Extended Blog: The Contemporary Voice in Female Rock n' Roll

The contemporary female voice in rock n’ roll is one that speaks of liberation, confidence, anger, feeling, and frustration.

The contemporary female voice echoes characteristics of second and third wave feminism.

Women with second wave feministic voices object to being dominated by a patriarchy that seeks to keep them in submission. These feminists advocate for power by playing with social constructs like sexuality, and the ‘woman’s place’ through their music.

The post-modern mode of third wave feminism also informs the contemporary female voice, especially in recent times. In our society many social constructs have been undermined, like body, gender, sexuality etc. Female artists in this category readopt the lip-stick, high-heals, and cleavage exposing necklines that feminism initially identified with male oppression.  

These grrrls are strong and empowered, shunning victimization, and defining feminine beauty for themselves as subjects, not as objects of a sexist patriarchy. There is a rhetoric of reappropriation—like wearing the bright red lipstick, using derogatory words like “slut” and “bitch” in order to undermine sexist culture and deprive it of verbal weapons.

I think the media, social networking, and basically the internet—which is disembodied—gives users the opportunity to cross gender boundaries, and the idea of gender and sexuality has become more blurred and unclear. There is a sort of celebration of ambiguity and a deviation from the tradition “us-them”. They construct themselves through performance, rather than sticking to fixed structures and power relations.

I think this is true of most contemporary female artists. Some, however, such as Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus {though perhaps she is breaking out of this} are stuck under a patriarchal power and their voice is not entirely their own. They flaunt third wave feminist ideals like baring and being proud of the body, sexualizing their image, but not for the right reasons. They are being actively objectified, but I don’t see it as being empowering as I do with other artists like Lady Gaga, or Beyonce.  

Women still sing of love, vulnerability, and emotion--but in a take charge kind of way. They stay true to what it means to be a women--putting all of that frustration, emotion, love, and nurture into their craft. Whether showing their bodies, or not.