How Gender Is Portrayed in Music - Essay Example

Music and Gender Gender and particularly the masculine voice is something the world has seen for eons and is difficult to break. Especially since the modern world now sees the rising of the female voice, tentatively causing a reverse reaction from males. The most important issue is always how the opposite gender is portrayed in music, art and film and this follows the standard voyeuristic objectification of woman or them objectifying themselves. The hegemony of the masculine force is facing its last stand-off, where it must make a last grand effort to secure its position in the world where women are standing for president. 1. The hegemony of anything relies on the power it wields within in cultural context and in this case it is in music. Music as a popular culture has the power to influence almost anyone. In hip-hop music, male dominance is a powerful tool, that appears to make the female entity more or less an object of fascination. One take on the subject of patriarchal power is defined by Bell Hooks in the following excerpt: "The sexist, patriarchal ways of thinking and behaving that are glorified in gangsta rap are a reflection of the prevailing values in our society, values created and sustained by white supremacist capitalistic patriarchy."(M.Dot, 2008). The essay written by pseudonym writer M.Dot relates how black hip-hop music tends to follow the 'white suprematist' ideals that men are above and beyond women and for that reason can be seen as objects of men's fantasy rather than having a voice and meaning of their own. The figures of Condoleza Rice and Hillary Clinton are thorns in the flesh of those trying desperately to maintain their place as masculine hegemonous figures. Two reasons for this may arise and one of which may be pure speculation but is however a valid reason. In Hip Hop and Rap, both music genre's make the women predominantly into 'boodies' and 'boobs', crudely arranging them with very little if any mental capacity. Sean Kingston recently released the album with the single "Beautiful Girl" where the featured girl was seen merely as a 'gold-digger' looking for a meal ticket in the form of a man. "You know you'll never work", denotes that because of her beauty she will never have to support herself, further making the man the power image to provide for the woman. 3. Liberal and radical feminism are quite obviously anti-patriarchal power. Country music exemplifies the ideals of the romantic cowboy sweeping the lady-love off her feet on his glittering steed. The hegemony displayed in this genre of music plays up the romantic ideal of masculinity, not the reality. "Since women are believed to factor centrally in human social relations, the male psyche seeks to subordinate women, and thus sustain the illusion of male centrality."(Robinson, 2006: 46). Robinson writes about the fact that in order to make the male the controller, the woman must make herself the controlled (Ibid). This makes for entertaining although unrealistic visions of societal norms. In a sense the modern hip-hop and gansta-rap as urban phenomena, are trying to reinforce something that is being contested, while the rural inspired country music is still hanging onto the romanticised idealism of when men were cowboys. It depends however very much n who is listening to the music. 4. Constantine hip-hop has had rather a bad image, being largely directed by sex in all its forms. It is by far the more popular of the hip-hop styles and centers around the inadequacies of femininity and tries to form the perception that women are all tending towards prostitution. One feminist website describes Constantine hip-hop as focussing on women, and black women in particular as sex objects with the camera's focussing on gyrating body parts (Ayanna, 2008). In this case we are talking Puff-Daddy and Snoop-Dogg rather than the more genteel Sean Kingston. Prophetic hip-hop is a genre more directed towards the future of the world. It often places great emphasis on the doom of modern society, painful break-ups and is rather the Eminem type of rap mixture while the white version of hip-hop would be epitomised by the distasteful Justin Timberlake whose references to sex and sexual gratification is commonly seen in 'Sexy Back' and makes constant reference to nakedness and getting the female naked rather than himself. Of course, to make oneself the object of desire and abuse would not serve to lower the perception of the female. 5. We are such a stage where music is difficult to define as one or the other genre. However, the power of music lies in how quickly and easily it is absorbed by the listener. The beat, words and rhythm all contribute to how it is identified. Modern pop music as seen by Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty" or even worse "Candy Man", does not serve to create an equality between men and women, but rather gives the impression that women can and do make money out of displaying body parts and sashaying their lower regions for the camera. However, according to Lesley Robinson, Aguilera's "Dirrty" actually challenges patriarchal power (Robinson, 2006: 45). Evannescence challenges the way women are used and abused in their music as alternative to pop. "My Immortal" describes the pain of being available to the man at all times and to be turned away without any real reason. This is something women can identify with, but men less so. However, it must be recognised that she is the only female in the band, making it more universal. Punk has the greatest potential to change the face of how the youth view gender politics. The youth and young adults are the main target audience of punk, and bands such as Linkin Park, Blink 182 and P.O.D have the potential to reach the gender equality market as the youth are the world's future. In the end, it pays to recognise that the world is in a transition period where old ideals are being challenged on a regular basis. Masculine hegemony is hanging on to the last shreds of its grip on the world and the reaction would naturally be that the male entity would stand up at their proverbial Alamo. Women in music such as the aforementioned Christina Aguilera and Avril Lavigne are moving towards an equal authoritative structure in the music world as Hillary Clinton and Angela Merkel are doing in the world political arena. The dissolving of the male hegemony will eventually be accepted. Sources: Robinson, Lesley. 2006. " 'Dirrty' Discourse: The Politics of Gender Representation in Popular Music." Mediations: Volume 1, Number 1. http://www.fims.uwo.ca/mit/mediations/pdfs/Mediations-Essay06-Dirrty.pdf M.Dot. 20 May 2008. Hip Hop and Patriarchy: My Struggle with Mobb Deep. Racialicious. http://www.racialicious.com/2008/05/08/hip-hop-patriarchy-my-struggle-with-mobb-deep/ Ayanna. 2008. The Exploitation of Women in Hip-Hop Culture. My Sistah's. http://www.mysistahs.org/features/hiphop.htm Read More