Blog Post #5

The music video “Face to Face” by Siouxsie and the Banshees was originally released as a single for the movie “Batman Returns” and is played during the scene where Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle are dancing in the ballroom face to face. The lyrics of the song reflect most of the characters rivalry and sexual tension. The song is about a dangerous love attraction that both parties want but know cannot be, which pretty much sums up the relationship of the these two characters. Most of the video is dark and features a large amount of black. Some parts are even exclusively shown in black and white. The dark imagery as well as themes of love and death so closely combined are typical traits of Gothic music and add to the eerie horror movie like effect. 

The lead singer is a woman who follows most of the Goth trends. She is wearing very heavy makeup dressed in a tight leather jumpsuit most of the video. To the “normal” society this look can be perceived to be “slutty” or “trashy” however, in Goth culture it is expected and normal.  Her gestures and movements are very sexual almost like she is trying to seduce someone. To Goth music fans this behavior is idolized and appreciated. There is nothing masculine about her appearance or the way she is acting. Although society can consider this video to be taboo and inappropriate, in the Goth community it is completely acceptable for women to express their femininity in such a sexualized way. She is taking femininity to a new level by making herself appear to be more of a sex symbol.

A common theme in Goth music is the androgyny especially concerning fashion or sexual identity.  The men in this specific video are wearing suites and blazers which represents masculinity because of the strong male role models who are expected to wear them in normal society. However, the males are androgynies because at the same time they sport the masculine suits they are wearing just as much makeup as the female lead singer. Talk about taboo!  Conversely the men in the video do not use the makeup as a tool to sexualize themselves. They use it to add to the creepy atmosphere and horror movie feel that characterizes most Goth music videos.

After watching many Goth music videos it is clear that “normal” society and the Goth community have very different definitions of masculinity and femininity.  In Goth culture dark and twisted, sultry women are the norm and become their definition of femininity.  I think in society today the word femininity paints a soft picture of a girl next door who is cute and smiley. The word sexy does not necessarily come to mind however in the Goth community femininity may bring the image of cat woman from the movie Batman Returns to mind, dressed in a tight black leather jumpsuit.

Masculinity in today’s society resembles a strong man who wears a suit and tie to work every day. In this video it is clear that the thing that characterizes men the most in Goth culture is the ambiguity between masculinity and femininity that they exude. This clash is confusing and maybe frowned upon by mainstream culture, but it is what classifies the men of the Gothic culture so distinctly.

Blog Post #4

                No matter who you are music is never an uncool thing to be obsessed with. Every genre from rap to classical to county has some sort of fan base or else it wouldn’t exist. I always admire those people who are very knowledgeable when it comes to music. They always seem so much cooler just by being able to lead a conversation about music, especially older music that they were not even alive for.  And when those experts were girls I was just that much more impressed and wished I could rattle off a list of classic hits. I believe that if a girl can persuade a guy of how well informed she is about the kind of music he likes to listen to, it is a major turn on. Which is why most of the time I “fake it till I make it.” I take what little knowledge I have and weave it into any conversation I am having with someone (cute guys in particular) and use it in a way that makes me seem as if I know more about music than I actually do. One way to make yourself sound like you know what you are talking about is if you have a strong point of view even if not many people agree with you. Most decent people will respect your opinion maybe explain their own. If I only know a couple of songs by a certain artist that comes up in conversation those songs instantly become my favorite songs of all time. It is not that I don’t like music because I actually love all kinds. That may be the problem with my seemingly small knowledge base. Most people who are music “experts” are only experts in a specific genre. They know so much, but just about one particular band or artist. My love of all types of music comes from my parents who have always kept something playing in the background. My dad in particular has always loved music, especially the songs popular when he was growing up, but he has never been one to spit out facts about every song on the radio. As I grow up, particularly now when I am meeting so many new people for the first time, it is truly amazing how much people know and care about what songs are on their iPod. Which is why I am very happy I chose to take this English class despite the fact that it is at 8 am Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I am learning so much about songs that I may have once recognized, but I am know realizing for the first time what the artists are talking about. I have also gained a new appreciation for the art of music videos. You can understand so much more about a song and what message the artist is trying to convey by watching the music video as opposed to just listening to the song for the first time. I am extremely impressed with my peers and their wide breadth of musical knowledge and strong points of view. Because of the topic of the course I do have to comment that I am one of only 5 or 6 girls in the class. While this is probably the evidence of “The Ratio” at Georgia Tech at its finest, I do have to wonder, is there a reason that so few girls are sitting next to me in class every week. I think it is because most girls are embarrassed of how much they don’t know about music and don’t think they can contribute to the class. I, however, have chosen to embrace the fact that my music knowledge is so low and come to the table prepared to feed off of every piece of new information my peers and the professor in class about music. Since the beginning of the semester I have found myself going home and looking up the music videos to some of my favorite songs just to see if I can uncover a new dimension in the lyrics that was not apparent to me before. Now, I say I like all music, but metal in particular was not something that I listened to regularly. In my head the genre of heavy metal music meant a bunch of teenage boys without any musical talent screaming at the top of their lungs. Learning that most metal bands have been classically trained was shocking to me. All the stereotypes of metal being only for boys and terrible musicians is shattered. A video that we watched in class that has stood out to me was the metal video that used cellos and other orchestral instruments and made them sound like electric guitars. The mount of female rock n’ roll bands and heavy metal bands is astonishing and awesome to me. As a girl I am almost proud of all of the female musicians out there especially those that play in genres that are traditionally dominated by males. I have found a new appreciation for metal that I did not have before. I may have even found a new genre of music to add to my playlist. Not only am I excited that I will have more intelligent things to say about music to cute boys, but I am also eager to share what I have learned and hopefully help others find a new appreciation for music that they just needed to know a little more about. 

Blog Post #3

This is the link to Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17HRV8k1YMw

I was initially drawn to the song “For whom the Bell Tolls” by Metallica because the title rang a bell somewhere in the back of my mind (no pun intended).  As I did some more research “For Whom the bell Tolls” the song is based off of the novel “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway’s book is based off of a poem by John Donne. In previous English classes we have read excerpts from Hemingway’s novel as well as studied John Donne’s poem. The book takes place during the Spanish civil war and ends up with the main character in battle severely outnumbered. As a result, all of the men die for a very unworthy cause. The lyrics of the song specifically reference the scene in the book where the five men become outnumbered on the top of a hill in the snow. In the music video the scenes flip back and forth from the band doing the traditional head banging while playing the guitar to war scenes where men were getting shot and dying everywhere. The song by Metallica follows he book closely and echoes some of the themes such as the frivolousness of war.  Metallica mentions “For a hill, men would kill, why? They do not know.” This takes a look into the concept of war in general. So many men claim that there is some big important purpose to justify killing other men. However, usually when you ask the actual soldiers doing the killing why they are killing, they don’t know. They just do what they are told because that is the way of the military that usually results in a massive loss of life.  

Most of the song is about death and revealing the ugly side of war. Like we have been discussing in class, a big underlying theme of metal is dark and depressing subject matter and death certainly falls under that category. The imagery in the lyrics of the song are in no means pleasing to the ear or paint a picture that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. “Blackened roar, massive roar fills the crumbling sky Shattered goal fills his soul with a ruthless cry” doesn’t exactly make anyone feel optimistic. The goal of this song is to get people to understand pain and agony.

The topic of war is traditionally seen to only involve men. Men fighting men about things other men did. Only men fight in battles, only men are in the video clips, and only men are in the band Metallica. While I don’t think the band is trying to make a statement about gender in this song (they are too busy speaking of death and misery), but as a band Metallica adds to the stereotype of heavy metal being a man’s sport.  

Blog #2

I chose to interview an old friend from high school to ask his perspective on gender in music and when he first considered the topic. I chose him to interview because we both took a class together in junior year of high school that gave us great insight into how gender has been shaped by society. Our American Literature course was taught by one of his favorite teachers who gave us the foundation we needed as young writers to analyze text and become critical thinkers. Gender was a topic that was commonly brought up in class discussions lead by our slightly feminist teacher. I thought this friend of mine would be a good candidate to interview because the course we experienced together as well as his love and understanding of music.

When I began to explain the topic of this English 1101 course I could tell he was immediately intrigued by the subject matter and admittedly a little jealous. When I asked him about the English class we took together in high school and if it changed his prospective as it did mine, he considered the question for a moment.  He went on to explain to me that he honestly had never really thought about tracking how his views about the gender in society have changed. For most of his childhood, like most of us, he had been exposed to the media displaying gender roles in specific light in our society, but had just accepted in and not questioned why. However, like all great teachers, Mrs. Keathly had taught us to question why things are the way they are in culture and society today. “To be honest,” he told me, “I had been raised by a stay at home mom who did all of the cooking, cleaning, and a majority of the child care duties.” He said he had never really considered gender in the context of music, but listening to music over the years had definitely echoed his preconceived notion that women have a responsibility to complete different tasks in the family as well as society that men do. He had never inquired about the reason things are this way; he, like so many others had just accepted it. Taking this course junior year has helped him to see that gender roles are in fact set by the people that abide by them.  Society is what sets the standard that we all are expected to follow and if we think that something is unfair or unjust it is up to us as members of society to change the standard.

She’s a Rebel- Blog Post #1

The book She’s a Rebel looks to highlight and track the role of women in the industry and genre of Rock ’n Roll. As it is stated in the introduction, the book hopes to give recognition to all females who have contributed to Rock ’n Roll; not just the big name artists, but some of the women who found success in other ways besides commercially.

In the first bit of the book there is a lot of comparison between race and gender. The Author elaborates on how females in the music industry, especially Rock, were seen almost as a lower class than the rest of the male dominated industry. The book mentions that people can classify a female artist as being the best female guitarist but asks why not just call her the best guitarist. It is because women in this genre are seen in a different lesser league then the men. This can be compared to the way black R&B artist were not appreciated by all people just because of race. To most white people in the 1940’s or 50’s R&B music was not as “clean” as Rock ’n Roll. This is ironic because most every Rock ’n Roll song is centered around either sex, drugs, or Rock ’n Roll itself. Elvis Presley, who was considered by most to be the “king of Rock ’n Roll,” was notorious for his dirty dancing and yet somehow R&B was not a clean.

Something that I found to be particularly interesting was that Big Mama Thornton, a female R&B artist, originally sang the song “Hound Dog”. This was coincidentally the song that gave “king of Rock ’n Roll” his start. “Hound Dog”, essentially the first Rock ’n Roll song ever, was written and first performed by an African American female. When white musicians such as Elvis Presley began to borrow from R&B artists the genre they created morphed into Rock ‘n Roll. This music was now “safe for the white kids to dance to.”