The evolution of women in music - Essay Example

The role of women varies in different societies and therefore with implementation of policies to empower women to be respected and given opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills, they have been able to express their feelings and frustrations through art and music (Rosman, 15-16). This essay is going to analytically discuss the evolution of women in music. Hartman noted that during the early 1970s and the late 1960s there were few women in the popular music industry, and there were very few opportunities for the female performers (23).

The women were disadvantaged in the music industry due to their variation in gender and were believed to be caregivers at home and to ensure food was prepared for their household members. In 1960-1970s the Major record labels had signed up very few women bands such as Birtha, Goldie, Fanny, The Deadly Nightshade and Gingerbreads (Hartman, 34). Miller noted that the women who were already in the industry were forced to create a separate space to record their own music since they were not included in the men’s mainstream of music (25).

Women used their music to support civil rights, labor, peace, and the second-wave feminist movement that had emerged. The second-wave feminist movement in the United States was established by the lesbians such as, Meg Christian, Margie Adam and Cris Williamson, activists like Bernice Johnson Reagon and Holly Near, and African American musicians such as Mary Watkins, Linda Tillery and Gwen Avery (Rabaka 50-54). Rabaka observed that the feminist and lesbian separatism was viewed as a tactic that focused on women’s energy to provide a big boost to the development and growth of women in music during that time (56).

Women started expressing their feelings and experiences in 1972 in various recordings such as the “Mountain Moving Day” that was released by feminist women