The Domination of White Male Singers

As I have been thinking about which artists and songs to highlight on Sing-A-Long Saturday, I have become more aware of the majority of the music that I listen to is performed by white males. Why is this? I believe in supporting female artists and artists of color, especially female artists and artists of color that are outside of the mainstream. But when it comes down to it, I choose white male singers/bands.

When looking at my "favorite music" section on my Facebook page, I have come to realize that 73% of those listed are all male bands or male singers, only 1 is a person of color, and only 18% were female singers...I did not have any all female bands listed.

Maybe I'm just attracted to the male voice -- I do like when guys have a good singing voice -- and that's why a majority of my favorite music is performed by white men. Or maybe it's that there are more white male singers/bands out there in most genres. Or maybe it's that society has told us that white male performers are more worthy of our time.

Some of the female singers/bands that I do like (for bands, I am including bands that are at least half female) are:

• Regina Spektor
• Feist
• She & Him
• Ingrid Michaelson
• Dar Williams
• KT Tunstall
• Girlyman

A lot of the music that I listen to is classic rock, alternative pop, folk-ish, and I think that those genres are dominated by white, male singers/bands in general. Or maybe I'm just missing the majority of the female artists.

Does anyone have any recommendations of female singers/bands? I am interested in expanding my horizons and supporting female artists.

Further Reading:
Why is most of the music I listen to written/performed by straight white males? [Pieces of String]

The Avett Brothers [Sing-A-Long Saturday]

I was introduced to the Avett Brothers last summer while working at a summer camp. They were a popular among some of my fellow counselors and I quickly fell in love with them as well.

The Avett Brothers combine folk, bluegrass, country, and rock and roll melodies to create a unique sound. The band is comprised of two brothers, Seth and Scott Avett, and Bob Crawford, as well as Joe Kwon who usually joins them on tour.

I was lucky enough to see the Avett Brothers perform live this past June in Grand Rapids. They bring a great presence to the stage, even in an outdoor theater. They are a lot of fun to see live and fun for the whole family -- there were people of all ages there when I saw them in concert (which might not be a good thing if you don't like sitting next to annoying children, like we were).

I tried to compile a list of some of my favorite songs, but they have such a prolific list that it was hard. I tried anyway, so here are some of my faves, but I'm sure I'm missing some:

The Ballad of Love and Hate


The Weight of Lies


Tear Down the House


And one of their new songs: I and Love and You


I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. They really are one of my favorite bands.

No One Can Be Perfect 100% of the Time

With the introduction of Sing-A-Long Saturday, I have been thinking a lot about the music that I listen to. Most of the time when I listen to music, I am in my car and it is usually the radio. In Grand Rapids, there aren't too many radio stations, so I usually land on one of two stations that play popular music. I listen to these stations a lot so I'm fairly familiar with the songs that they play, even to the point that I know the words to most of the regularly played songs.

But because these stations play popular music, a lot of the songs that I know the words to reinforce gender stereotypes and/or are just plain offensive to women. But I still enjoy listening to these stations and a lot of the music that they play. Thinking about this, I went into my iTunes library to look at my top 25 most played songs. I was kind of surprised (but kind of not, don't judge me...) that the most played song* was "Don't Trust Me" by 3oh!3.

I actually enjoy this song (as well as many similar songs) despite its offensive lyrics to oh so many groups of people. I think it's catchy and has a good beat. But this doesn't excuse the lyrics that tell us to "do the Helen Keller and talk with our hips," that promote violence against women, etc.

So how can I like this song (and songs like it) with the feminist values that I have? I could say that I like to dance and this song has a good dance beat. But then why can I sing along with the entire song? I could say my interest in pop culture makes me want to know what is popular in the world of music ("Don't Trust Me" has been topping the charts for a while). But I don't really think that holds either.

So what is it then? I think it comes down to no one can be perfect all the time (I'm not intending to say that I am perfect at other times, because no one is). In a society that promotes sexism, racism, homophobia, ableism, transphobia, ageism...and all other -isms, it is hard to always 100% uphold your feminist beliefs in the activities you partake in. There is always going to be something that you do that does not 100% align with your feminist beliefs. It's impossible to do in a society like ours.

And all I can say is, at least I'm aware that my taste in music is at some times problematic, my preference in movies and tv shows is definitely problematic at times, etc. I am always trying to analyze how I fit into the patriarchal society and part of that is looking at my investments in pop culture.

So for all you feminists out there that have problems reconciling some of your activities or investments in pop culture, just remember that while none of us can be perfect 100% of the time. And being aware of these problematic investments is one step ahead of many people. I'm going to keep analyzing my problematic investments in pop culture and society as a way to strengthen my feminist beliefs.

*This probably doesn't excuse it, but it is important to note that my harddrive had to be replaced, thus wiping my iTunes library clean, this past January. So this is the most played song since January and I do a lot of my music listening in my car (both cd and radio).

I Was a Young James Dean [Sing-A-Long Saturday]

In Sing-A-Long Saturday, I will be featuring a song or artist that I am particularly fond of. I will look at this song or artist through a feminist lens in order to reflect on my investments in both music and feminism. And to promote some of my favority songs and artists, because I think they're pretty awesome.

"Young James Dean" by Girlyman

I saw Girlyman open for Dar Williams in 2005. I instantly fell in love with them. They play folky type music and have some great lyrics. My favorite song of theirs will most likely always be "Young James Dean." It was the first song of theirs that I got and I know the lyrics by heart.

Girlyman is comprised of Nate Borofsky, Doris Muramatsu, and Ty Greenstein. This is what Muramatsu had to say about their unique name "Girlyman":

"It's great for us, provocative and playful. It makes people laugh. But it also hints at how we've never quite fit in. Nate wears make-up on stage, I'm a Japanese-American playing to mostly white audiences. Ty is a grown-up tomboy. The name Girlyman lets us acknowledge that we're out of the mainstream, but without taking ourselves too seriously."

I love that Girlyman doesn't try to pretend that they are anyone but who they are.

And now onto the song: "Young James Dean"...

In the back of a camouflage truck
They locked me in once with the material
I was full of a rage no one could handle
I was a private in the army
All the real girls with their backs turned called me crazy
Called me crazy

I worked for a while at a diner
Manager said I had to wear that little uniform
Said I was part of the problem
But I was in love with that blonde girl
She kissed me twice behind the counter
But when I asked her to get into my car
She called her man, said 'don't bother her'
She called her man, said 'don't bother her'

I guess I'll feel less than real all my life
With these feathers I made
Under me lifting me up
But I was a young James Dean
With a way with the ladies
All the real boys in their black jeans called me crazy
Called me crazy
Called me crazy
Called me crazy

This song is, to me, all about struggling to find your own identity and being yourself. The person singing the song never quite fits in with the people he/she is with.

I highly recommend checking out Girlyman's other music.

Sorry the video is not of great quality, Girlyman doesn't produce a lot of music videos. The song starts around 1:10:

Reconciling Taylor Swift

I'm often fascinated by pop music. What's popular? What makes it popular? I often find myself singing along with these songs, even though I often don't agree with the message that they send. One of the artists that I follow new singles of is Taylor Swift. I know, weird, right? Her songs are just catchy and I find myself singing along with every word and sharing her songs with friends...mainly as a joke or to make fun of the song, but still. So how do I reconcile my feminist beliefs with the music of Taylor Swift?

Most of Taylor Swift's songs (that I know at least) are about getting the guy, not being complete without a guy, etc. One of my friends (who also has a weird love for Taylor Swift) once asked me: have you ever noticed how many of Taylor Swift's songs end in marriage? I don't know about that one, but most of them end in getting the guy or keeping up a relationship with a guy.

Let's get to some examples:

"Love Story" - all about a guy that her father won't let her see, so they have to sneak around (think Romeo & Juliet, pretty much exactly). Then the father approves and the guy proposes. Ends in a proposal.

"Our Song" - all about being in love with a guy. That's pretty much it.

"You Belong With Me" - all about being in love with a guy who has a girlfriend, then in the end he dumps his girlfriend for her.



"Picture to Burn" - maybe the one song that of hers that I know that doesn't end in getting the guy. But...it's about breaking up with a guy, so it still centers around the male gender.

How, as a feminist, can I like the songs (or released singles) of a singer who only sings about her relationship with guys? If you only sing about relationships with guys, it shows a dependence on guys. If you have a dependence on guys, you can't be an strong, independent woman.

There are some things about Taylor Swift that do indicate that she is a strong woman. For instance, she was one of the producers of her last tour so that she had a say in how things were done. That's great, especially for a 19 year old. But you would never know this about her through her songs.

I don't know if I can, right now, reconcile my attraction to Taylor Swift's music with my values in feminism. It's something that I think about every time one of her songs comes on the radio. There are some things that can't always be reconciled and maybe shouldn't be reconciled. There are always going to be things that people enjoy doing that might not align exactly with their values, it's a part of the society that we live in. I think that as long as you recognize the problematic attributes of things and question how they fit into society, then it might be ok to partake in things that might be anti-feminist.

Analyzing the anti-feminist attributes of certain parts of society, like music for example, is an important part of my feminism. I guess that's how I reconcile Taylor Swift with my feminism.

Lady Gaga Brushes Off Idea of Feminism

I was stumbling around on YouTube the other day and I came across this interview with Lady Gaga:



It's kind of hard to hear the interviewer ask some of the questions, but you can get the gist of them.

Even though she seems kind of out of it, I had some hope for the interview at the beginning (despite her comment about the biggest thrill of her career being the gay community). Lady Gaga talked about infusing her songs with sexuality. Does the sexuality in her songs take away from the music? Her answer: No. It's part of the music. And would the interviewer even be asking her this question if she were a guy who talked about sex in his songs? I don't think so. She pointed this out very effectively I thought. Sexual music made by men is celebrated (by some) where as sexual music by women is criticized for being too sexual. She points out that if she were a guy who sang about fast cars and sex, the question about sexuality interfering with her music wouldn't even be asked. But because she's a woman talking about sexuality, her music and values are policed.

But then it came. That moment when I went "whoa there." The interviewer asked Lady Gaga if she was a feminist. A reasonable question, especially when she was just talking about the gender double standard of sexuality in music. But Lady Gaga seemed offended. She said that she was not a feminist, which is fine, I don't know if I would classify her as feminist. But my problem came with her reasonings behind why she was not a feminist. She's not a feminist because she loves men, she love American male culture, which she defines as beer and bars.

I'm a fan of men too. I love beer and bars. But I'm also a feminist because I believe in ending sexism and misogyny and I believe in gender equality. I would classify her previous comment about the gender double standard of sexuality in music as feminist because it points out the inequality between men and women. But the belief that feminism is all about man-hating is just not true.

I would hope that society in general would be past the belief that feminism is all about man-hating. I definitely know that there are still people who believe this, but I would think that most of society would be past that. Obviously that's just wishful thinking.

So while Lady Gaga does do and say and sing some empowering things for women about claiming your own sexuality (which is important to feminism), Lady Gaga is officially an anti-feminist in my book for the belief that feminism is about man-hating. While her actions may be empowering for some women, the values behind those actions that Lady Gaga holds about feminism shows that her intention is not really to empower women and work towards equality.

Song of the Day: "The Fear" by Lily Allen

While Lily Allen is no stranger to controversy, I think she's pretty great. I have been listening to her song "The Fear" all the time recently.



Her lyrics are usually pretty sarcastic and full of social commentary, but "The Fear" takes the cake. The song is all about how people get fame and riches. I see it as a social commentary on consumer culture, but not everyone sees it that way.

The Feministe post "I'm being taken over by the fear" quotes Mark K-Punk in reference to "The Fear"...

“All Allen can do is point to her own inertia and complicity but awareness can only reinforce the very condition she is talking about [. . .] The verses are unsure whether they want to be satire or not, unsure whether they want to mock consumer-nihilism or celebrate it , unsure because – after all – what’s the alternative, where can all this mocked from? [. . .] Celebrity culture and its critique are coterminous; the jeremiads about its superficiality as cliched and empty as the culture itself, both appearing on the same pages of LondonLite. Only the negative capability of the choruses, only the admission of The Fear, breaks out of this circuit.”

Sure, it is hypocritical to critique consumer culture and the celebrity lifestyle, yet still be complicit in it. But at least she is saying something about it.

The lyric that stuck out to me at first was "And I'll take my clothes off and it will be shameless/'Cuz everyone knows that's how you get famous." In today's sexualized culture, people are known for their sexuality and availability. The same Feministe article states...

When Lily sings that couplet about how everyone knows that taking your clothes off gets you famous, she’s pointing to the fact that media culture runs on a certain kind of manufactured prurience. I mean, at this point, is anyone really shocked by nudity? Sex tapes? Infidelity? Homosexuality? Is it even possible to be?

And yet, manufactured sex “scandals” co-exist side-by-side with advertisements using sex to advertise practically everything. One punishes, one rewards. Yet they’re two sides of the same coin, it’s not hard to go from one to the other (Paris Hilton), and then back again.

Commenting on the need to be sexual to be famous, Allen is pointing out the hypocritical nature of today's Hollywood culture.

I, personally, think this song is great. I will keep listening to it and enjoying it. And I will keep listening to Lily Allen.

More from Lily Allen:

"Smile"

"Alfie"