Page 130 - Cultural Studies A Practical Introduction

114 Music

foregrounding a distinguishing regional characteristic, such as the thick
Southern drawl employed by Toby Keith, or Wyclef Jean ’ s tendency to
intermittently punctuate his vocal delivery with Haitian patois. These
techniques are more than just stylistic devices; they force into the public
consciousness voices and perspectives that are otherwise rarely acknowl-
edged. To use another spatial image, popular music has always been the
preferred expressive medium of “ outsiders. ” This can mean teenagers
alienated from the parent generation, ethnic minorities thrust to the
margins of society by racial prejudice, class - based collectives who feel dis-
enfranchised by diminished economic opportunities, or any other group
that feels distanced from the dominant way of life in a particular sociohis-
torical context. In business or politics, being an outsider is often an
impediment to power, but in popular music, it tends to be a desirable sign
of authenticity which grants access to the spotlight to those who usually
go unnoticed, and makes others want to listen, learn, and act. Pop music
is one of the few cultural arenas where the poor and the dispossessed
enjoy a rare place of privilege.
However, we must not paint a too rosy picture of pop music ’ s egalitarian
spirit. The double - edged sword of an outsider, oppositional art is that, by

definition, it must exclude in order maintain its self - definition as a separate

entity, apart from that which it opposes – for there to be an “ us, ” there has
to be a “ them. ” Unfortunately, the divisions which arise within popular
music sometimes mimic the inequities and injustices of the wider society.
Hip hop is infected by virulent homophobia, country music is frequently
jingoistic and xenophobic, and nearly ever popular genre is to some degree
marred by sexism. We may consider, for instance, the vexed position of
women in rock ‘ n ’ roll. The music industry has traditionally been a micro-
cosm of the larger patriarchal social order. Men held the economic power
as the major players in the recording industry, they wielded creative control
as producers and songwriters, and more often than not, they sang the songs
and played the instruments. Women were usually relegated to the role of
fans, backup singers, or objects of heterosexual desire in lyrics. When they
did appear front and center onstage or on television, they were framed as
coy temptresses whose only desire was for romantic love. In the 1950s
women were not allowed to join the Musician ’ s Union, and in the 1960s,
most “ girl groups ” had names that ended in “ - ette ” or “ - elle ” (e.g., the
Ronettes, the Chantels, the Shirelles), suggesting they were a diminutive
imitation of more legitimate male groups. While female rock musicians in
the late 1960s and 1970s such as Janis Joplin, Patti Smith, and Debbie Harry