Rock

n Roll n Gender
February 16, 2010

Musical Spaces

Ar>st on stage

Musical Spaces

Audience o stage

Musical Spaces

Par>cipatory Jams

Musical Spaces

In the studio

Ques>ons
Does gender play a role in the spaces we occupy? Does gender aect the choices we make about what roles to play and what spaces to occupy? Does gender aect which choices are available to us?

 In popular music, and ar>sts public visibility, marketability, and industry recogni>on are all aected by gender.
hMp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzJ3hiqsi0U hMp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNQIWQmQ54

Sarah Cohen The Liverpool Scene

This ar>cle suggests that rock is produced as male through the everyday ac>vi>es that inform the scene. This chapter dismisses the idea that rock is naturally maleIt seeks to understand and explain how rock is ac>vely produced as male. (This is all from page 1)

Produced as Male?
For the most part, only men are in bands. Women dont join bands. Those that par>cipate in The Scene tend do so as part of the audience.

Seeing the Stage as a Male Space

WHY?
Time and Place Women might not be able to get to (or want to get to) certain clubs at certain >mes. Men in the music scene build strong social >es amongst themselves. In conversa>on among musicians, women are frequently discussed as objects of desire. Cul>va>on of Connoisseurship nicknames, inside jokes, jargon, gossip, inside informa>on. Women choose non-performa>ve roles watching, dancing, etc.

Mens Space
Rearm male iden>>es and masculinity. Space to express the self and explore dierent iden>>es. Allows men to iden>fy with and relate to other men.
Crossing the Bridge clip

Women in Popular Music

Marke>ng can pigeon-hole women who break into the music scene into par>cular stereotypes

Ludditk
Krek mg magambl, Mr. Hangtechnikus.
Literal transla>on: I want more of myself. In this context: I want my vocals turned up.
hMp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QRWtLSXaao

Women of Rock
Women who threaten to enter the male space of rock tend to be exo>cized.
Female vocalists are seen as a gimmick.
Female-dominated musical groups are ooen given the derogatory labels of Girl Band or Chick Rock.
hMp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwuXqlq4r-g

Q: How have women responded to the

exclusion and exoci>za>on that they experience in the rock world?

A1: It has been argued that rock music is

so heavily dened by the performance of masculinity, that the only op>on for women who dont want to enter those male stereotypes is to create something that doesnt even sound like rock.
hMp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iiOsdsaSW4

and the Riot Grrrl Scene

Bikini Kill

A2: Create new social spaces for women

to make rock music.

A2: Create new social spaces for women

to make rock music.

Gendered Socializa>on

Gendered Socializa>on
Boys and girls are taught to occupy Physical space Auditory space Intellectual space dierently.

Gendered Socializa>on

Learning Your Gender Iden>ty

Quotes from the Movie

Twice as many boys as girls say their talents are what they like most about themselves. Girls are twice as likely to say a body part is their best feature.
hMp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMldVZOxW64

Crea>ng Many Spaces