Hearing Sexism: Gender in the Sound of Popular Music. a Feminist Approach (Studien Zur Popularmusik)

If pictures can be sexist, can analyzing sound reveal sexism, too? Where is the language to discuss sexism in music? L.J. Müller tackles these important questions in their 2018 German book titled Sound und Sexismus, which was awarded the IASPM 2019 book prize. Analyzing the voices of Kurt Cobain, Kate Bush, Björk and others, Müller demonstrates how gender is performed vocally and interacts with gendered aspects of embodiment and affect. The book is written from a strongly positioned and personal feminist perspective and is appealing to readers from various backgrounds - singers, producers, music lovers, as well as academics and anyone with an interest in feminist takes on pop culture. Cover Contents Preface Introduction: What Does Sexism Actually Sound Like? Approach Limitations Feminist (Popular) Music Studies Introduction of Basic Concepts Method and Structure Chapter 1: Tools of Analysis Introducing my Toolbox for Analysis Music as a Sign: Associations Homology Song Lyrics as Genotext Auditory Pleasures The Sonical Body The Vocalic Body Chapter 2: ‘Authenticity’ as an Implicitly Masculine Norm The (White) Male Rock Voice as the Norm Authenticity and ‘Real’ Voice Nirvana: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” How the ‘Real’ Voice Works Identification with the ‘Real’ Voice Robbie Williams: “Feel” The ‘Real’ Voice as a Hegemonic Male Performativity The Gender-Differentiated Audience Chapter 3: Alternative Aesthetic Strategies of Female Singers Kate Bush: “Feel It” Timbre as a Mask The Production of Desire Intentionality and Seduction The Subject Behind the Voice Kylie Minogue: “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” The Elusive Vocalic Body The Vocal Sound as a Fetishized Object Dance as Appropriation of One’s Own Body Björk: “All Is Full of Love” The Sonic Embrace of the Disembodied Voice The Materiality of the Word Birdy: “People Help the People” A Female ‘Real’ Voice? Castration Staging Self-Dissolution as a Consoling Way Out Conclusion: Hearing Sexism? The Voices of the Others The Gender-Coded Sonical Body Hear Sexism! References Literature Music If pictures can be sexist, can analyzing sound reveal sexism, too? Where is the language to discuss sexism in music? LJ Müller tackles these important questions in their 2018 German book titled Sound und Sexismus, which was awarded the IASPM 2019 book prize. Analyzing the voices of Kurt Cobain, Kate Bush, Björk and others, Müller demonstrates how gender is performed vocally and interacts with gendered aspects of embodiment and affect. The book is written from a strongly positioned and personal feminist perspective and is appealing to readers from various backgrounds - singers, producers, music lovers, as well as academics and anyone with an interest in feminist takes on pop culture. Sound,Gender,Music,Gender Studies,Pop Music,Musicology "If pictures can be sexist, can analyzing sound reveal sexism, too? Where is the language to discuss sexism in music? L.J. Müller tackles these important questions in their 2018 German book titled Sound und Sexismus, which was awarded the IASPM 2019 book prize. Analyzing the voices of Kurt Cobain, Kate Bush, Björk and others, Müller demonstrates how gender is performed vocally and interacts with gendered aspects of embodiment and affect. The book is written from a strongly positioned and personal feminist perspective and is appealing to readers from various backgrounds - singers, producers, music lovers, as well as academics and anyone with an interest in feminist takes on pop culture."-- Provided by publisher