Music/Society Modern Wrld (W6)
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ThirdWaveFeminismandMusic.pptxMusic of Third Wave Feminism
Timeline for 3rd Wave Feminism
Precursor – during 1980s, Black & Latina women intellectuals created space for women of color, see: Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Gloria Anzaldua, Cherrie Moranga…
1989 – invention of term: Intersectionality – ‘layers of oppression’ -Kimberle Crenshaw (lawyer) used it to signified overlap of race, gender, class, sexuality, etc. [example: pay gap: while women make about 82% of what white men make; Black women only make about 62% of white men, 1]
Early 1990s – starts with Riot Grrrl (punk rock collective) in Olympia, Washington
1991 – Anita Hill testimony for confirmation of Clarence Thomas (US Supreme Court); Thomas was accused of sexually harassing Hill
1992 – “Year of the Woman” – 4 female US Senators
1993 - Janet Reno confirmed as first US Attorney General
1994 – passage of Violence Against Women Act
1996 – The Vagina Monologues (play) premieres in NYC
2004 – The March for Women’s Lives in Washington, DC
2007 – Nancy Pelosi becomes first female Speaker of the House of Representatives
Main issues: inclusivity (race, class, sexuality – LGBTQ+), rape, sexual abuse, sex positivity, birth control, abortion; theories of postmodern feminism, transfeminism, ecofeminism, post-structural/non-binary
Riot Grrrl
Punk/indie rock collective, feminist movement, first formed in Olympia/Seattle Washington early 1990s, but has global scope (i.e., Pussy Riot, Russia)
Included bands: Bratmobile, Bikini Kill (Kathleen Hanna), Cub, Tiger Trap, Heavens to Betsy, L7, etc.
Defiance of misogyny & homophobia in punk music
DIY (Do It Yourself) ethic; self-reliance, self-empowerment
Songs: “Rebel Girl” (Bikini Kill)
Fanzines, zines, art important part of culture and expression (pic right)
Girl Power Theory (Wald reading)
“I’m Just a Girl” – No Doubt, 1997; plays into patriarchal notions of women as children; but also subverts these stereotypes, promoting girl power; use of strategic deception
Girl-ness subverted male sexual gaze, projecting innocence, and positioning men as pedophiles if sexually aroused
Girlhood, or girliness is often used as a strategy of empowerment; to reimagine childhood, to play into social expectations
Girliness can help make rage/anger (often emotions associated with men) more socially acceptable within dominant gender norms – women are often told/expected to be sweet, demure, etc, but girls can have more expressive range because they are not expected to be as ‘mature’
Girliness – associated with pre-sexualized identity
Girl (helpless, innocent, naïve) imagery minimizes No Doubt’s racial transgression, cultural appropriation of Jamaican ska music and culture?
‘Girl’ can be interpreted as transforming a derogatory identity/term, into a positive term of empowerment (girl power), similar to ‘bitch’ when used by women in certain ways, i.e., ‘boss bitch’
Girlhood and girliness, can be seen as strategies to gain access to industry, media, money, etc. by fulfilling social expectations for infantilism of women
Erykah Badu (Hartman reading)
Born Erica Abi Wright, Dallas TX, 1971
Neo-soul artist, fuses R&B, soul, hip-hop, jazz, reggae
Projects sensuality, sexuality, and spirituality
Comments on conventional notions of female beauty and sexuality
Protests against objectification of women
Plays with images such as: Jezebel – stereotype of sinful, evil, sexually loose woman
“Respectable” woman – traditional stereotype of pious, chaste, domestic, subservient woman
Sapphire – stereotype of ‘angry Black woman’
Compared to: Janet Jackson, Beyonce, Jill Scott – often use sexuality explicitly as expressions of empowerment; assert control over their own bodies and sexuality
“Bag Lady” (2000)– challenges conventional beauty standards
“On & On” (1997) – demands more from romantic relationships, demands more from men
“Didn’t Cha Know” (2001) – subverts stereotypes of female sexuality
“Tyrone” (1997) – demands respect from men; refuses to be subservient
