Do our favourite songs affect how we perform gender?

It is with little doubt that popular culture, and more specifically music, is a reflection of the ideals that are intrinsic to society, and with the understanding that gender is a social construction, it’s no stretch to say that popular music has a resounding affect on how we perform gender. Stereotypical portrayals of masculinity and femininity in our favourite songs can certainly reinforce conceived notions of what it is to be a man or a woman. However as societies outlook on gender continues to broaden so too do the number of musical acts whose personas challenge these very constructs.

Looking specifically at Hip-Hop it can be seen how certain behaviours attributed to maleness are continuously paraded. Appearing within the genre is lyricism that is rife with misogynistic attitudes, the boasting of financial statuses and antagonistic actions, and while these themes are not reflective of the whole genre they are certainly pertinent aspects.

While people may want to brush off wildly offensive lyrics as just being humorous, are we really that naive to believe they don’t help us formulate ideas of how to define male and female behaviours? A verse on a rap song obviously doesn’t create cultures of rape and violence in the male psyche; however Eminem rapping about punching Lana Del Rey in the face and raping Iggy Azalea certainly condones these attitudes. And what about the detrimental effect this surely has to have on men who may not fit into the typical box of how they should present to the world?

Yet much like how pop music has helped our culture sustain these traditional ideas, as societies outlook on the fluidity of gender continues to expand, we are also seeing more and more artists speak up about these issues and challenge the patriarchal tendencies of our culture. When Beyoncè, one of the most universally liked artists of today, stands with the word feminist emblazoned on the VMA stage, we have to recognise the important steps that are being made. Looking back further to the original champions of ‘girl-power’ in pop music the Spice Girls, who with each member presented an alternate approach to femininity, we can see that we are moving towards becoming a culture that is more inclusive of the uniqueness each person approaches gender with.

It can definitely be said that with each varying degree to which a musician with a large audience demonstrates traditional qualities of their gender, they in turn either consolidate gender norms or through their acts of defiance provide alternative lifestyles. So while we celebrate the Frank Oceans and Lady Gaga’s of the world who continue to defy gender expectations, the mere presence of songs like ‘Blurred Lines’ clearly acknowledge that we obviously still need to keep the conversation going.

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