The subject of this dissertation is how feminist beliefs have been expressed in alternative music and the resulting effects on identity and future musical styles

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PREFACE

Since my mid-teens I have had a strong interest in alternative music. My preferred type of group has always been the more radical and revolutionary types - though more in terms of style and message than actual musical innovation. In my first two years at university wherever possible I chose courses on sexism and gender inequality. I found these topics intriguing as the group of male and female friends I had grown up with seemed to be absent of any sexist beliefs and I wished to learn more about how such ideas were manifested in society. This in turn led me to consider how feminism had been expressed in the field of alternative music as I had always considered it to be a more cultured and intelligent musical subculture than say, Techno or chart pop music. I discovered that there was a distinct lack of research into this topic, and since the study of music is a growing area within sociology, it was a perfect topic on which to base this dissertation.

The subject of this dissertation is how feminist beliefs have been expressed in alternative music and the resulting effects on identity and future musical styles. I have found it necessary to draw attention to artists and styles which express a strong misogynistic view to demonstrate the extremities of view which alternative music contains within it. Alternative music covers a relatively limited sector of society, mainly that of the teenagers up to people in their late twenties, although there are many exceptions to this rule.

The project begins with an explanation of what I define alternative music as being. I outline the various features which unite the vast array of bands which come under this term and briefly describe how it has progressed since it emerged along with punk music. Then I explain how the infrastructure of rock and alternative music is set up in such a way as to oppress women, and describe any recent developments within this.

The second section is my review of the various literature about the alternative scene. I explain the origins of feminism in alternative music, starting with punk in the mid 1970s and following its progress up to the present day.

The third section is based upon a series of interviews which I conducted with a range of female members of the alternative scene. This is intended to show how alternative stands today in relation to feminine issues, how it has affected the identity of the consumer and how it compares to other musical styles.

Finally, the conclusion summarises all of my findings and recommends future work to be undertaken in this field.

CONTENTS

Preface.............................................................................................1

. Introduction...................................................................................5

.1 What is Alternative Music?............................................................5

.2 Why Study Feminism in Alternative Music?........................................7

.3.1 The Male-Dominated Infrastructure of Music.................................10

.3.2 The Record Company.............................................................11

.3.3 Media................................................................................12

.3.4 Promoters and Agents.............................................................13

.3.5 Managers............................................................................14

.3.6 Studio Technicians.................................................................14

.3.7 Road Crew........................................................................15

2. Progress of Feminism in Alternative Music............................................16

2.1 The Originators of Alternative Music...............................................16

2.2 The Punk Scene........................................................................17

2.3 The Mid-Late 1980s...................................................................23

2.4 Riot Grrrl................................................................................27

2.5 90s Artists - Post-Riot Grrrl..........................................................30

2.6 Present Day.............................................................................32

3. Discussion of Results.........................................................................34

3.1 Methodology..............................................................................34

3.2.1 Discussion of Results................................................................36

3.2.2 Effect of Feminism in Alternative Music Upon the Identity of the Female Consumer...............................................................................38

3.2.3 Feminism of Alternative Music at the Present Time.............................40

3.2.4 Importance of Feminism in Music..................................................42

3.2.5 Feminism in the Alternative Sphere as Opposed to Other Styles of Music...43

4. Conclusion......................................................................................46

5. References......................................................................................51

6. Appendix.......................................................................................54

Section 1 - Introduction

.1 A Definition of Alternative Music

There is no definitive answer as to what alternative music actually is and most alternative bands have little in common. It is best described as an umbrella term which covers new rock music. Alternative music consists of a vast variety of sub-genres including: Indie Rock, Alt Folk, Goth, Brit-pop, Alt Country, Shoegazing, Heavy Metal, Grunge, Post-Punk, New Wave, Riot Grrrl, and many more. Many critics prefer to use the term "alternative rock". I have consciously avoided this as it implies a focus on purely guitar-based music at the expense of dance-based music such as those involved in the industrial scene or groups like Underworld and Death In Vegas, which are as much a part of alternative music as any guitar band.

The entire subculture first emerged in the late 1970s with the advent of Punk. This can be described as the 'big bang' of alternative music as it was the first real musical style which set itself in direct opposition to the conventional scene. Since then the term has been used to describe a huge variety of musical styles and although it sets itself apart from the mainstream music scene, many alternative bands have crossed the barrier and become hugely successful in the charts yet still managed to retain the label of 'alternative' - this applies to bands such as R.E.M. and Nirvana. During the 1980s the term 'alternative' applied mainly to bands and artists who were on an independent record label, or a major label that didn't intervene with their produce as they would with the mainstream artists. These bands existed outside the mainstream and were regarded as more authentic as they were not under pressure to produce a hit song.

At the turn of the 1990s this hyper-fragmented counter-cultural musical sub-genres and micro-subcultures began to blend in almost every possible way, generating countless hybrids. This was the postmodern moment of music, when every possible transgression of boundaries was carried out. Will Straw (1991) states:

Arguably, the most notable feature of alternative-rock culture over the last decade or so has been the absence within it of mechanisms through which particular musical practices come to be designated as obsolete. (Straw 1991, p. 27)

This explosion of creativity at the turn of the 1990s was in great part the result of a series of media, such as college radio stations, independent record labels and marketing companies, fanzines, and urban venue owners, that had sprung up over the 1980s to serve the alternative audience. Nirvana's meteoric rise to the top of the charts in 1991-92 is regarded as the catalyst that brought alternative music to the fore. The grunge scene caught the eye of the major labels who saw the potential for alternative music to become as lucrative as Hip-Hop or metal. Record companies, radio, and MTV embraced the 'new' form, the American Lollapolooza tours and British festival scene enshrined it, and marketers used it as youth bait to sell everything from cars to soft drinks to movies. Despite the mainstream co-option of these strands of alternative music other variations continued to arise and continue to do so today.

Alternative rock has attracted many youths by expressing alienation from and resistance to mainstream society and by maintaining a style of production with which they can identify. It stresses honest representation of feelings by the artists, and rejection of the recording industry's exploitation of music and its listeners. It is the easiest form of music for a person to become involved in as technical skill and physical attractiveness are less important than in other types of music such as jazz or pop music. The proliferation of fanzines and independent record labels mean the culture of alternative music is less controlled by the major corporations, and so bands can express more 'underground' and extreme views than a major label band. A main feature of alternative music is its involvement with political issues and other sensitive topics which tend to be ignored by the mainstream pop groups. For example, the hugely successful alternative rock group Radiohead has a website which has sections devoted to exposing political issues such as the treatment of Tibetan Monks, New Labour's use of "spin", and the problems in third world countries caused by globalisation. A mainstream pop group such as Westlife or the Spice Girls would never address such issues for fear of alienating sectors of their audience.

.2 Why Study Feminism in Alternative Music?

Grossberg's study of rock and roll shows precisely what effect music has upon the listener. To apply this to alternative music we can see the importance of the explicit political message which many such bands profess:

By communicating certain meanings, or structures of meanings, it offers its audience ways of seeing the world, of interpreting experiences; it offers them values that have a profound impact upon the ways they respond to particular situations and challenges. We can refer to this relationship of music, meaning, and reality as the domain of ideological struggle. (Grossberg, 1992, p. 154)

The 1991 study by Wells and Hakanen into the use of music by adolescents clearly shows that popular music is a powerful tool for expressing and managing emotions among young people. Clearly, music has a huge effect upon the individual and as alternative music covers the more sensitive and extreme issues it is an important area of study.

The early social analyses of music came from the Frankfurt School, in particular the views of Theodor Adorno. The Frankfurt School regarded the trend toward popular music as a shift toward passive pop consumption. Adorno portrayed fans of such music as 'colonial victims of cultural imperialism'. Fiske (1989) argues against this and claims that the popular audience is active and necessarily resists the imposed meanings from the obvious white, patriarchal, dominant structure. Fiske describes culture as a constant process of producing meanings of and from our social experience, which produces a social identity for the people involved. Culture involves a constant succession of social practices and therefore is inherently political. The resources of culture - television, press, records, language - all carry the interests of the economically and ideologically dominant. They work to serve the status quo. However, this hegemonic power is only made possible by resistance. Therefore the above resources allow for different lines of force to be taken up and activated within the social system. Popular culture is not imposed from above - it is made from within and below. It is a culture of conflict as it always involves the struggle to make social meanings that are in the interest of the subordinate and not those preferred by the dominant ideology.

Stuart Hall (1981) goes further to explain that popular culture is structured within the opposition between the power-bloc and the people. The power-bloc can be described as a set of unified, stable grouping of social forces - economic, legal, moral, aesthetic. The people, on the other hand, consist of a diverse set of social allegiances constantly formed and changing among the subordinate. Fiske describes this opposition as being between homogeneity, which describes the power-bloc's attempts to control and minimise social differences, and heterogeneity, which refers to the people's wish to maintain their sense of social difference. Kruse (1993), Epstein and Epstein 1994), Mohan and Malone (1994), and Santiago-Lucerna (1995) have all examined alternative music culture. These writers have developed the argument that alternative music is a form of communication that people have used to create a culture distinct from mainstream culture. Through my own experience and research, I have come to believe that there is an important relationship between the expression of feminist beliefs and alternative rock music. I wish to analyse how a relationship of conflict has manifested itself in the sphere of alternative music between male dominance (the power-bloc) and attempts to address this balance with the promotion of feminist beliefs (the people).

I aim to add to the relatively meager body of work given to this subject in sociological studies. The majority of literature I have discovered relating to this topic has been outside the field of sociology and so I have had to adapt much of the information to a more sociological slant. I feel my work will cast more light on feminist issues in a much-neglected realm of popular culture. This project is designed as research into how feminism has infiltrated and altered the realm of alternative music. It contains a review of literature that examines the relationship between gender and alternative music, delving through the past 26 years of alternative music culture demonstrating areas where misogyny was strongly expressed and exploring the various ways that feminism has served to combat this hegemony. I have also undertaken a series of structured interviews in an attempt to understand how the modern female alternative music fan regards their position in alternative music and whether it has had a discernible effect upon their social identity.

The music in itself has does not convey a strong message. I believe the most important information comes from the lyrics, actions, and words of the performers in question, either on stage or in the press. Therefore, in this study I shall focus on the more culturally significant alternative bands and artists. While bands such as Babes in Toyland and The Slits have had lower record sales than bands such as the Stone Roses and the Teardrop Explodes, they have had a much more influential impact on the pattern of feminist influence upon the alternative music scene. I shall also address the male artists such as Nirvana and the Manic Street Preachers who have specifically addressed feminist concerns in their work. Firstly, I will explain how the very infrastructure of the alternative rock industry serves to suppress women.

.3.1 Male dominated infrastructure

The world of popular music is highly structured in terms of gender. While a female musician may become successful this is usually on a man's terms and in a man's world. The music industry intimidates women on the most basic levels and this has held true from generation to generation. While various independent labels attempt to address the gender bias, the recent tendency of the more successful alternative bands to sign to a major label means that the world of alternative music is becoming more susceptible to the male dominance of the record industry. Frith (1983) argues that the different leisure patterns of young people are a reflection of the different degrees of opportunity, restriction, and constraint that are afforded to different individuals and social groups. In this case, I believe the opportunity for a woman to enter the alternative music industry is constrained by her gender. The relationship between choice and constraint is crucial in explaining why women are hindered in the world of music. While the alternative music scene may be more sympathetic toward the female situation it still suffers under many of the hegemonic tendencies of the music industry as a whole. Below I have addressed the aspects of the modern music industry which serve to suppress women.
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.3.2 The Record Company

Within the record industry, women disproportionately occupy positions at the lower end of the hierarchy. These jobs tend to be low-paid, of low-status and either unskilled or semi-skilled manual or office work. In the UK, very few women hold senior positions in the record industry and in the independent sphere no women run their own record company. The most important task in the record company is that of the A&R (artist and repertoire) department. The people who work here are responsible for talent scouting, deciding the songs that a band should record, and ...

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