Sunday, 7 February 2010

Is it reasonable to consider that rock music is gendered male?

In a 2003 poll showing the top 100 greatest guitarists of all time one thing notable was the lack of women making the list. This could be down to a whole number of reasons, one of which being that traditionally rock music (of which the phallocentric electric guitar is a primary element) has particularly masculine connotations with its lyrical content and its technical acuteness; however these restraints are socially constructed rather than born out of biological constraints. The genre is also heavily male dominated with any successful women like Janis Joplin, for instance, usually having to give up their femininity in order to be accepted. Even the adopting of supposed femininity by rock bands with hair perms and eyeliner is still a seduction technique used to seduce the female and control her desire. Rock is also inherently sexual; however the misogynistic tone is more about control rather than sexual expression.

1 comment:

  1. This is really good. Well argued and intelligently written and very pink :-)

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