Nothing new from me, but here's one from the vaults: a paper I wrote in college about third wave feminism in rock music. The CD tracks refer to a CD I made to accompany the paper. And yes, I got an A. Enjoy!
The Females and the Fury; Third-Wave Feminism and Postmodernism in Modern Rock Music
“Feminists, we’re calling you,
Please report to the front desk.”
- Le Tigre, “F.Y.R.”
Luce Iragaray’s essay “The Power of Discourse and the Subordination of the Feminine” talks about the need for female “mimicry” of patriarchal systems in order to “convert a form of subordination into an affirmation, and this to begin to thwart it” (Iragaray 795). She explains that by “playing” with this notion of mimicry, women can reclaim their place in discourse and the center will not belong solely to the masculine. She goes on to write that the process of “thwarting” masculine discourse is not meant to create a new, overarching feminist dialogue, but rather to show those who are attached to the center that it is possible to separate the central dialogue from the gender that is bound to it. In Iragaray’s words, it is an attempt to “cast phallocentrism loose from its moorings in order to return the masculine to its own language…the masculine would no longer be ‘everything’…”(Iragaray 797). She writes that the feminine needs to achieve this by showing the ways in which the masculine is in power, and extends such power in such a way that the feminine is depicted as “lacking”. She writes, “This language work would thus attempt to thwart any manipulation of discourse that would also leave discourse intact” (Iragaray 797).
This concept of feminism’s strive to shift the masculine from the center can be is similar to feminist themes that can be found in rock music. From Carly Simon’s cryptic ode to a faceless lover in “You’re So Vain” to the politically charged electro-pop of Le Tigre, the feminine in rock music actively seeks out the center as a master narrative that marginalizes the feminine, and then endeavors to shift it. The right to power and the right to “define, circumvene [and] circumscribe” (Iragaray 797) would not belong to the masculine any more than it would the feminine. The examples of this can be seen in the works of modern rock artists such as PJ Harvey, Sleater-Kinney, Le Tigre, as well as male-fronted bands such as Fugazi and The Refused. Each artist has either dealt with issues of feminism in some of their work, or have dedicated their careers towards creating awareness about feminist issues and bringing these issues to light using music. The objective of this paper is to identify, through selected works, the methods that certain songs by these artists use to shift the masculine from its domineering position at the center. Close attention will be paid to the riot grrrl movement in the U.S. in the early 1990’s and its participating artists’ message of third-wave feminism coupled with punk “do-it-yourself” tactics.
Rock as a genre is usually seen as a male-centered, and the female role in this genre can be quite cut and dry. She can either be the object of affection or aversion, given the speaker’s temperament. Women can be the subject of a rejected lover’s vitriol or an amorously sought-after conquest. A common theme in male lyrics regarding women is that it is the male speaker who dictates what the female character will think, speak or act out. Female lyricists are usually expected to pen songs that reciprocate the male’s call for attention. However, if the female voice does not reciprocate, or if her attentions are held elsewhere, she will have to face some criticism. It is acceptable for the female voice to dote on “feminine” things – subtle emotions, nature or love – as long as her focus returns to the “default”, an idealized, beloved man.
The masculine’s collective frustration with losing the feminine’s rapt attention is parodied in Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” , which reads:
You had one eye on the mirror as you watched yourself gavotte
And all the girls dreamed that they'd be your partner
They'd be your partner, and...
You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you
You're so vain, I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't You?
(Simon 1972).
Simon has yet to reveal the true identity of the vain man in interviews, but the song’s focus is non-specific, so it may act simply as an overall rejection of the ideological center that men occupy. The female speaker does not have to dedicate her artistic expressions for the sole purpose of encouraging the narcissism of a masculine center that demands such tributes through both discourses. The central male character views himself as central to all things, as he “watches himself gavotte” and lets himself be the object of admiration for all women. The now infamous acerbic chorus challenges the masculine to rethink its position as relates to the center; perhaps it aims to make it uncomfortable enough to want to shift from that position.
Songs such as “You’re So Vain”, were at first referred to as “confessional” singer/songwriter material (appropriately enough, Simon’s album was titled No Secrets), along with other artists such as James Taylor, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. However, Simon’s song caused a great stir not only because it was a “confessional” song, but also because it was a woman’s “confession” – the subtle taboo of refusing the masculine its position at the center had been breached. Her treatment of the subject-matter (the vain and proud man) indicated that the speaker was completely capable of forming her own narrative and did not have to rely on the masculine to act as a guiding force. This makes feminist pop such as Simon’s a postmodern endeavor to delegitimate the masculine as a metanarrative. To have a woman “confess” her feelings of indignation and betrayal on any subject would have one believe there is something wrong with the male metanarrative itself. Power from the center is redistributed by one small act of female rebellion, which is what third-wave feminists using punk rock ethics in the early 1990’s utilized to a great extent.
Jean-Francois Lyotard defines the postmodern as exactly that: “incredulity towards metanarratives”(Lyotard 356). He writes:
“The narrative function is losing its functors, its great hero, its great dangers…it is being dispersed in clouds of narrative language elements…in matters of social justice and of scientific truth alike, the legitimation of that power is based on its optimizing the system’s performance efficiency” (Lyotard 356).
If the masculine discourse can be seen as a metanarrative – a discourse that explains all and justify all in society – then feminist rock music can be seen as rallying against the “boy’s club” nature of rock. The master narrative of patriarchy in society is being challenged by the feminine through rock lyrics (as one venue of expression among many).This idea is also reflected in the third-wave feminism of the riot grrrl movement, as Bezler writes in her essay “Words + Guitar: The Riot Grrrl Movement and Third-Wave Feminism”:
“Feminist theorists applied this concept to the formerly unified category of ‘woman’: rather than conceiving of a single universal notion of women, feminist theorists soon recognized that to think of women this way meant to overlook the diversity of women’s experiences. All women have different backgrounds based on factors such as race, class, age, ethnicity, sexual preference, and so on. This conception of difference has influenced the activism of third wavers” (Bezler, 39).
The metanarrative seeks to give justification for all things and seeks to explain everything with context to itself. The male metanarrative may not give complete explanations for scientific facts or economic statistics, so perhaps the term “metanarrative” would seem too comprehensive a term for what it really is. However, in terms of the social implications of gender discourse, the masculine center does dictate what the subject or object of a text will be. In this sense, the very basic way one views the world is justified by the masculine narrative.
One of the characteristics of this masculine narrative has been discussed earlier: it can either objectify the feminine within its discourse or demand that the feminine pay homage to it in the latter’s discourse. Carly Simon’s antagonist in “You’re So Vain” can be an example of someone who exemplifies such behavior. Another characteristic is the predilection towards heterosexual identities. Cameron and Kulick write in “Language and Sexuality”:
“The radical feminist analysis reverses the common-sense assumption that heterosexuality arises from the natural attraction between pre-existing ‘opposites’, men and women. The alternative analysis is that heterosexuality as a political institution requires men and women to be ‘opposites’…[f]rom this point of view, a lesbian is as much a gender deviant as she is a sexual deviant: since she is outside the heterosexual system, she can reject the oppressive forms of femininity it requires” (Cameron 46)
This relates directly to the previous assumption that the masculine center creates a male metanarrative of sorts. Cameron’s “political institution” is a proximate match of this idea because it dictates how men and women should act, and it explains the “deviant” nature of gays or lesbians. The lesbian rock artists who spearheaded many of the bands from the riot grrrl punk movement of the early 1990’s would probably be seen as “deviant” songwriters by those who adhere strictly to the male metanarrative in rock music. Alternatively, female rock musicians such as those who were at the center of the riot grrrl movement can be seen as postmodern challengers to the male metanarrative through their music and feminist activities (such as the publishing of fanzines that sought to educate young women in the audience about riot grrrl ideology, feminist reading material and news of the activities of other bands).
Riot grrrl was a punk movement that arose from a close-knit independent music scene in Olympia, Washington, coinciding roughly with the start of the third wave of feminism in the early 1990’s. Although the city formed the locus of much of the movement’s activities, it was not restricted to it. As the movement grew in popularity (through both punk word-of-mouth aesthetics and, ironically, through the attention it received from the news media it strived to ignore), it saw the formation of chapters in other locations in the U.S. Bezler writes:
“…[The riot grrrl movement] reflected several aspects of third-wave feminism: body image concerns, the resistance to societal demands for female perfection, support of diversity, and the redefinition of the word “feminist” along with “girl.” (Bezler, 13).
Since the women who were part of the scene were too young to have participated in the second-wave feminism of the 70’s and 80’s, they turned instead to a new wave, one where anyone could essentially “create her own feminism, [where it is] is essential for the feminist movement to recognize the diversity of women in order to advance their equality”(Bezler, 12). What better way to challenge the hegemony of patriarchy then to use a subculture that has stood for being oppositional and confrontational? Punk had worked well for male-fronted bands that addressed social and political issues, and riot grrrls stood to use its instruments (both literally and figuratively speaking) to forward their agendas. The title of this paper derives from the documentary film “The Filth and the Fury”, which centered on the seminal punk band The Sex Pistols who are known to be one of the first punk bands; the riot grrrls are known to be pioneers in their own right as well.
Riot grrrl proponents were primarily female-led bands that relied on punk’s do-it-yourself ethics to get their message across. The material covered by the bands spanned issues of rape, abuse, sexuality and sexes itself. The mimicry performed by the bands, as per Iragaray’s call for mimicry of established patriarchal systems (in order to expose the male center’s blatant dominance), is simple. The established male system of rock exists as a template of guitars, bass, drums, vocals and lyrics. While female bands could be considered almost musically identical to their male counterparts, it is the juxtaposition with their lyrics that makes the true difference. The important aspect of the music is first to establish a relationship with the listener by offering something familiar. In the lexicon of punk, this may involve four (or less) chords played in the verses and refrains, with varying speeds (usually quite fast), and lyrics screamed or sung to match the tempo. The riot grrrl bands followed the punk formula in their music in varying degrees: Le Tigre blended punk dynamics with poppy electronic hooks, while the Breeders used the minimalism of punk to form a sparse background for less specific yet poetic lyrics. The musical variations within each band represented the artistic intent of the bands, while lyrics shared the common theme of using mimicry to gain access to the phallocentric center. In other words, now that the band had received the attention of its audience, it would use that chance to enlighten them of their agenda.
In his book Popular Music, Gender and Postmodernism, Neil Nehring writes:
“…groups like Bikini Kill…defy ‘traditional roles and images open to women while simultaneously slashing through doctrinaire notions of feminism’…women in popular music before punk…’reinforced in rock the qualities traditionally linked with female singers, sensitivity, passivity and sweetness’...” (Nehring 156-8).
The group Bikini Kill is cited as the key band for the movement as a whole. Their songs veered from abrasive punk to melodic pop, with lyrics that challenged a dominant male metanarrative to shift from its center, by not only challenging the all-encompassing nature of the male discourse, but also the nature of the feminine discourse that has already accepted a male discourse on how it should present itself. An example of this kind of challenge is found in their song “Alien She” :
“She is me
I am her
She is me
I am her
Siamese twins connected at the cunt”
The song introduces itself immediately as a discourse on two separate female identities, that are alike, yet not the same. They are connected at the “cunt”, in terms of gender, yet the speaker finds a divergence between their personal ideologies.
”HeartBrainHeartBrainHeartBrainLungGut
I want to kill her
But I'm afraid it might kill me”
The speaker confesses her disgust with the unknown second party and wants to kill her (metaphorically, one hopes!), but is afraid that would kill herself as well. This relates back to the Siamese twin conceit, as the women are connected at an essential point (the defining nexus of the vagina provides them both with the power of gender identity, yet is a point of divergence as well).
"Feminist" "Dyke" "Whore"
I'm so pretty
ALIEN
She wants me to got to the mall
She wants me
To put the pretty, pretty lipstick on
She wants me to be like her”
The speaker highlights the key conflict in these lines. On the one hand, she is branded a “feminist” and a “dyke” – while the latter is a well known pejorative term for lesbians, the speaker inserts the term “feminist” into the comparison in order to place it on similar lines. The line “I’m so pretty” is followed by the term “Alien”, to make the speaker’s marginalization complete. She is an Othered sister to the unnamed woman and now it appears that she possesses unattractive traits as a woman. In the latter half of the lines quoted above, the speaker is invited to go to the mall and put on makeup – traditionally “girly” activities that her unnamed friend wants her to partake in. There is a stark divide between the two, since the speaker has already described herself as an offending feminist who will not conform to such standards, while her friend adheres to the conventional female activities of going shopping and putting on lipstick. On one hand, the speaker may be making the assumption that her friend has succumbed to the male stereotype of the female and her mundane activities. On the other, the speaker may feel that she is cut off from her fellow female by not enjoying these activities. Being a feminist seems to preclude the rest of the descriptions, and even though the speaker will attest to the fact that she is indeed a feminist, she acquires the other tags involuntarily. The speaker feels she will never be on the same level as her friend, whether she wills it or not.
”And all I really wanted to know
Who was me and who is she
I guess I'll never know” (Hannah 1991)
The final refrain and verse shows the speaker’s frustration at her alienation from her companion, while the final verse does little to resolve the conflict between the two women. Once again, the speaker understands the hopelessness of “killing” her friend’s stereotypically feminine outlook, since they are recognized as women no matter what their individual beliefs, and to create fissures among themselves would be suicide from the perspective of the male metanarrative. The speaker is at ends at what do because she does not want any internal fissures from the feminine discourse to be seen as a sign of relenting to patriarchy. The song ends on a despairing note as the speaker is left unsure of the fate of the dual female identities – one which adheres to the male metanarrative and one that opposes it.
Bikini Kill’s “Alien She” challenges the legitimacy of the male metanarrative by confronting the unnamed woman’s adherence to said narrative. In an interview with the magazine Punk Planet in 1998 after the band’s breakup, founder Kathleen Hanna discusses the concept of what it was to be a female enjoying commercial success with her music. In this excerpt, she hits on the idea of a male metanarrative, since, in her words, being successful was equated with being “male” and “capitalist” in both second-wave feminism and punk ethics respectively:
“There’s this concept about how if you’re successful, you’re being ‘male’, and I’ve always equated it with the punk [ethic that says] if you try to earn a living, you’re being ‘capitalist’…It allows the oppressors to define what success is…I have met feminists where their whole thing is about getting ahead within the system the way it is. They’re still defining success in the same way [it’s always been defined] – by money and how much control they can have over their environment” (Punk Planet).
Hanna talks about how the descriptor of “male” is given to success, as it is seen as an aggressive, self-absorbed act by either second wave feminists or punks. She then draws up a contrast with women who declare they are feminist, yet are marking their success based on the rules of the metanarrative. She goes on to say that she believes success should be based on individual accomplishments, not by financial gain or what is defined by the male metanarrative as “success”. Hanna’s call to remove this way of measuring success and instead open the definition to accommodate all individual achievements is very similar to Iragaray’s concept of removing the male discourse from the center; both believe that by taking away power from the center and instead distributing it equally among all parties, true discourse can take place. There is no one entity endowed with all the power and that is part and parcel the message Kathleen Hanna has tried to spread through Bikini Kill, her solo endeavors, and her current band Le Tigre.
Le Tigre uses less distorted guitars and crashing drumbeats and more pop savvy to deliver a continued message of feminist awareness. A lot of their material is markedly left-leaning political dance-pop, as well as feminist rhetoric. In the song “F.Y.R” , they reference the chapter “Fifty Years of Ridicule” from feminist writer Shulamith Firestone’s book The Dialectic of Sex. The fifty years of ridicule in this case was the period extending from the granting of women’s right to vote 1920 till the 1970s, when the book was written. The song by Le Tigre pays tribute to this chapter, saying:
“Ten short years of progressive change
Fifty fucking years of calling us names
Can we trade title nine for an end to hate crime?
Feminists we're calling you
Please report to the front desk
Let's name this phenomenon
It's too dumb to bring us down
F.Y.R
Fifty years of ridicule”
The song starts with the direct reference to the chapter by Firestone and notes that the fifty years since the women’s right to vote was achieved, there followed only disparaging views of women who wanted to be have a political voice. The rallying cry of Le Tigre – indeed Kathleen Hanna’s whole career – is to bring feminists to the forefront, especially to encourage young feminists to step forward.
“Mrs. Doubtfire on Mother's Day
On-the-job stalker for equal pay
Celebrate gay marriage in Vermont by enforcing those old sodomy laws
One step forward
Five steps back
We tell the truth they turn up the laugh track” (Hanna 2001).
The main culprit for all of society’s misgivings according to this song does not only appear to be men, (as they are not explicitly accused in the song), but rather those who adhere solely to the male metanarrative, similar to the second character in Bikini Kill’s “Alien She”. Ten years after writing the latter, Hanna chooses to use this song to attack those who do not question the metanarrative. In “Alien She”, she is sympathetic to her fellow woman who does not question the metanarrative, but in this song, there is no sympathy for any supporters of the master discourse. “F.Y.R.” criticizes society’s almost blind acceptance of the male metanarrative without considering the consequences of giving power only to the male center. “Mrs. Doubtfire on Mother’s Day” refers to the Robin Williams film “Mrs. Doubtfire” where he dresses in drag in order to pose as a nanny for his children, who live separately with their mother. The tone in most of the song is sarcastic and the delivery of this line is no exception. Hanna wishes to indicate how the concept of a man in drag can appear humorous, in the context of Mother’s Day, since that is not a day that should be designated for him. The underlying point that Hanna may be getting at is, if a man dresses in drag, and takes care of his children the way any woman would, shouldn’t Mother’s Day be reserved for that person as well? After all, he is performing all the duties of a mother – and it may be the term “duties” that Hanna has exception towards. If the role of a mother can be summed up in a series of duties, and a man in drag can look and play the part just as well, motherhood is then trivialized to the point that said individual should be able to participate in Mother’s Day with all other women.
The line “On-the-job stalker for equal pay” deals with sexual harassment at the workplace as well as the concept of equal pay for both sexes in an ironic tone. The speaker asks, is receiving equal pay worth the effort when a harasser is being paid the same, in the same workplace? The next line gets even more topical, with the reference to Vermont sodomy laws. Vermont was the first state in the union to recognize and legalize same-sex unions, with the one proviso that these unions not be referred to as “marriages”. Sodomy laws still exist in Vermont, insofar as acts of sodomy are punishable by law if the prosecutor feels inclined to do so, while private acts are not covered by the law. So Le Tigre’s claim is, Vermont is hedging on its position on gay marriage if sodomy laws still exist and are prosecutable. Those in same-sex marriages can be prosecuted by the law for engaging in sexual conduct natural to them, but not deemed so by the state. The only solution is to keep such acts private; if no one hears about or sees it, the “problem” just isn’t there. The arrangement of the song is also central to how the message is delivered and perceived. The lyrics are sung/spoken over a driving, descending bassline, with the chorus shouted in a manner similar to a war cry. The urgency as well as sarcasm of the lyrics is conveyed with a snappy drum machine beat, so that the lyrics stand out instead of being buried under layers of guitar, bass, or even overall production. Hanna’s call to bring females together to battle the injustices outline in this song is a reaction against the metanarrative because it is her opinion that the male metanarrative has failed American society. The only way to rectify these mistakes is by shifting the power center and giving power to both feminine and masculine narratives.
Sleater-Kinney is a band that extends the basic principles of riot grrrl feminism (or third wave feminism in general) while distancing themselves from the minimalist punk that signified the movement. They write about politics and feminism as riot grrrl bands have done, but rely on more intricate song structures as well as a literary lyrical style. Many critics have praised them saying that they have shown that female rock musicians can be as musical and innovative as male peers. They represent another logical step forward for riot grrrl as a genre (as Le Tigre did), by extending the vocabulary of the music. One of their contemporaries who displayed similar characteristics was Veruca Salt. The latter produced heavy hard rock that was previously territory occupied by male-centered bands like Led Zeppelin and AC/DC.
One Sleater-Kinney song, “#1 Must Have” speaks as a form of epilogue about riot grrrl and the fate of third-wave feminism as it becomes co-opted and misrepresented in the press. One of the chief laments of the riot grrrl proponents was the media’s misconstruing of the movement as either “anti-man” or some desperate attempts for attention from women who felt neglected by popular culture. According to Bezler:
“By the mid-90s Riot Grrrl activity experienced a decline across the country. This ceasing was due in large part to the mainstream media, who ruthlessly co-opted the movement, condensing it into the slogan “Girl Power.” This brand of marketable faux feminism was made popular by the advent of female performers such as the Spice Girls and Britney Spears. Although some Riot Grrrl chapters are still active today, the movement peaked in the early ‘90s and quieted around 1996.” (Bezler 54).
Indeed, “Girl Power” was a statement that had become quite ubiquitous by the middle of the 1990’s, but not in the way the founders of the riot grrrl movement would have hoped for. Many members of the movement felt that, as with any popular subculture like punk or metal, there would inevitably be a point when large corporations would release their own spin of the subculture into the popular market. The difference would be that the co-opted version of third-wave feminism would be a distilled, “safe” interpretation of its core principles. From the confrontational, noisy punk of Bikini Kill, the world is introduced to the cleaned-up, almost family friendly “girl power” message of the Spice Girls or Meredith Brooks.
In the song “#1 Must Have”, Sleater-Kinney lament the death of the movement, due to the media’s spin on the initial message of the riot grrrl movement:
“Bearer of the flag from the beginning
Now who would have believed this riot grrrl's a cynic
But they took our ideas to their marketing stars
And now I'm spending all my days at girlpower.com
Trying to buy back a little piece of me”
Corin Tucker was the guitarist in band Heavens To Betsy during the early riot grrrl days, so the opening lines sum up her feelings of seeing the movement rise and fall in a matter of a few years. She also talks about the initial message of the scene being spun around by big corporations and the literal sale of third-wave feminism as a commodity. The speaker talks about the irony of having to resort to buying back what was hers to begin with.
“And I think that I sometimes might have wished
For something more than to be a size six
But now my inspiration rests
in-between my beauty magazines and my credit card bills” (Tucker 2000).
Tucker writes about the hey-day of third-wave feminism when appearance and conventional female beauty were not as important as making a statement. However, the tides have turned and sexiness has become a new feminist maxim. Being beautiful and sexy is not necessarily a bad thing, according to Kathleen Hanna in the same interview quoted earlier, but it’s the message gleaned from this co-opted feminism that is important. If girls are “going to the library instead of the mall”, according to Hanna, then the Spice Girls may actually have contributed in some way by at least getting them curious about feminism. The lines from Sleater-Kinney’s song talks about the alternative: feminists who believe that the outward message is more important than the ideological message put forth by riot grrrls and other feminist groups.
“I've been crawling up so long on your
Stairway to heaven
And now I no longer believe
That I wanna get in
And will there always be concerts where
Women are raped
Watch me make up my mind instead of my face
The number one must have is that we are safe” (Tucker 2000).
“Stairway to heaven” is a reference to a Led Zeppelin song, but the speaker subverts the idea of reaching the ultimate rock n roll pinnacle: she feels that perhaps it wasn’t worth it considering the fact that male audiences have yet to change. Women still have to defend themselves in mosh pits against males, either against the violence of the crowd or sexual harassment. The speaker doubts if opinions really have changed about women in rock, or if women are truly considered as equals by male musicians. There are still many paths to traverse for third-wave feminists, and the effect of media-induced “pop feminism” has set progress back somewhat. “Watch me make up my mind instead/of my face” is the speaker’s indignant statement to her detractors, as well as would-be feminists, that she intends to be focused on the ideology of feminism rather than the superficial aspects being taught by the media. She intends to remain educated and knowledgeable instead of relying on a commercial venture to teach her about women’s rights.
I have been a fan of female rock musicians since high school. At a time of one’s life when one spends a great amount of time searching for a unique voice, I was more interested in the women who were cultivating such a voice by working within the genre I loved. It was very clear to me in high school what music the two genders were prone to listen to. Boys listened to rap and rock, while girls listened to R n’ B (the modern kind) and soft rock. The gender lines could not have been more clearly demarcated, to the point where it appeared comical to me. The relatively androgynous genre of techno was enjoyed by both sexes, since it essentially had no face to offer to the listener. A boy admitting to his appreciation of a female artist’s work would be subject to levity. Boys would also be slightly amused (I must admit that I was one of them) when a girl would admit to preferring particularly testosterone-laden rock or rap. I myself would witness disbelieving stares from the girls when I told them I enjoyed Veruca Salt and PJ Harvey.
The “default” nature of gender roles operates in such a way that until one speaks their refusal of it, they are considered to be assigned that role permanently. Until the boys or girls in my school told each other about their musical preferences, the common conception was that boys listened to “boy” music (loud, fast and aggressive) while girls listened to “girl” music (soft, subtle and perhaps danceable). “Speaking” one’s preference would enter them into the discourse of Otherness. This is similar to the “default” nature of sexuality where, until one informs that their sexuality is not heterosexual, that person is considered heterosexual. While the musical “coming out” of an individual carries fewer implications than a gay man admitting to his sexuality, it still brings to light an important point on how gender roles can restrict lives. It can influence the books we read, the movies we watch and the music we listen to.
Gender roles aside, the most important distinction I learned to make was that male-centered music was invariably thought of as “better”. Granted, we were high school kids at that time, but this sentiment seemed to carry over to the outside world as well. Women were adept at singing nicely, making “pretty” music and also looking attractive (which had no bearing on the music itself, yet most music discussions about female performers would usually center on the attractiveness of the performer rather than the quality of her music). Women were not considered when discussions on music turned to political songs, virtuosity or objective critiques of popular music albums. The male center was fully in control in those discussions because the Othered music of women was, at the end of the day, a charming aside to more substantial music. The women of riot grrrl and beyond sought to change this perception.
The postmodern feminist will hopefully continue to make changes and look to broaden her focus. While the status of women’s rights is still a cause that needs to be fought for in the U.S., there are women who are in far worse situations in other parts of the world. In order to challenge the male metanarrative effectively, the postmodern feminist must be able to tackle problems in places where the male center is firmly in power. The “revolution” in Bikini Kill’s slogan “Revolution girl-style now!” will not be complete until it is taken to places where women are not allowed to speak, let alone vote or play music. I would like to conclude this paper by looking at the lyrics to the song “The Pocket Knife” by PJ Harvey. The guitar and percussion arrangement convey a Middle Eastern feel to the song and help set up the melancholy scene of a bride getting ready for her wedding day. One could surmise that it is going to be an arranged marriage from the lyrics, so the Middle Eastern theme fits in well:
“Please don't make my wedding dress
I'm too young to marry yet
Can you see my pocket knife?
You can't make me be a wife
Mummy, put your needle down
How did you feel when you were young?
I'm not trying to cause a fuss
I just wanna make my own fuck-ups” (Harvey 2004).
The story in Harvey’s lyrics is that of a young girl who does not want to carry through with her parents’ wedding plans. The geographical location of the protagonist is not made clear in the song, but the writer leaves that aspect open for interpretation. The line “Mummy…How did you feel when you were young?” indicates that the character is trying to reason with her mother, although the latter may be turning a deaf ear to these pleas. There is no mention of the father’s role in the marriage – perhaps he is the one who simply cannot be reasoned with. This is a story that is repeated many times every year in the Middle East or the Indian Subcontinent where young girls have little to no say in whom they marry. Harvey’s non-specific arrangement of the song, as well as vague nationality of the speaker, helps the listener place the latter in any geographic setting of their choosing. It is not specific details that are important to Harvey. The important thing is that this scenario is still being played out in various parts of the world and that is why it is important for feminists who have a voice to help those who do not. That is the role of the postmodern feminist in the years to come.
Works Cited:
• Bikini Kill. “Alien She.” Pussy Whipped Kill Rock Stars: 1994.
• Cameron, Deborah and Kulick, Don. Language and Sexuality. Cambridge University Press: UK 2001. Page 46.
• Harvey, Polly Jean. “The Pocket Knife.” Uh Huh Her. Island: June 8, 2004.
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