressive, dominating, boastful, and constantly seek to remind the audience of their prowess, their control" (Expression of Sexuality 65). A clear example of cock rock music is the strong, pounding beat of The Rolling Stones. They are a very phallic and aggressive rock band, making sexual innuendos in their lyrics and acting sexually on stage. The lead singer, Mick Jagger is very aggressive and controlling; his acts and gestures, such as swaggering across the stage, demonstrate the control and power he commands. Opposite to cock rock, teenybop pop music is "consumed almost exclusively by girls... [its] image is based on self-pity, vulnerability, and need,...[and is] sad, thoughtful, pretty, and puppy-like" (Expression of Sexuality 66). Pop music is focused towards female listeners although males sometimes listen to it as well. Male sexuality is still expressed in teenybop music but in a less aggressive form, making it more appealing to female fans: "If cock rock plays on conventional concepts of male sexuality as rampant, animalistic, superficial… teenybop plays on notions of female sexuality as being serious, diffuse, and implying total emotional commitments... men are soft romantic, easily hurt, loyal, and anxious to find a true love who fulfills their definitions of what female sexuality should be about” (Expressions of Sexuality 66). Although these definitions are still accurate, a wide variety of people prefer to listen to many different styles and genres of music. In Firth and McRobbie’s article, the categories of rock and pop are stereotypically male and female respectively. Masculine rock music is viewed as being authentic, real and focused on collective culture and camaraderie while female oriented pop music is seen as artificial, fake, and listened to individually: “It is boys who experience rock as a collective culture, a shared male world of fellow fans and fellow musicians” (Expression of Sexuality 67). As discussed in class on July 19, 2007, rock does not represent a collective culture listened to just by boys and pop is not just for an individual female listener. Both males and females enjoy music in groups as well as individually and both sexes listen to and enjoy rock and pop regardless of their gender.

Females are not common in rock bands and are “still marginal and unrepresented... women’s space in rock has been in the bedroom, either as groupies to male rock lovegods, or relegated there to swoon over pin-ups of teenybop idols” (Revolution Now 51). As a way to contain women in rock, their success was attributed “to their ‘tomboy’ characteristics, women [were] ‘called out’ by the discursive structures of the rock formation by being labeled ‘Angry Young Women’” (Revolution Now 54). There are a few successful females in rock bands. Liz Phair is one successful female in rock discussed in Coates’ article and in class. Phair began writing music and singing in a rock band as a hobby and not because she was an angry young woman; she sings rock music because she enjoys it. She has a masculine-like low voice and in the music video of her song “Fuck and Run”. Phair is wearing pants and a jacket, nothing overtly sexual, while singing about wanting to be an empowered woman while still having a man treat her special. According to the lyrics in this song, she wants chivalry while being a modern day woman and she does not feel that she has to dress provocatively to obtain this. Courtney Love is another very successful woman in rock music. Love is a hardcore, sexualized rock musician. In her music video ‘Miss World’ with her band Hole, Love is dressed in a skimpy and sexy outfit, wearing lots of makeup while rasping the lyrics in a loud, masculine voice which is characteristic of rock. Part of her masculine and feminine look is for the video but part of it is also who she is. Love balances her masculinity while still being able to come across as sexual and feminine in distinctive ways. Love flaunts her sexuality and femininity on stage and in music videos while still performing as elaborately as any male rock band would.

Coates article maintains that “femininity is the marker of excess in rock” (Revolution Now, 56) and some male rock bands such as Motley Crue blur the distinction between femininity and masculinity. Motley Crue’s music style is considered ‘glam rock’, a form of rock music in which the band members dress up in very tight clothes with big, teased hair and wear a lot of makeup, giving them a feminine appearance while still sounding and acting masculine. Although bands like Motley Crue are putting on these theatrics to shock their audience and fans, the femininity in their dress represents a power they have: “male rockers who literally appropriate ‘feminine markers’ do so in order to assert power over them, and over the ‘feminine’ or the female” (Revolution Now, 56). In the class discussion we watched Motley Crue’s video for their song “Live Wire” and looked at the lyrics. The band members looked very feminine but the music was loud and aggressive with a very strong beat. Motley Crue has developed their own unique style and do not care what anyone else is doing. Irregardless of how Motley Crue performs on stage, their appearance and actions do not affect their fame, change their ability to attract fans, or change the amount of money they make.

It is easier to be critical of women in rock music because women are traditionally seen as caregivers and nurturers, not as aggressive and dominate rock musicians. This view of women even extends further than rock music and into other genres of music and every day life. It is harder for women to build up their reputations and it is easier for them to lose and ruin their reputations than it is for a man because women are subjected to a double standard. This is mainly because of old fashioned views on how women are supposed to act and behave. Mick Jagger is idolized not only because of his music but because of his ability to get women and his drug and alcohol usage is overlooked. In contrast, Courtney Love is a successful female rock musician but has been harshly criticized because of her problems with drugs and alcohol. Male and female musicians have different standards to judge their successes by and sexuality is a large factor in determining these standards.

The issues of sexuality, masculinity, and femininity in music are very complex and controversial. Women have constantly struggled to break into the male dominated, masculine genre of rock music while men are equally represented in rock and pop music. Even though there are female rockers, they are not common enough to be widely accepted without critique or discussion. Each female rock musician has her own unique interpretation of rock music and portrays a particular image to the public and her fans. Sexuality takes different forms in rock and pop music, whether it is in the masculinity and aggression seen in the Rolling Stones, in the femininity, sexiness, and rebellion seen in Liz Phair and Courtney Love, or in the mixture of both masculine and feminine qualities seen in Motley Crue. Sexuality and appearance are important ways a musician represents a particular image to exhibit to his or her fans and the public.