MUSIC AND GENDER ROLES: WHERE ARE THE WOMEN?

Music has been always been an expression of human feeling. This

expression, which can take many forms, becomes in turn a reflection of the social

and political context from which it was born. The role played by music in the

creation of identities is a central issue and further analysis on this subject is one of

the most interesting and novel aspects of the various trends that are part of the so-

called "new musicology".

The social relevance of music is a basic idea for investigating its function as

a builder of identities. In this sense, the English musicologist Philip Tagg affirms

that music offers radically different possibilities to those of the visual or verbal arts

due to its character of an intrinsically collective means of communication:

[...] music ... most frequently requires by its very nature a group of

individuals to communicate either among themselves or with another

group ... This should mean that music is capable of transmitting the affective

identities, attitudes, and behavioral patterns of socially definable groups (3-

4).

Based on this consideration, Tagg investigates how music transmits or

subverts gender identities, focusing on stereotypical music for film and television,

which he considers fundamental in the configuration of our sound imaginary: "[...]

meanings and ideologies are constructed and communicated in the audiovisual

media in visual and musical rather than in chiefly verbal categories to a far greater

extent than ever before in the history of our culture" (8).

has been demonstrated, it is pertinent to conduct research that analyzes how

traditional stereotypes are subverted and contested.

Most studies on popular music consider The Beatles as the pioneers in the

conception of the musical group as we understand it today, that is, a reduced and

self-sufficient group that integrates singers, instrumentalists, and composers. Since

then, this scheme has been reproduced on countless occasions in various

countries and has become an institution with a constant presence in popular music.

But observing this phenomenon from the point of view of gender reveals its

eminently masculine character. In most of the groups, all their components are

men, and, in the case that there are some women, it is usually placed in the

traditional feminine role of singer.

Various authors have paid attention to the difficulties that women have

encountered in order to participate actively in music. From the field of historical

musicology, the work of Marcia Citron is relevant, as she identifies some material

impediments, among which is the unavailability of economic resources or time to

devote to musical activities, as well as the impossibility of access to the necessary

knowledge.

Another approach is offered by Frith and McRobbie, who explain how the

stereotypes present in rock work in the construction of gender identities, affirming

that the possibilities of identification concerning their messages are more

numerous for boys than for girls. The existence of a greater variety of models of
masculinity is because the production and diffusion of rock are dominated by men.

Thus, from the aggressive and dominant sexuality of the so-called "cock rock" to

the sweetness and delicacy of the "teenybop", boys have different ways of

understanding and interpreting their masculine identity. Girls, on the other hand,

are always directed towards the “ideology of romance” that leads them to interpret

their sexuality in romantic terms, underpinning it with values such as commitment,

fidelity, or sacrifice.

As opposed to the traditionally feminine attributes of passivity, inhibition, and

what is related to the domestic sphere, rock is translated into action, rebellion, and

expression. Taking this into consideration, women represent everything that

threatens the rebel and what he opposes, as Simon Reynolds comments in his

book “The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion, and Rock 'n' Roll”. On the other hand,

rock music has an enormous sexual charge that symbolizes, nevertheless, male

sexuality.

Music critic Sheila Whiteley states, citing Frith, that rock is synonymous with

male sexuality. In her own words, "rock has become synonymous with a male-

defined sexuality" (37). This link with the male character erases any relationship

between this type of music and the representation of female sexuality. As critic

Norma Coates noted, "Sexuality in rock has, until recently, been conflated with

male sexuality, therefore erasing any expression of the lower body of the female,

and female sexuality".

reduced to the perspective shown by male artists, often in relation to the vision of

women as sexual objects that satisfy male desire, as Coates concludes. One of the

biggest problems that women artists encounter is the reconciliation of the public

and private spheres, as Whiteley comments in the introduction to Women and

Popular Music (2-8). While the woman's sphere has traditionally been reduced to

the privacy of the home, being an artist means adopting the traditionally male role.

This is the case with Janis Joplin, the first artist we will analyze here, and

probably the quintessential female rock artist of the 1960s. She subverts the

prototypical image of a woman, adopting masculine qualities in her performances

in the form of wild movements, kicks and punches in the air, and sudden swings.

She becomes, thus, a woman that we can define as not feminine or, in other

words, "active", in opposition to the traditional image of "passive" woman, a vision

that is offered in the lyrics of male rock bands, as previously mentioned.

Although Janis Joplin is associated with the counterculture of the sixties in

terms of sexual liberation movements, some female artists approach this era of

social protest through rock-folk music. They leave aside the electric instruments

and base their music on acoustic sounds, and the softness of the melody,

characterized by sweet and harmonic voices - as opposed to the soul-tinged,

heartbreaking force of the voices of Janis Joplin or Aretha Franklin - as well as on

a growing introspection that this musical style allows.

Baez, Judy Collins, Carole King or Joni Mitchell, is that they show a growing

interest in individual expression as well as personal relationships. According to

Whiteley, this introspective analysis of themselves provides these artists with a

space to create and discuss female identity.

As a result, women are, in the examples analyzed, active subjects with their

own voice who, from an unusual place (the music group), address other women by

creating a new - feminine - space in the public sphere. But, although it is true that

the number of women musicians has increased in recent years and that they have

achieved greater visibility, we must not forget that the situation is far from being

egalitarian. The most common and accepted role for women has been and still is,

that of singers. Proof of this is that they are the only ones who have had the

possibility of developing a continuous and successful musical career, while no

female group has survived beyond a few years.

Fundamentally, the activity of these unconventional groups must reach an

important diffusion in order to be categorically effective, not only regarding music

but in all areas. Popular music plays an enormously relevant role in the creation of

identities and, in this sense, has the potential to make profound changes in the

gender relations of our society.

 Citron, M. Gender and the Musical Canon, Cambridge University Press,

Cambridge. 1993.

 Coates, N. “Revolution Now? Rock and the Political Potential of Gender.”

Sexing the Groove. Popular Music and Gender. Routledge. London. 1997.Pp

50-65

 Frith, S. & McRobbie, A. «Rock and Sexuality”, on S. Frith y A. Godwin (eds.),

1990, on record. Rock, Pop and the Written World, Routledge, London. 1978.

 Reynolds, S. The Sex Revolts. Gender, Rebellion and Rock ‘n’ Roll. Joy Press.

Harvard. 1978.

 Tagg, P. Analysing Popular Music. Theory, Method and Practice. 1982.

Retrieved from: www.theblackbook.net/acad/tagg/index.htlm

 Whiteley, S. Sexing the Groove. Popular Music and Gender. Routledge.

London. .1997.