http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/28/opinion/it-s-not-sexist-it-s-only-rock-and-roll.html
This article is an older article, but it details the induction of Joni Mitchell into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The NY Times wrote about how men dominate/dominated the rock and roll scene, and how society's meaning of rock and roll changed over the times.
The article talks about how many people didn't consider Joni Mitchell a rock and roll artist, because her music didn't contain in your face guitar solos and guitar riffs. However, rock and roll is more than fast drums and guitars. Rock and roll is about the lyrics and passion. People criticized her being inducted, because her music wasn't their definition of rock and roll, and were called out for being sexist, because other men with the same music style as her had been inducted into the Hall of Fame before.
Many people think women don't have much of a place in the rock and roll scene, but they have just as much a place in the scene as men do. There's an overmasculinity in rock and roll, and women who are in the scene deserve the same respect men do.
Anthony Bellore
I think despite how old this article is, it's still an extremely important point to see. Representation in anything matters. I definitely agree with you. In fact, when I think of Rock and Roll I honestly cannot bring up a female rock star that is for sure a Rock and Roll star. It's certainly a very masculine form of music. Recognizing women having a place in this type of music matters a lot, and it's pretty cool to see that a woman was inducted into the Hall of Fame for Rock and Roll that long ago. Especially since today women still have some issues as being recognized for their talent in some other music genres. - Amanda Blohm
ReplyDeleteI found this article extremely interesting, agreeing also with Amanda and you about the overmasculinity in that genre of music. It's funny to see how a genre as broad as rock and roll suddenly have strict boundaries as soon as a woman could be inducted in the hall of fame. And the fact that a whole new category was coined for Joni Mitchell (whether to keep her out of the rock genre or not, I don't know) had me think of different instances where people would make an entirely new, stricter category instead of placing someone in a broader category that they can fit in as well, if not better. This may be old news, but nearly 20 years later the music industry has hardly changed, and it's definitely something that still needs to be worked on.
ReplyDelete- Tarryn Priestly
I never really realized that rock and roll had any gender division in it. I grew up on a lot of 70's and 80's music, which included a ton of ACDC, Pat Benatar, Heart, and Led Zeppelin. I listened to music from both sexes and never thought of how much more there was from men.
ReplyDeleteReading this article change the way I look at the genre (even though I will always love it.) I'm glad this is a topic because these lesser known occurrences need to see the light of day.
-Erin Lucas