Why+Music+and+Gender?

**So Maddie, why do you care about music and gender?** Good question, I'm glad you asked! My love of music all started with my parents singing James Taylor and the Beatles to me when I was little. My Dad used to be a professional musician and still tries to be a singer-songwriter in his spare time, while working at a more profitable occupation. In elementary school I mostly listened to his music, show tunes, and mainstream classical like Vivaldi. In my formative years I discovered a broader world of music: popular bands like Green Day, classic rock bands like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, and punk bands like Bad Religion and Pennywise opened my ears and got me through some tough times in middle school. After joining the School of Rock Boston (SoRB) as a drum, guitar, and vocal student in my freshman year of high school, I expanded my musical taste to include The Who, Nirvana, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Nick Drake, U2 and Bob Marley, as well as local bands like Venezuela, Audible Crayons and Dopapod. In recent years, music has become as much of a staple in my diet as, say, bread. But, looking back through the musicians I mentioned, does anything seem to be missing? If you said “women” then you and I are on the same page.

 It’s true, I have also discovered Hole, Janis Joplin and Joni Mitchell. I did play in a SoRB concert called “Women That Rock.” There are a few women on my iPod. But that’s just it – there was just one SoRB show that highlighted female artists, and I only listen to a few. I didn’t think my tendency towards male artists was important until I worked at Sub/Urban Justice, a summer program in which teens teach and learn about social justice issues. We really delved into gender: In the female/woman affinity group, we discussed intense feelings of disempowerment, and internal struggles with self-image. I questioned all of the assumptions about what it means to be a woman, along with the expectations placed on women in society today, and how they can become internalized. I realized that there might be more to the unbalanced gender ratio on my iPod than just my personal preference.

 So why do I have so many more male artists on my iPod than females? Maybe women don’t have as many opportunities to have their music recognized and marketed as men. Maybe it’s easier for women to succeed in the music industry if they market their music and themselves in a certain way. I say "maybe" because I don't quite know yet. That is why, for my SYP Paper, “Smashing the Glass Guitar,” I am going to research a variety of female musicians and investigate what kind of an impact their reinforcement and/or rejection of traditional gender roles had on their success.

 The emotional charge in the discussions over the summer made me feel a more personal responsibility to go against some of the widespread disempowering gender stereotypes. In some very deliberate ways I have already rebelled: I cut off most of my hair and frequently wear sweaters that were made for men. I don’t just do these things to go against “the man.” I find short hair and giant sweaters very comfortable. But going against stereotypes is a part of the conscious decision I make to look a certain way. The CD that I'll record will relate to gender in that I will write songs from my own perspective - that of a young woman who is interested in looking at gender roles and trying to break free of them herself. Most of the lyrics I write will not be explicitly about gender, but I expect there to be a certain edge to my music that makes it unique.