One of the Boys: Female Musicians and Gender Play

I grew up on the edge 70s glam, right through its 80s incarnation as hair metal, and then 90s acceptance of gender play. Bowie, New York Dolls; Poison and Motley Crue's eyeliner misogyny; and Kurt Cobain showing up on Headbangers Ball in a full ball gown. There are tons of examples of male artists finding ways to play with gender roles, but very few of women. Female artists, to have any chance at mainstream success, are stuck with the dichotomy of playing the sexy vixen, or the good, innocent virgin.

The recent popularity of artists like Janelle Monae and La Roux's Elly Jackson provided some much needed androgyny that didn't play to some male fantasy. (Yeah, Madonna wore a suit in "Express Yourself" but with a hefty dose of self-awareness, and her co-opting of gay culture never sat right with me.)

Annie Lennox and the Observer Ask "What Does Feminism Mean Today?"

(Via the Guardian)

Annie Lennox, along with fellow performers, VV Brown and Beverley Knight, director of UK clothing brand Whistles, Jane Shepherdson, journalist Katharine Whitehorn, and author Monica Ali were part of a recent discussion (chaired by Lennox) on what equality means to them and what the future holds for feminism. I love that musicians, usually so reticent to call themselves feminists, are talking about equality in and outside the music industry, The best quote of the night (as seem on bibliofeminista's tumblr) goes to singer Beverley Knight:

But when you speak up about it you're the one who is labelled as combative, aggressive, because feminism is seen as some kind of putting on of a man's angry cloak. You're either laughed at or you're some woman with big bovver boots and a shaved head trying to be like a guy. That's the response you get. Feminism is neither of those two things. It's about women caring about other women, giving a voice to those who have no other voice.

This is incredibly important, and one of the primary reasons women are less likely to call themselves feminists, but there's also a number of women turning away from mainstream feminism because it's done a poor job historically of addressing their needs. There's also a real need within feminism to disagree with each other, and call out each other's and the movement's failures without being labeled as combative and aggressive.

Jeanette Winterson on Annie Lennox

Writer Jeanette Winterson for The Guardian:

I was listening to Radio 4's Woman's Hour recently and heard this fabulous Scottish voice and intelligent, warm-sounding woman who suddenly said "I am a feminist, I've always been a feminist". And then the radio erupted into Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves, and I thought: "Wow, it's Annie Lennox!" This is one helluva woman – great music, tough politics, activism, principles. What more do we need to celebrate?

First off, Jeanette Winterson talking about Annie Lennox? Double win. I think this could be a good jumping off point for a discussion of artists and their reluctance to embrace a feminist label. One of the questions Bust magazine used to ask of their monthly cover models was "Do you consider yourself a feminist?" The answer?  Usually a disappointing, "no."

While I'm incredibly happy that Annie Lennox, unlike a lot of artists, is unafraid to use the "F-word," I'd be just as pleased if an artist said, "I'm not a feminist because traditional feminism has done a poor job of serving the needs of all women," instead of "I'm not a feminist but..."

(A version of this was posted to my Tumblr blog)