Rock is dominated by male performers, In the Rolling Stone 100 greatest guitarists , 98 are male. Bayton claims, "women performers have been more prominent in commercial pop and 'folk.’"
This could be because, as Bayton observed, because women are ostracized in magazines and guitar shops. Also, the electric guitar - a staple of rock, is considered a 'masculine' instrument and one that girls may avoid due to their cultural socialisation. Similarly Rock lyrics typically are what Frith and McRobbie describe as an "aggressive expression of male sexuality," Something that women may not be able to relate to.
However, Greig notices that female performers have developed different styles in order to express feminine issues. Kurt Cobain claimed in a 1993 interview that "The future of rock belongs to women," and when we observe strong female rock stars like Courtney Love and Janis Joplin it is fair to assume that this could be true.
This is quite a strongly argued piece. I am not entirely convinced by your Cobain quote as the two examples that you have given have both been variously described as acting like 'one of the boys'.
ReplyDelete