The Divine Intersections of Gender and Music Production
Divine Affliction: Perception Through A Feminine Lens Part 3
Divine Affliction: Perception Through a Feminine Lens Blog Series presents an expansive view behind the music production of album Divine Affliction. An expression of the feminine aesthetics in music. A sonic portrayal of the duality of divinity and affliction, a journey through the female experience. The album is a shorter album consisting of seven songs and would be defined as experimental electronica with raw, introspective, brooding, emotive music. This album presents an aural representation of the female processes and application to music production. The musical compositions are inspired by my own experience of the intersectionality of gender and music production along with the preliminary research uncovered in the following theoretical blogs.
Affliction: “Something that makes you suffer” (Cambridge, N.d).
Divine: “Extremely good or pleasing” (Cambridge, N.d).
These two terms, divine and affliction describe my experience with the intersectionality of gender and music production. Divine is how I feel when I’m writing music and in my creative realm. Divinity is the state of things that are believed to come from God or a creator (Wikipedia. N.d.). I attribute being a creator to being a music producer, and through creating this project I am establishing my feminine subjectivity within my creative practice, reaching my true state of divinity. French feminist author, Irigaray believes “as long as woman lacks a divine made in her image she cannot establish her subjectivity or achieve a goal of her own. She lacks an ideal that would be her goal or path in becoming” (Irigaray, 1984, p. 63). (Adams & Duncan, Ed Clark, 2003, p. 197–198). By creating my own image of the divine through the sonic notions in the music I will establish my feminine subjectivity. Producing the album Divine Affliction is my goal and ideal of becoming. Throughout this project, the term divine is attributed to the feminine aesthetics of music production. These feminine aesthetics include; feminine performativity in music production, female modalities of music production, and feminist DIY cultural production. I feel afflictions with my femininity and the masculine culture of music production. Throughout this project, the term affliction defines the representation of women in music production, and the barriers to accessing the field this produces, along with the alterity issues this brings for women.
Introduction
The majority of critical and scholarly discussions on gender and music production illustrate the gender inequalities and masculine dominance in music as an omnipresent feature. Paula Wolfe states that female producers are marked primarily for their absence in the field, and have been under-researched, along with analyses of their practice (Wolfe 2012). Feminist research in the field has found that the masculine-led music industry is largely ignorant in regards to women’s productions, which has led to research on women’s contributions to the field critiquing the inequalities in the workplace, rather than offering an analysis of the works and practices of female producers. Sally Macarthur explains that “Women’s productions are not discussed in mainstream music production discourse or tediously analyzed in comparison to men’s music, nor given the same attention as exemplified in performances and broadcasts” (Macarthur 2002, p. 2). Thus the label women’s music illustrates the perspective that it is separate from men’s music illuminating men’s music is simply music (Macarthur, 2002, p. 2). Rebekah Farrugia notes the disadvantages in Electronic Dance Music (EDM) female producers face with categorizing their music as women’s music, results in harsher criticism, distances potential male fans, and not getting their music heard as electronic music is consumed by the male domain of DJ’s (Farrugia, 2012, p. 68). This blog is a step towards correcting this discursive trend, through reflection on the contributions of female producers in music production. This reflection includes analysis of the feminine aesthetics of music production with explorations on; feminine performativity in music production, feminine modalities of music production, and feminist Do-It-Yourself cultural production (DIY). These feminine aesthetics of music production I attribute to the divine intersections of gender and music production.
The definition of feminine and feminist throughout this discussion does not impose a feminist label on female producers and DJs. It is important to acknowledge that not all female producers feel their practices are feminine or see themselves as feminists. Helene Cixous uses examples of the binary opposites to define the cultural representations of masculine/feminine such as: sun/moon, culture/nature, father/mother, head/heart, intelligible/palpable (Cixous, 1997, p. 152). Cixous explains that:
“These sexual differences are not distributed on the basis of socially determined sexes [man or woman]. To avoid the confusion: man/masculine woman/feminine, for there are some men who do not repress their femininity, some women, who more or less, inscribe to their masculinity”. (Cixous, 1997, p. 152).
It is then essential to recognize that not all women are feminine or feel comfortable expressing feminine behavior. Charlotte Greig affirms:
“We can’t talk about women as if we were a subgroup of humanity that speaks with one voice. We don’t, and there’s the same level of diversity and conflicting points of view amongst women songwriters, as you’d get anywhere else in music” (Whitely. Ed. Greig, 1997, p. 168).
This is the same in music production with a level of diversity and conflicting perspectives amongst female producers. Some female producers do not acknowledge feminism as a cultural framework embedded in their music production, though I am viewing their discursive and material contributions through their embodied gender and a female lens. Sally Macarthur suggests that gendered divisions need to be drawn between the work of male and female producers because of the difference between men and women on the whole due to the different ways in which they have been socialized (Macarthur 2002: 2). Farrugia indicates that social constructs of gender significantly impact the ways in which men or women may or may not seek out and find their voice in all creative fields (Farrugia 2012: 68); therefore, they additionally impact how women express and interact creatively with music production. Further research is needed to understand the female process and practice of music production to gain insights into combating the gender inequalities, therefore this division is necessary.
To reconstitute music as a feminine space I start this analysis with a historical analysis of music, voice, and instrument as gendered discourse. Music composition is a vital element of music production, therefore, it is the basis of the majority of discourse on this intersection.
Herstory of Music Being a Female Realm
Susan McLary’s research of western music history has found disputes over music in terms of gender identity. The conviction that aficionados of music and musicians indicate the feminine is imprinted in the earliest recorded documentation on music. The subjectivity of music and correlation with the body in dance and sensuous pleasure has led to its representation and denotation throughout history as a feminine realm. McLary gives an example of this with Maynard Solomon’s quote of composer Charles Ives, commenting on his repulsion of music for the denotation of music to be a feminine realm, he felt emasculated and ashamed of music’s appeal (McLary, 2002, p. 17).
Emma Mayhew observes that the voice can express and project identity and is the main instrument women use to participate in music, therefore, analysis of voice is crucial (Mayhew, 1999, p. 72). Costas Canakis, Venetia Kantsa and Kostas Yannakopoulous describe in The Gender of Voice that laws of ancient Greek mythology associate speech to having a symbolic relationship to the male gender and rationality, while inarticulate sound based on emotion has a symbolic relationship to the female gender. This is derived from the funeral crying ritual for the dead, which led to contagious outbursts of emotion. Institutions of the church and government believed this female expression as a threat to their power, due to this imposed the impression of female expression as un-rational. Canakis, et al, note that these laws identify a significant aspect between the relationship of voice and the female gender, with a symbolic equivalence present in the two mouths of the female body, the vocal and the sexual. Below in figure 1 is an image of the vocal chord, which resembles a vagina. Providing evidence of these vocal and sexual mouths of the female body, affirming the connection between voice and the feminine.
Due to fear of feminine expression the church placed the systematic control over both of the female mouths, vocally and sexually (Canakis, Kantsa, & Yannakopoulous, N.d, p. 208–209). Which has been a cause of the widespread historical social suppression of women, leading “to the contagious modernizing of discourse penetrating maniat society” (Canakis, Kantsa, & Yannakopoulous, N.d, p. 208–209). Canakis, et al, provide an example of this connection of vocality and the females two mouths, referencing and analyzing medieval hymns of the 12th-century female composer Hildegard von Bingen. Describing her composition’s as the flesh of the voice, constituting a female openness delivered in both the metaphysical musical message and the earthly expression (Canakis et al., N.d, p. 212). “Hildegard gave flesh to the voice and voice to the flesh not for aesthetic gratifications but for the affirmation of femininity” (Canakis et al., N.d, p. 213). Here we see the female in music as a creator or life bringer, “giving flesh to voice” (Canakis et al., N.d, p. 212–213). This analysis of voice and music as a gendered discourse has provided proof of this aspect unique to females of singing and vocality as a female realm. This is an illustration of the divine intersections of feminine and music production.
McLary notes that since the church and state institutions have lifted the censoring and banning of women from music, a relatively large amount of female composers successfully challenged the pernicious stereotypes that have plagued women for centuries. Proving that women can and do compose first-rate music, and they are fully capable of deploying the entire range of the semiotic code they have inherited. Not merely the sweet and passive but the forceful aspects as well. Many superb women composers such as Joan Tower, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Thea Musgrave, and Libby Larsen, insist on making their gender identities a non-issue, precisely because of essentialist assumptions about what music by women ought to sound like remain. Determined to demonstrate that they can write music, not women’s music. McLary considers this a political position and strategy given the history of women’s marginalization in this domain (McLary, 2002, p. 19). Abbey Phillips quotes Schumann’s reflections on her affliction with being a female composer: “I once believed that I had creative talent, but I have given up this idea; a woman must not wish to compose, there never was one able to do it. Am I to be the one? It would be arrogant to believe that” (Phillips, 2011). The marginalization and barring of women were extensive, with Clara Schumann one of the only composers mentioned in the void of female musicians prior to the last two centuries, her image in figure 2 below.
Analysis of instrument as a gendered discourse further illuminates the divine intersections of the feminine and music. In current times the genre grunge brought the rise of the female bass player, like Kim Gordon, Kim Deal, and Sean Yseult. Catherine Strong explains Clawson’s examination of this trend of the feminization of bass appeals to stereotypical gender traits of the female, as it requires more instinct and feeling (Strong, 2011, p. 403). Strong believe women had a space to express in the grunge genre and Riot Grrrl crossover. Evidence of this is by perusing a Sub Pop roster, illustrating the high female participation in this music (Strong, 2011, p. 405–406). With this analysis of music, voice, and instrument as gendered discourse, music has been reconstituted as a feminine realm. Following is an analysis of the feminine aesthetics in music to further analyze the divine intersections of gender and music production.
Feminist/Feminine Aesthetics in Music
“Feminist aesthetics highlights the fact that feminists aim to understand the world, not for the sake of knowledge itself, but in order to create change through the power of art and aesthetics” attests Sheila Lintott (Lintott, N.d). Feminist aesthetics has been a contested term though Sally Macarthur validates the term, with the division of women’s music from men’s music due to the aesthetic differences in physical men and women (Macarthur, 2002, p. 2). She states, “Rieger, Citron, and McLary want to claim a space for their women subjects, to suggest that even while working with inherited paradigms and stylistic norms, women compose music differently than men do” (Macarthur, 2002, p. 19). Solidifying this with the perspective that composing is human behaviour in comparison with Rieger’s notion that gender is one of the most important constructs of human behaviour; hence gender will influence the way in which men and women compose music (Macarthur, 2002, p. 13). Therefore, Macarthur constructs this concept as an “autonomous human subject that is variously labelled male or female in order to ground what is being spoken about” (Macarthur, 2002, p. 18). For this study, consequently, it is imperative to conceive of feminist aesthetics as being grounded and embodied (Macarthur, 2002, p. 20). The history of feminist or feminine aesthetics as embodied goes back to the second-wave feminist movement of the late 1960s and earlier, with Virginia Woolf's suggestion of the ‘woman sentence’ in female writing works as an example. Since the 1960s the most influential work to embrace this idea is found in contemporary French feminism. With Luce Irigaray and Helene Cixous with the notion of L’ecriture feminine translating to writing from the body (Macarthur, 2002, p. 11–12). She quotes Irigaray, “Women must allow their bodies to speak through those spaces; women must write their bodies. I am a woman. I write with who I am” (Macarthur, 2002, p. 21). Macarthur further explains women’s music is frequently accused of lacking aesthetic taste, as it does not conform to the dominant aesthetic paradigm that constructs the ideology of taste. This is because the dominant Western art music aesthetic paradigm is prescribed by patriarchal archetypes with roots in 19th-century Romanticism of a biased masculine aestheticism. Evidently quite appropriate for the music industry to be passé, illustrated in the lack of judgment of music in the context of modern times of the 21st century. She argues that women’s music whether it fails to conform to reigning paradigms is aesthetically tasteful due to its feminist aesthetics, with reference to Susan McClary and Marcia J. Citron (Macarthur, 2002, p. 5).
McClary has done extensive study on the aesthetic of female composers and their works in Feminine Endings. With the rise of Opera in the 17th-century composers would use a set of conventions to construct masculine and feminine aesthetics in music (McLary, 1991, p. 7). She describes these aesthetics in music with examples of a masculine cadence or ending, when “the final chord of a phrase or section occurs on the strong beat”, compared to a feminine cadence or ending that “is postponed to fall on a weak beat.” (McLary, 1991, p. 9–10). With the masculine ending considered standard practice the feminine ending is adopted in romantic styles. These musical doctrines indicate the binary opposition masculine/feminine mapped onto the binaries of strong/weak, standard/different, and objective/subjective (McLary, 1991, p. 9–10). McLary further identifies these binary codes in music highlighting the feminine aesthetics, with the major triad relating to the male gender and the minor triad the female gender (McLary, 1991, p. 11). McLary references Apel’s definition of feminine endings in music in terms of excess “that refuses the hegemonic control of the bar line” (McLary, 1991, p. 11). Macarthur also describes these feminine endings with comparison to Irigaray’s depiction of the embodied feminine “that the continuity and openness of feminine writing also reflect women’s sexual experiences as indefinite, cyclic, without set beginnings and endings” (Macarthur, 2002, p. 113). With examples of this in music by Alma Schindler-Mahler, who rehearsed aspects of her gender into the music compositions and performances. Using the body as a mediator of music, she “composed her femininity in closure of a hovering trembling effect like the female orgasm” (Macarthur, 2002, p. 113). McLary also shows examples of feminine aesthetics of narrative paradigm in the tonality of music with the sonata. The opening theme is energetic, deemed masculine with the second “theme subsidiary in contrast to the first” (McLary, 1991, p. 13). Macarthur also describes this in sonatas with reference to Citron, McClary, and Marx. Macarthur describes Karl Marx’s concept on sonatas as one that depicts the first theme as masculine, “constructed decisively and completely with energy and vigour” in contrast to the second theme: “tender feminine themes, dependent and determined by the preceding masculine theme” (Macarthur, 2002, p. 90). “In this sense each of the two themes is different, and only together do they form something of a higher, more perfect order” as Marx states (Macarthur, 2002, p. 90). Sheila Whitely also portrays the feminine aesthetic in the tonality of popular music, describing the feminine aesthetic amidst defiance of hegemonic control with an example in Kate Bush’s strategies of unique time measures in music:
“Emphasising rhythms and timbres that are disruptive and disturb any sense of ordered time, so creating tension between the rational and irrational, between reason and intuition, rupturing the strictures of thought and syntax to access the chaos of the feminine unconscious” (Whitely, 2003, p. 78).
Another example of a feminine aesthetic in music that Macarthur distinguishes in the female compositions she analyzed is that cyclic patterns are a regular occurrence. She describes cyclic patterns in melodies with “Henderson’s use of swirling ostinati throughout Sacred Site” (Macarthur, 2002, p. 179), and Anne Boyd’s Cycle of Love with its heterophonic texture of cyclic patterns in the melody (Macarthur, 2002, p. 179). Cyclic patterns in genres mapping one genre onto another, defying the limits of generic genre conventions, “Citron alluded to the way that the first and second subjects of Chaminade’s Sonata could be read against sonata form as a quasi-prelude and fugue” (Macarthur, 2002, p. 179). Macarthur refers to Renzo’s opinion of the defiance as negotiating the boundaries and conventions of popular and contemporary music (Macarthur, 2002, p. 181). Macarthur’s final account of the feminine aesthetic of cyclic patterns in music is bringing past to the present to overcome binary contrasts. With the mention of Rieger’s belief that “women blur the past and present, creating music that is cyclical and thereby avoiding relationships in the music that are hierarchical” (Macarthur, 2002, p. 13).
Feminist aesthetics are expressed in lyrics and vocal delivery as Macarthur identifies in Henderson’s music. She reflects how Henderson’s compositions intersect with the complexities of her life and emanate as an invisible pathway, connecting the composer to the environment of her practice. The themes that become her leitmotiv are mapped onto and become embedded in her music (Macarthur, 2002, p. 159). Macarthur identifies in similarities in traditional folk song lyrics with the subjectivity of motherhood and simple, delicate, single movement musical structures (Macarthur, 2002, p. 91). Whitely describes Amos’s lyrics and vocal delivery as “sometimes innocent, sometimes edgy, enticing and mischievous as it moves through and re-enacts her memories of childhood, teenage angst, and trauma” (Whitely, 2003, p. 87). Amos’s personal narratives reflect on conflicting and painful experiences expressed in her performances are characterized by gendered emotions and a feminine truthfulness present an example of feminine aesthetics in music (Whitely, 2003, p. 87). Norma Coates defines, there is not a generic similarity in women’s songwriting, but the way in which women have written about their personal experiences, differ from those of men (Whitely. Ed. Coates, 1997, p. 168). Amos’s sense of difference is evident in her music, in the feminine subjectivity of the lyrics, which focus on, legend, mythology and fairytale, the exotic of landscape, and the problems surrounding girlhood, “femininity is thus shown not as a fixed set of characteristics but rather as fluid, troubling, and emotional” (Whitely, 2003, p. 113). Whitely also identifies the feminine aesthetic in Björk’s work Homogenic providing a personal insight into what it is to be a woman. Captured in both the lyrics and musical expression, “which engage with echoes, traces, responses, and reactions to her past” (Whitely, 2003, p. 108). She describes Bjork embodies feminine with tonality, “Bjork embodies both desire as opposed to reason, and defiance as she searches for freedom from the contours of the past through sensual and erotically shaped vocal gestures and tonal inflections” (Whitely, 2003, p. 108). Whitely compares Bush, Bjork and Amos situating their innovating vocal timbres and personal narratives of their lyrics as indicators of feminine aesthetics “referring to past events and wisdom, and envisaging the future” (Whitely, 2003, p. 112). Teresa Adams and Andrea Duncan identify the feminine aesthetic of an authentic articulation of the feminine in woman’s use of language and imagination, with the significance of art as a metaphor and their creative process a phenomenological and aesthetic engagement with the unconscious (Teresa & Duncan, Ed, 2003, p. 1). The creative practice of the psyche also having a therapeutic aspect specifically refer to the work of women artists, both historically and today (Teresa & Duncan, Ed, 2003, p. 2). Angelo’s explorations on feminine consciousness and power of female image intelligence show the creative and imaginable dimensions of the female psyche (Teresa & Duncan, Ed, 2003, p. 3). Whitely crystallizes the feminine musical aesthetic with her description of Kate Bush’s works. “It is here that the chaos of the unconscious, the passionate and the extraordinary meet and draw into association both desire and dread, the erotic and the thanatic, mythological imagery and the feminine within” (Whitely, 2003, p. 78).
Feminine aesthetics are identified by Mary Celeste Kearney in the delivery of performance with Riot Grrrls bands America’s Bikini Kill and Britain’s Huggy Bear joint tour challenging the notions of the gendered patriarchal ways the audience views live performance. Rewriting the rules with issuing handouts requesting that girls and women stand near the front of the stage rather than toward the back, due to the violence of mosh pits or potential for sexual harassment to females at gigs (Whitely. Ed. Kearney, 1997, p. 223–224). “By speaking and singing to the women in the audience, by prioritizing them, feminist bands have challenged the traditional taken-for-granted dominance of men at gigs” (Whitely. Ed. Kearney, 1997, p. 216).
Paula Wolfe explains that observations from early feminists note when women attempt to create a career in a field marked as male territory, women often work in solitude and retreat, due to being made aware of their otherness (Wolfe, 2016). This practice in solitude is another aspect of feminine aesthetics, which could be described as a restricted aesthetic. Macarthur uses Rieger’s historical examples of women composers in the 19th century, due to their social status meant that they were largely confined to writing parlour music. With suggestions “that this has meant that women have had a tradition in making the most out of limited circumstances. In turn, this gives rise to what she describes as a restricted aesthetics in the music itself” (Macarthur, 2002, p. 12–13). Kearney notes Mavis Bayton’s observations of an artist-producer who creates, performs and produces her own music, in whatever genre, can be seen to embrace an intensified form of solitude. She defines that music composition is a solitary experience, as is the production process. Therefore male producers also have a solitary aspect to their practice through “the acknowledgment that a woman’s confidence in her technical abilities may be significantly influenced by the male-dominated context of the commercial studio” (Whitely. Ed. Kearney, 1997, p. 218). This is further solidified by the dual impact of the marginalized status of women working in male-dominated genres and undervaluation of their music by critics. Coates gives an example of this is with Bush’s belief that self-production allows continued development of her creative focus. Females occupy a different cultural space than that of their male counterparts, “maneuvering through estrangement and individualism rather than belonging and lineage, [which are] attributes of male-centric frameworks” (Whitely. Ed. Coates, 1997, p. 168).
Just as feminists strive to give voice to oppressed, feminist aesthetics can open spaces for the disruption and deconstruction of dominant ideologies that create the norms and practices of aesthetic taste within the music industry. Feminist musicologist Lori Obrien comments on female music composers, “Women have always written to make sense of their world, to clear an inviolable space that is theirs rather than the possession of a man” (O’Brien, 2001, p. 180). I identify the feminist or feminine aesthetic as a divine intersection of gender and music production. Macarthur argues that a movement of feminist aesthetics would change entrenched attitudes in which politics and social practices operate in music to marginalize women composers. Including the way in which their textual practices are often misunderstood on the grounds of their difference, by repeatedly presented alternative repertories that will begin to assume the status of the norm (Macarthur, 2002, p. 9).
“Music has been coded throughout all Western history as a feminine medium that is in danger of escaping language, in danger of escaping our control. It is seductive, yet causes the body to move. It arouses emotions. It even arouses sexual passions and imitates them. We are reluctant to talk about it because it’s scary stuff. It is the fear of the presumably feminine qualities of music and our need to control these that keep it under patriarchal lock and key” (McClary, 1991, p. 21).
Feminine Performativity in Music Production
McLary explains that music does not passively reflect society but serves as a public forum in which the model of gender is “asserted, adopted, contested and negotiated” (McLary, 2002, p. 8). Coates refers to Teresa De Lauretis analogy “that gender is the product of social technologies, including forms of popular culture, institutionalized discourses, critical practices and practices of daily life. Gender is at the same time constructed and always under construction” (Whitely. Ed. Coates, 1997, p. 52). Coates further compares De Lauretis analogy that these social practices construct, indicate and secure a cultural form as associated with a particular gender, with Judith Butler’s belief that the social practices also allude and reinforce acts, gestures, enactments and other signifiers which express that gender or perform gender. Coates explains that Butler’s interpretation of the performance of gender is an expression, a non-tangible fabrication, manufactured and sustained through corporeal signs and discourse. “That the gendered body is performative suggests that it has no ontological status apart from the various acts which constitute its reality” (Whitely. Ed. Coates, 1997, p. 52). Coates is comparing the tangible gender of female/male with the performative non-tangible fabrication of femininity/masculinity, denoting a man can perform femininity and a female can perform masculinity. In this analysis of feminine performativity, I explore the feminine aesthetic of how females perform their embodied femininity, and at times masculinity, within their recorded and physical performances.
Coates uses KD Lang as an example of a female performing a variety of genders from masculinity to androgyny, as a re-presentation of her identity in her record production. In terms of her musical development and her style, she moves away from performing female with irony, towards a more homogenized conventionally ambiguous androgyny (Whitely. Ed. Coates, 1997, p. 199). Lang’s performance in song, ‘So In Love’ signifies masculinity as dominant in her performance (Whitely. Ed. Coates, 1997, p. 198). People thought this to represent her coming out and becoming lesbian. Though it may have aided with her acceptance in the music industry, which is a masculine dominion. Annette Schlichter explains this as a “powerful conceptualization of gender identity as performative allows for an escape from the metaphysics of feminist phonocentrism” (Schlichter, 2011, p. 37–38). What has occurred, therefore, is a fundamental transition from the performing of gender and difference to androgyny, using the far more conventionalized masculinity as the visual reference point (Whitely. Ed. Coates, 1997, p. 199). The intersection of heterosexual conformity meets queer unconformity presents the ontological challenge of substituting the continuous permanent notion of identity, to a concept of identity as performative and discontinuous (Whitely. Ed. Coates, 1997, p. 192).
Kate Bush’s work The Sensual World is a statement of the female divine in music production and an example of her performativity of the feminine, as defined by Whitely’s interview with Bush:
“She takes the non-verbal ‘Mmmm’ for her chorus, using it as a “chance for me to express myself as a female in a female way and I found that original piece (Molly Bloom’s soliloquy from the close of James Joyce’s Ulysses) very female talking”. (Bush) Contextualised by uillean pipes, fiddle and bouzouki, the non-verbal is explored through exotic and sensuous textures, which link the chaos of the inner world to the feminine of Nature” (Whitely, 2003, p. 76).
Tori Amos’ performance of femininity is frequently compared to Bush, with both having the strength and vulnerability of femininity in their vocal styles and dramatic deliveries. Whitely describes this as “an opportunistic leap into the ultra-feminine of the ‘unruly unconscious’ and its manifestation in both the erotic and thanatic” (Whitely, 2003, p. 79). With Lang, Bush and Amos, Whitely comments, “it is their ‘little girl’ voices that are most commonly drawn into association and interpreted as demonstrating their girlish femininity” (Whitely, 2003, p. 112). Both Bush and Amos are recognized producers renown for their feminine performance in music production, Whitely comments that time has allowed Amos to demonstrate her prowess both as a composer and producer (Whitely, 2003, p. 79). I would like to make emphasis on the element of time, a barrier of no notice to male producers. Abbey Phillips comments that there is a point of contention where some females feel comfortable using sexuality and femininity in their art whereas other women feel cautious to use their sexuality as part of their art form. Western society has always leaned towards male-dominated industries, i.e. the music industry (Phillips, 2011). She states, “Women will continue to challenge the normality of expected gender roles while also using the power of femininity to gain equitability not just as women, but also people” (Phillips, 2011). Keith Negus believes that Sinead O’Connor is a prime example of a female using the power of the feminine to challenge and be in opposition to the masculine dominated music industry. Her musical performances address issues of abortion, sexual abuse and the traumas of family life, the pains, and pleasures of pregnancy, birth, and motherhood (Whitely. Ed. Negus, 1997, p. 182). She illuminates narratives of women’s issues to the mainstream through her feminine performativity. “If Rock has been about sex and sexuality, then Sinead provides glimpses of what has often been absent from the sexual discourse of rock music” (Whitely. Ed. Negus, 1997, p. 182).
“Overcoming the limitations of traditional femininity, women show they have the kinds of agency demanded of all full participants in the State and the market that is, that they have a voice” (James, 2017, p. 29). Because voice is commonly used as a metaphor for a self-possessed agency, Robin James considers popular music producer Sia’s practices of her feminine performativity, with self-ownership and property-in-person using the voice as a self-disposition. Sia uses voice to craft femininities that deviate from gender norms. She disembodies “her voice so that her performances of sonic resilience don’t labour upon her body and turn it into private property” (James, 2017, p. 28). Sia’s trademark is her blunt-cut blonde bob wig that covers and obscures her face from audiences and media. James explains she “clearly understands implicitly if not explicitly anonymity as a way to protect herself from the same kind of gendered exploitation” (James, 2017, p. 39), which is rife in the music industry. James explains this interrupts interpretive habit with the visual rhetoric of anonymity. Sia breaks the personal expression that audiences use to interpret the musical expression and the persona (James, 2017, p. 40). She deconstructs conventional pop music’s feminine performativity, which demands women labour upon themselves as a commercial product in the music industry. Sia’s use of voice is evidence that anonymity is a display of self-ownership and personhood-as-property. Her transformation of feminine gender performance into a practice of enclosure is the resilient overcoming of sexual objectification (James, 2017, p. 42). Sia uses feminine performativity in her voice with overblown vocal breaks coupled with screams and falters of sonic resilience, traditionally some would call these an error. Sia uses this vocal technique as an ornament, which has become a trademark of her performance. Some describe she is taking ownership of her ugly voice as a reclamation of body image from narrow beauty standards. James quoting Aimee Cliff, “her voice sounds like it’s constantly hovering on a precipice, rasping, crumbling, and breaking at perfect moments (Cliff, 2016)” (James, 2017, p. 41). James explains Sia’s feminine performativity is an experience opposite to compulsory femininity, inducing a unique pleasure. By separating herself and her identity from the media circus and audiences which dislocating the interpretation and “lets listeners hear the sonic damage in her voice as an expression of her damaged femininity” (James, 2017, p. 41–42). The voice as an expression is a meaningful and politically dynamic representation of gendered performance (Canakis et al, N.d, p. 215).
Women also use Feminine performativity with the voice in electronic music production. Tara Rodgers describes artist Pamela Z combines her voice and technology with the body synth system, transforming her voice with gestures as she combines spoken word and sung passages (Rodgers, 2010, p. 202). Pamela Z deconstructs conventional femininity by combining synthetic vocals over natural ones. She uses feminine performativity with the use of her embodied gestures to trigger the vocal effects. Pamela Z also uses “looped vocal phrases to reveal how a word can lose it’s meaning through machine-generated repetitions or take on new meanings because precise repetitions enable human ears to examine it more closely” (Rodgers, 2010, p. 202). Female poem producer agf. deconstructs the normal social construct of gender, with the use of her feminine performativity in her poetic vocal performances. She combines rational masculine computer code infused with feminine poetics of desire. Rodgers explains she does this “out of frustration with the limitations of familiar language and a desire to be free from meaning” (Rodgers, 2010, p. 201). Females in electronic music production also use the body as a deconstruction of gender expectations and the way they perform their femininity. Kelley inhabits hybrid animal/alien cyborg characters in her musical projects, combining the female body and machine, or the synthetic and natural. Rodgers states “the interfacing of bodies and machines in electronic music facilitates play with the sonic materiality of language, the embodied production of knowledge, and expectations about gender in musical performance” (Rodgers, 2010, p. 202). These women use their feminine performativity to break down gender expectations with blending the masculinity of technology with their divine femininity, as a deconstructing performance of femininity.
DJ’s are the connection between musical and technical, which presents a point of contention for women due to the masculine gendering of music technology. “For women, there is a constant mediation between the conscious stage performance and unconscious gender performance” (Farrugia, 2004, p. 238–9). Ellie M Hisama observes that one way female DJ Kuttin Kandi performs femininity is by cutting and scratching over overtly masculine Hip-Hop with sexualized and misogynist content. “Kuttin Kandi can be heard in a section of Fifth Platoon’s ‘Fifth Platoon Game’ scratching over Wreckx-N- Effect’s ‘Rump Shaker’ as a feminist intervention through turntablism in a tradition of sexist music-making” (Hisama, 2014, p. 4). Another performance of femininity is with her mixtapes of her mash-ups containing “examples of her feminist tracks that employ samples of songs by women including Queen Latifah and Lauryn Hill” (Hisama, 2014, p. 4). She is renowned for her musical skills and techniques in scratching. Notable in track ‘4DXO Break Skratch Session’ where she samples the motive ‘They don’t make any girls like me’ from Lil Mo’s song ‘Superwoman, Part II’. Hisama alludes she “weaves the phrase into an urban tapestry of female and male voices, evoking perhaps a self-assured woman’s internalized voices” (Hisama, 2014, p. 4). DJ Kuttin Kandi’s deconstruction of Hip-Hop as a tool to express her femininity, and critique a genre based on sexism and the misogynist goals of a male-dominated industry that reaps financial, social, and political profits from female labour, (Hisama, 2014, p. 4). This is a demonstration of a feminist aesthetic, a divine intersection of gender and music production. Female DJ Ariel would rather play music from her heart then buy into popularity, expressing feminine performativity in the music she chooses to mix, playing underground heavily emotive feminine music instead of more popular genres. “She has no intention of changing the type of music she spins for the purpose of gaining more attention and popularity” (Farrugia, 2004, p. 247).
The feminine performativity that these females expressed in their recorded and physical performances, questions femininity and subjectivity. Along with the gendering of technology with; listening, hearing, speaking and singing, music, and aesthetic criteria. Marking a new endeavour for popular music studies along with electronic music production, providing important contributions with a deconstruction of; “contemporary discourses and practices of domination and the strategies and tactics oppressed groups use to resist and build alternative ways of living” (James, 2017, p. 43). Demonstrating that adopting a pro-woman stance doesn’t mean that you must rely on a dualistic system of identity, that requires the rejection of males and traditionally masculine attributes for the celebration of females and femininity (Whitely. Ed. Negus, 2011, p. 221), both can coincide together. Kearney comments that feminist music creators have the choice of doing what men do, or wanting to create something different as an expression of their femaleness (Whitely. Ed. Kearney, 1997, p. 215). The performance of femininity can be expressed with our bodies, with our voice or with the tools of technology. Some use femininity as the power, some use it to critique the male domination and challenge the perceived normal gender roles in their performances. While others perform masculinity to either fit into the male-dominated environment of music or because they choose this expression of performace. Whichever approach females use in performativity, the diversity and performance of femininity is a display of a feminine/feminist aesthetic in music production, highlighting a divine intersection of gender and music production.
Feminine Modalities of Music Production
Feminine modalities are a feminine aesthetic of music production that defines the modes of music production that exist and are experienced and expressed by many female producers. These modalities of music production are from a tangible, embodied perspective, in correspondence with a person’s ontological gender: for example, female, male, or intersex. Unlike gender performativity, which is from a non-tangible perspective irrelative to a person’s embodied gender, as previously discussed, a female can have a masculine performance and vice versa. Macarthur comments on the perspective of gender as embodied due to its tangible and social construction:
“For all the slipperiness entailed in the notion of a feminist style, it is also imperative to conceive of feminist aesthetics as being grounded and embodied…As notions of transcendence, composer, feminists, women, feminine principle, and so on are all constructions of a real, material, social world” (Macarthur, 2002, p. 20).
Therefore it is obligatory to analyze gendered modalities from an embodied perspective. The following analysis discusses the gendered modalities of music production in relation to the practice and works of female producers. Not all female producers feel their practices are feminine though I am exploring the way in which feminine behaviour is something celebrated and reclaimed by many women.
Rodgers “endeavours a feminist intervention in historiography” (Rodgers, 2010, p. 2), to emancipate the patriarchal assumptions and deconstruct the afflictions females have with the intersection of gender and musical technology. She implies the positive effect of feminism on electronic music cultures, proposing that critical and aesthetic analysis of sound can address feminist concerns (Rodgers, 2010, p. 2). Rodgers interviews and analyses a number of female electronic music artists finding that they show and cultivate technological sophistication in their work. Though with a philosophical approach, countering the dominant techno-scientific priorities of precision and control. Le Tigre creates a new technical innovation for every project she does. Mira Calix, with little interest in the latest software, instead uses her computer as a big tape recorder for recording unique sounds and wooden instruments. She blends the electronic, acoustic, and environmental sounds into her compositions. Rodgers describes these feminine modalities of production are challenging the patrilineal universalizing male claims that dominate discourse in electronic music (Rodgers, 2010, p. 15). Producer Annea Lockwood has a notion that recorded sounds are perfect in their natural state, therefore she does not fix her recordings with audio technologies. By doing so her compositions defy the technologies they were recorded with. Rodgers describes, “Lockwood’s recordings of rivers relay shifting movements of water and evoke transitory memories of place” (Rodgers, 2010, p. 8), as if you were physically there. One female, inspired by her natural environment and the spatial qualities of the site-specific acoustics, evokes the imagined landscape in sonic forms. With textural details and spatial aspects of sound treatment to recordings. Another female producers’ mode of production is by narrating her normative world around her composing her music from one-off moments, using electronics to transform the sounds of unique gatherings of people, place, and atmosphere (Rodgers, 2010, p. 26). Females metaphorically relate the music technology and sonic processing to human experiences of time and memory; and parallels between brain functions of representation or semiotics and computer programming. Rodgers explains they use “namely audio filtering technology which takes an inputted signal and transmits it back into the world with subjective colouration” (Rodgers, 2010, p. 26). Rodgers notes a producer who uses delay effects as a time machine, with amalgamating technologies from different centuries with a nineteenth-century accordion and twenty-first-century software to combine past and present, with “Her storage, generation, and anticipation of sounds in improvisation” (Rodgers, 2010, p. 25). Rodgers comments on producer Maggi Payne, who relates sound to architecture, “As a pliable structure that she compresses, stretches, and moves… building a coherent musical entity from juxtapositions of infinitesimally small sonic pieces” (Rodgers, 2010, p. 61). Others use a similar mode of production by cumulating layers of individual fragmented rhythms and textures, merging them like building blocks into a new audible form of improvisational performance (Rodgers, 2010, p. 62). These artists' metaphorical relations of humanizing the digital sound processing and use of surrounding environments in their productions portray a feminine aesthetic with their feminine modalities of music production.
A modality of production for some female producers is to interweave boundaries between the natural and synthetic, with suggestions of the dynamics in nature in their processes or practice. Lockwood, uninspired by the mathematical quantizing in synthesized sound as not being natural, and lacks the energy of the cadence of flowing water or human voices. In her compositions, she features recordings of rivers interfused “with interviews of people whose lives the river intersects” (Rodgers, 2010, p. 105). In contrast, others combine analog synthesizers and wood instruments due to the lifelike qualities in both that “fluctuate and breathe like little creatures” (Rodgers, 2010, p. 106). Female audio technicians comment of preferring to build analog circuits, as their signal flow is like the natural laws of the way water flows or “birds flying in a V. They push and are pushed into that pattern because it’s the path of least resistance” (Rodgers, 2010, p. 106). Other sound artists in their performance installations think of the grounded nature of electrical circuits in technology with the use of electrical hums in contemporary industrialized areas. This blend of the natural and synthetic in the metaphors of these artists provides another insight into the feminine aesthetics of feminine modalities of music production.
Feminist DIY Culture
Females in current industry practice in electronic music and popular music production are finding new ways with Do-It-Yourself (DIY) culture to combat the afflictions they have with the intersection of gender and music production. Rebekah Farrugia and Magdalena Olszanowski note they do this by changing the conversations and re-writing the limited histories on female producers, creating more female role models, spaces, and skill-sharing practices to serve as inspiration for young girls to breakdown gendered stereotypes with music production (Farrugia, & Olszanowski, 2017, p. 2). Wolfe states females’ use of DIY culture is due to females feeling intimidated by the male-dominated aspect of music and technology (Wolfe, 2016). Wolfe explains DIY is not a new phenomenon for female artists, noting that Bayton identified it as early as the 1960s as a source of access for women songwriters looking for ways to break the music industry (Wolfe, 2016). Coates uses Joni Mitchell as an example of a pioneering female artist using DIY as a solution to her musical problems and dilemmas as she had a lack of a creative community (Whitely. Ed. Coates, 1997, p. 174). Kearney defines the history of DIY as an “anti-corporatist ideology, which grounded various leftist movements, committed to creating non-alienated forms of labour and social relations” (Whitely. Ed. Kearney, 1997, p. 215). Further explaining feminist DIY has been a major access point for women to create music by providing “safe women-only spaces for the learning of skills as well as rehearsal and performance, challenging ingrained technophobia and giving women the confidence to believe that, like the boys, they can be music-makers rather than simply music fans” (Whitely. Ed. Kearney, 1997, p. 216). Kearney explains 1970’s punk feminists created an alternative music world built on equality:
“This world offered the chance to rewrite the rules: of lyrics, of band membership and organization, of the gig, of the stage, and even of the music itself. Feminists enthusiastically and optimistically promoted alternative values: collectivism and co-operation instead of competitive individualism; participative democracy and equality instead of hierarchy” (Whitley. Ed. Kearney, 1997, p. 218).
This empowering DIY ethos of the punk world is also discussed in reference to the Riot Grrrl movement in grunge music (Whitely. Ed. Kearney, 1997, p. 215–216). The movement “produced fanzines and recordings, organized and supported gigs of female musicians, while maintaining sharp social commentary on the position of females in society at large” (Strong, 2011, p. 404). Strong states that this DIY movement increased the visibility of women in rock, improving the media representation of women and provided “greater access for women to male-dominated realms of expression” (Strong, 2011, p. 408). Kearney explains this feminist DIY approach was in opposition to normal music industry practice, creating non-alienated forms of labour and social relations of women-run businesses focused on women’s music, in comparison with the male-run major recording companies. “These feminist studios made a commitment to involve women who were not normally encouraged in the male-dominated mainstream music industry” (Whitely. Ed. Kearney, 1997, p. 219). These feminist DIY movements have the power to impact change to studio culture by inspiring similar feminist music-making projects, by supporting feminist artists and the lesbian- feminist community. Kearney gives an example of this with Boden Sandstorm, co-founder of Women Sound Inc/City Sound Productions, indicating that her inspiration for these women-run sound companies came from watching female sound engineer, Dlugacz, mix sound at an Olivia concert. The Olivia concert was a feminist music festival that inspired other feminist music companies such as Olivia Records and workshops (Whitely. Ed. Kearney, 1997, p. 220). The DIY ethos nurtures safe havens as a space where girls and women can connect and express themselves and provides alternative access to production (Whitely. Ed. Kearney, 1997, p. 218).
Sisterdjs was created by females in the electronic music industry to examine alternative networks for females’ engagement with music technology, providing women-centred spaces to address the male biases in the industry. Farrugia states that women create these spaces in “any place women’s efforts have historically been relegated to the margins and overlooked in comparison to works produced by men” (Farrugia, 2004, p. 236). Sisterdjs online network offers female electronic music producers and DJ’s potential liberation from gendered discrimination. Women in the mainstream music industry within all aspects of media production and technology engage in a constant battle to challenge the male dominance in music culture, as it regularly limits the involvement and representation of women. Sisterdjs can inspire women with music production in all genres and aspects of this culture, connecting females internationally to support each other, and challenge the gendered stereotypes that conflict with the achievement of a sense of agency (Farrugia, 2004, p. 237). Farrugia examines how, “women are discursively positioned in regards to music, technology, culture, and the intersections between these elements” (Farrugia, 2012, p. 82). Women-centred spaces garner the confidence needed to engage in music production, pursuing their interests and talents without encouraging the notion that they are marginalized. Within the popular music culture of Rock, Clitlist is a women’s centred offshoot of Rocklist where women could access and discuss popular music production (Abtan, 2016, p. 58). These DIY communities built on gender familiarity contribute to the identity construction of females involved with music and production, dissolving the affliction with being the alter gender. DIY is an example of a feminine aesthetic of music production.
Lick Club, a Vancouver lesbian bar employed predominantly female as well as trans and non-binary DJs. The club provided females access to mentors, DJ equipment, and performance opportunities, that proved to be integral to their development as professionals. Maren Hancock’s research shows insights into DIY networks in music culture significantly affect female DJ’s and producers identify, and provide access to the ‘boys club’ in music production (Hancock, 2017, p. 73). Social networks play a crucial role in bookings, music sales, promotion, and marketing while receiving support, skills, and knowledge from colleagues (Hancock, 2017, p. 80). At Lick females had a new experience with access to; technology, equipment, and audience, with on-site technical support, marketing, and promotions, aiding them on their journey from amateur to professional. Hancock’s research illuminated insights into the importance of role models that feminist DIY culture provides with these women-centred spaces noting the compelling effect they have for fostering careers for females in music production (Hancock, 2017, p. 82–83), bypassing the male gatekeepers in production. Women in rock have also successfully omitted the gatekeeping structures with the Riot Grrl DIY movement, through the formation of all-female bands, record labels, distributors, and zines. The developed their own in infrastructures and women spaces in punk culture, opening up the dialogue about the possibilities for women in all male-dominated music cultures (Farrugia, 2012, p. 7). Freida Abtan comments that Rock Camp for Girls is a DIY community that offers role models community and inclusion, providing “young women with the chance to build rock bands and perform their music under guidance from older female performers and technicians” (Abtan, 2016, p. 58). The success of the Rock Camp model is inspiring similar programs, such as GEMS Girls’ Electronic Music Seminar and TECHNE the electronic music teaching organization, which has introduced a DIY electronics component to several of these retreats (Abtan, 2016, p. 58). This analysis of the divine intersections of feminist DIY cultures has provided inroads to address the afflictions with the intersection of gender and music production. Stephanie Kale states DIY can be viewed as a system of entrepreneurial capitalism supported by a spurious ideological framework of democratic participation and access, where the producers are devoid of class and gender distinctions, providing opportunities and technical skills necessary to gain entry into lucrative areas of the cultural economy (Kale, 2006, p. 47–48). The current electronic music cultures have restructured their infrastructures with exclusive communities based on the popular mainstream music industry (Kale, 2006, p. 80).
With the growth in digital streaming and distribution along with social media marketing, the opportunities for women are opening up with independently releasing and marketing their music, bypassing the traditional masculine dominated record labels (Farrugia, 2012, p. 139). Some females describe these digital tools have been instrumental to their success, showing benefits in this digital networking process (Farrugia, 2012, p. 137). Female producers promote themselves by building their own websites to connect to an audience and promoters, with an online presence increasing bookings. (Farrugia, 2012, p. 124). This can lead to further work developing websites for others which leads to economic capital. Some do this while also being producers, performers, and DJs while networking and educating in women-centred production collectives, as well as having other jobs (Farrugia, & Olszanowski, 2017, p. 2). Though female-centred spaces are limited, digital media networks and tools provide opportunities to collaborate, learn and share music and knowledge. Farrugia states that; “women’s confidence tends to flourish in women-centred spaces” (Farrugia, 2012, p. 137). Women-centred production collectives in Electronic Dance Music cultures (EDM) have invested time and effort in networks across America along with international networks, “to overcome the sexism and marginalization they experience in EDM culture… to create a dialogue among women to foster social and professional support” (Farrugia, 2012, p. 67). With research showing these women-centred production websites offer networking opportunities, providing an influential tool for female producers (Farrugia, 2012, p. 67). Farrugia explains these distinctive spaces are vital for women to overcome the marginalization in EDM culture, by being created by women for women. “These networks provide social and emotional support and, via their networking capabilities, help women build much- needed subcultural and social capital” (Farrugia, 2012, p. 67). Thus, collectives operate with views that a group can accomplish more than a sea of individuals, networking as a group to promote each other’s music, gain bookings, and provide support for one another (Farrugia, 2004, p. 254), benefiting the collective as a whole. Thus, establishing women-centred production collectives along with digital distribution, promotion, and marketing of productions are key modalities of production female’s use for expanding their involvement in music production (Farrugia, 2012, p. 137). Women-centred spaces provide role models for aspiring female producers, with research confirming the value that can be gained from women-specific training. This would be of benefit to girls “because the presence of same-sex role models can greatly influence the types of activities and interests individuals choose as they get older” (Farrugia, 2012, p. 136). With female technology educators changing the social perceptions of the gendering of technology to both girls and boys. Research has also shown that girls were more partial to composing in groups than boys, with 87% compared to 64%, showing the benefits of collaboration for the intersection of girls with music production and technology (Farrugia, 2012, p. 136). Addressing the gender construct in education could lead to an improvement in the future of the lack of female representation in music production.
San Francisco is a prominent location of females using DIY culture to carve out spaces for themselves in electronic music production culture, with a congenial representation of female DJ’s and producers at many clubs and public events. The effect of women-centred DIY spaces is evident in this female prominence due to DIY collective Sister SF. Farrugia explains, “A central factor contributing to the group’s visibility and longevity was the unique ways in which it implemented DIY practices and philosophies in tandem with more commercial/corporate strategies” (Farrugia, 2012, p. 93). The insurgence of personal computers and internet technologies has allowed females to participate in public discourse on music production in ways that were not available to their predecessors. Sister SF’s dedication to building and cultivating an alternative space for women in EDM presents characteristics of feminist DIY culture. (Farrugia, 2012, p. 96). Farrugia’s research provides insights into the branding strategies and a system of centralized hierarchical control implemented by Sister SF could address the gender imbalances in music production culture successfully by promoting a feminist agenda. These women-centred collectives and networks demonstrate women’s response to the male-centricity of music production culture, commercial culture. and the poor representation of women's music. Farrugia states; “these spaces have similar purposes, goals, and outcomes. Mainly, they all strive to increase the networking potential, subcultural capital and overall visibility of women in EDM” (Farrugia, 2012, p. 88). Despite the proliferation of social media tools and the success of some female DJs, the slow inroads women have made into production illustrate the existence of a much wider gender gap in producing than in DJing, with female producers finding difficulties securing distribution on recognized labels (Farrugia, 2012, p. 112). The branding strategies and marketing potential that Sister SF use has the ability to penetrate high profile music communities. Which provides outlets for women’s music that lead to subcultural and economic capital, and dissolve the afflictions with the intersection of gender and music production for females in the future, by deconstructing the gendered assumptions with music technology (Farrugia, 2012, p. 89).
Due to the lack of access to music production, female artists have found access to production via self-production, with a recent rise in women self-producing showing potential promise of addressing gender inequalities. Wolfe agrees that “the steady rise in self-production practices amongst women not only points to artistic and career potential for the individual but may also serve to address an inherited gender imbalance in the field” (Wolfe, 2016). Solidifying this statement with comparisons to Bayton’s research completed twenty-three years ago that “strongly suggests that access to recording technologies in their own homes is allowing women musicians to resolve this contradiction” (Wolfe, 2016). Wolfe explains that by controlling their own sound in their own studio, females escape the masculine constraining perceptions imposed by the studio setting (Wolfe, 2016), with some females gaining industry recognition. In 2011 Mercury Prize nominees, Ana Calvi and Katy B were both involved in the production of their own sound (Farrugia, 2012, p. 68). Farrugia has interviewed a number of female producers, finding that some are self-taught by reading manuals to learn how to use the production gear or watching other producers perform live (Farrugia, 2012, p. 117). This feminine DIY element of self-production is a feminine aesthetic of music production. Rodgers explains a number of female producers indicate that a certain level of privacy, self-possession, and means for material possession prefigure and sustain their artistic output, with some balancing self-production and collaboration. Some do this by combining private production and experimentation, with group contribution and feedback. This includes sampling friends who play instruments with a portable studio’s in diverse locations then return to the home studio to piece the material into compositional form in solo production (Rodgers, 2010, p. 243). Others self-produce solely then collaborate in shared group performances, bringing together many individual artists. Farrugia explains that most music producers, and female producers, in particular, benefit from a range of collaborative opportunities. This includes working with more experienced artists of either sex (Farrugia, 2012, p. 137), with the cross-promotion and marketing raising their artist profiles. Women’s strategies to balance the productive aspects of solitude and collaboration, of individualism and musical community, provide a useful orientation for contemporary feminist politics (Rodgers, 2010, p. 244).
Self-production practices are now seen as an integral part of artistic and career development and a DIY approach of accessing available technologies, with independent artists and labels awareness to embrace this approach. Due to technology, music industry practice has developed over time. In the 70’s artists' self-production, self-promotion was a demo quality version that needed to be re-recorded in a studio with a producer with the gear, knowledge, and technical skill. Due to DIY in current industry practice musicians and producers are using their home studios, either independently releasing their music over the internet, or sending the finished version with cover art to the labels, with no need for the producer or studio (Wolfe, 2016). Wolfe’s examinations of women’s self-production practices aid our understanding of women’s minority status in music production. She states, “that the very act of self-production undertaken by a female artist, constitutes a bold statement for feminist popular music scholars and female artists alike” (Wolfe, 2016). This exploration has illustrated the feminine aesthetic and divine intersection of DIY and its innovating potential to create cultural change in the music industry.
Conclusion
This exploration of the divine intersections of gender and music production paints a feminine perspective of the realm of music with the herstory of music. With an analysis of music, voice, and instrument as gendered discourse, I reconstitute music as a feminine space. The feminine aesthetics in music were identified in composition, genres, lyrics, and delivery of female music along with other music practices of females. The analysis on the feminine aesthetics of music production included; feminine modalities and performativity in music production, and feminist DIY culture. The exploration of the feminine modalities of production provided insights into the female producer and her practice with the blending of the; natural and synthetic, human and digital, “challenging the patrilineal universalizing male claims that dominant discourses in electronic music” (Rodgers, 2010, p. 15). The insights into feminine performativity illustrated how these women use their feminine performativity to break down gender expectations with blending the masculinity of technology with their divine femininity, questioning the subjectivity of femininity, along with gendered assumptions of females and their bodies. The performance of femininity that can be expressed with our bodies, voice or the tools of technology is a feminine aesthetic of music production, illustrating femininity as power by critiquing male domination to challenge the perceived normal gender roles in their performances. Feminist DIY culture provides insights into how oppressed groups illuminate hopeful futures for females with communities built on gender familiarity, that contribute to the identity construction of females involved with music production. DIY culture does this by dissolving the affliction with being the alter gender within the culture and addresses the afflictions for females in music production by providing; role models, self-production, women-centred spaces, mentoring, promotion, booking’s, and education for female producers and DJs.
Encore
However, this exploration of the divine intersections of gender and music production also illustrates the lack of research on the female producer and her practice, with a severe lack in an aesthetic analysis of females’ works. As discussed in the introduction, Macarthur alludes to McLary’s observations that show the music establishment inaptness to value women’s productions, leads to the work on women’s music critiquing the afflictions for females and music production, instead of aesthetic analysis of their works or practice (Macarthur, 2002, p. 2). Due to this in the following blog, I will be discussing the foremothers of music production, paying homage to the females who have helped pave my path…Stay Tuned!
Read the previous blog: https://medium.com/orthentix/the-afflicting-intersections-of-gender-and-music-production-a0917a41944c
Read the following blog: https://medium.com/orthentix/iconic-female-producers-the-foremothers-of-music-production-e8afe20ba525
Reference List:
Abtan, Freida. (2016). Where Is She? Finding the women in electronic music culture [Article]. Contemporary Music Review, Vol 35, No1, Pages 53–60, DOI: 10.1080/07494467.2016.1176764. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/07494467.2016.1176764
Adams, Teresa & Duncan, Andrea. (2003). The feminine case: Jung, aesthetics and creative process. Karnac Books Ltd, London: UK. ISBN: 978 1855752849.
Bayton, Mavis. (1998). Frock Rock: Women Performing Popular Music. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198166153.
Canakis, Costas; Kantsa, Venetia; & Yannakopoulous, Kostas. (N.d). The gender of voice: Transgressing the boundaries of bodily sound [Article]. London, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Cixous, Helene. (1997) ‘Sorties: Out and Out: Attacks/Ways Out/Forays’. In Schrift, A. D. ed. The Logic of the Gift: Toward an Ethic of Generosity [Chapter]. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0–415–91098–6.
Farrugia, Rebekah. (2004). Sisterdjs in the house: electronic/dance music and women-centred spaces on the net [Article]. Women’s Studies in Communication, Vol 27, No 2, Pages 236–262, DOI: 10.1080/07491409.2004.10162474. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/07491409.2004.10162474
Farrugia, Rebekah. (2012). Beyond the dance floor: Female DJs, technology and electronic dance music culture [Article]. Intellect: Bristol, UK. ISBN 978–1–84150–566–4.
Farrugia, Rebekah, & Olszanowski, Magdalena. (2017). Introduction: Women and dance music culture [Publication]. Dancecult: Journal of electronic music dance music culture, Vol 9, No 1. ISSN 1947–5403. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.12801/1947-5403.2017.09.01.00
Hancock, Maren. (2017). Lick my legacy: Are women-identified spaces still needed to nurture women-identified DJs? [Article]. Dancecult: Journal of electronic music dance music culture, Vol 9, No 1. ISSN 1947–5403. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.12801/1947-5403.2017.09.01.04
Hisama, Ellie M. (2014). DJ Kuttin Kandi: Performing feminism [Article]. American Music Review, Vol XLIII, No 2. Conservatory of Music, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York: NY, USA.
James, Robin. (2017.). Post-feminism’s “New Sexual Contract”and electronic dance music’s queered femme voices [Article]. Dancecult: Journal of electronic music dance music culture, Vol 9, No 1. ISSN 1947–5403. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.12801/1947-5403.2017.09.01.02
Kale, Stephanie. (May 2006). Beyond gender?: Women in the cultural economy of electronic music [Article]. Heritage Branch: Ottawa, CAN. ISBN: 978–0–494–16429–7
Lintott, Sheila. (N.d). American society for aesthetics: aesthetics, feminist theory, and feminist aesthetics. Retrieved from http://aesthetics-online.org/?page=LintottFeminist
Macarthur, Sally. (2002). Feminist aesthetics in music. Greenwood Press, CT: USA. ISBN: 0–313–31320–2.
Mayhew, Emma. (June 1999). Women in popular music and the construction of authenticity [Article]. Journal of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies 4.1: University of Wollongong.
McLary, S. (1991) Feminine endings. London: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978–0- 8166–4189–5. (Musicology resource on feminist aesthetics in music composition.)
Mills, Sara. (1995). Feminist stylistics. Routledge Publishers, London: UK. ISBN 0–203–40873-X.
O’Brien, Lucy. (June 2002). She Bop 2: The definitive history of women in rock, pop and soul. Bloomsbury Publishing, NY: USA. ISBN: 9780826457769.
Phillips, Abbey. (September 1, 2011). Spacebomb: Truth lies somewhere in-between [Digital Press]. Retrieved from https://rvanews.com/features/spacebomb-truth-lies-somewhere-in-between/49992
Rodgers, Tara. (2010) Pink noises: Women on electronic music and sound. NC: Durham, NC USA: Duke University22 Press. ISBN: 978–0–8223–4673–9.
Schlichter, Annette. (March 23, 2011). Do voices matter? Vocality, materiality, gender performability [Article]. Nottingham, UK: SAGE. DOI: 10.1177/1357034X10394669. Retrieved from http://bod.sagepub.com/content/17/1/31
Strong, Catherine. (2011). Grunge, riot grrrl and the forgetting of women in popular culture. The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 44, №2: Wiley Periodicals.
Wikipedia. (N.d). Divinity definition [Website]. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divinity
Whitely, Sheila. (1997). Sexing the groove: popular music and gender [Book]. Routledge: NY, USA.
Whitely, Sheila. (2003). Too much too young: Popular music, age & gender. New York, USA: Routledge.
Wolfe, Paula. (2012). A studio of one’s own: Music production, technology and gender [Article]. Retrieved from http://www.arpjournal.com/asarpwp/a-studio-of-one%E2%80%99s-own-music-production-technology-and-gender/
List of Figures:
Figure 1. Vocal chord & Vagina. Meme, N.d. Retrieved from https://images.app.goo.gl/ArxJwkJqrwt6ZPXu7
Figure 2: Wikipedia. (N.d). Women in music: Clara Schumann [Website]. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_music
