Think of your favourite rock band…. Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Nirvana, Guns ‘n’ Roses, AC/DC, KISS, Aerosmith? Now think how many of those bands include female artists. None. Why? Because rock music is most definitely gendered male.
Mavis Bayton notes that women performers are more prominent within commercial pop and folk music – but even then their place has been predominantly that of vocalists, rather than instrumentalists. This is definitely the case within rock music, as it can be argued the electric guitar is a masculine instrument and is one of the main reasons why it is seen as ‘unsexy’ for a woman to play. In order to be successful, women in the music industry must have sex appeal; the electric guitar favours this factor to men only as rock guitarists typically hold their instruments low down in front of their genitals for no practical reason other than to give off a phallocentic message.
So remember, next time you listen to your favourite rock band – its men only.
Mavis Bayton notes that women performers are more prominent within commercial pop and folk music – but even then their place has been predominantly that of vocalists, rather than instrumentalists. This is definitely the case within rock music, as it can be argued the electric guitar is a masculine instrument and is one of the main reasons why it is seen as ‘unsexy’ for a woman to play. In order to be successful, women in the music industry must have sex appeal; the electric guitar favours this factor to men only as rock guitarists typically hold their instruments low down in front of their genitals for no practical reason other than to give off a phallocentic message.
So remember, next time you listen to your favourite rock band – its men only.
This is good and summarises some of the key elements of discussion on this topic.
ReplyDelete