How has popular music
culture created awareness of LGBT groups and has it been successful in doing
so?
“Despite
some important advances in gay and lesbian visibility”[1]
in popular music culture, the “representations of sexuality in
mainstream pop culture continues to be, for the most part, rampantly
heterosexual.”[2] as it appeals to the mass audiences that may not
tolerate these representations. Therefore to keep themselves in the mainstream
media the artists’ music videos have to appeal to what the majority of people
want to see, rather than educating people and creating awareness of LGBT
(lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) groups. However it could be argued that over the last 30 years
popular music culture has seen rapid change in terms of LBGT groups as there
have been many influences that have challenged and arguably changed the views
of society. It is important to note that during the 1980’s LGBT
groups were being portrayed in popular music culture during the same time as
the AIDS epidemic outbreak, which arguably lead to the misrepresentation of
homosexuals as being extreme.
The 1980’s was arguably one of the most
controversial and pivotal era’s musically in the 20th century for LGBT groups,
as there were many artists that conveyed their pro-homosexual values through
their music videos. One of the first groups to represent LGBT groups and values
of equality in Britain during the 1980’s were Culture Club whose hit song ‘Do
You Really Want To Hurt Me’ “focuses on the misunderstanding of sexual
diversity”[3], during the time the music
video released but also during the different periods of time in which it was
set. British society was gradually becoming more exposed to LGBT groups however
Britain was extremely conservative and homophobic. Pete Burns is an example of
an artist who through his costume and make-up challenged the conservative
homophobic views of society in his music video ‘You Spin Me Round’. The
medium shots of Burns body language would, at that time, seem unusual as there
was and still “is social prohibition
against the feminization of men”[4],
it would seem that during this period of time popular music culture was
becoming more aware of LGBT groups however the response to it was not as open. Artists such as George Michael, however, did not ‘come
out of the closet’ as society had not become more aware of LGBT groups. It was
not until the mid 1990’s that George Michael ‘came out of the closet’ after the
release of his music video ‘Fast Love’; however even during this period of time
homosexuality was still a controversial issue with the AIDS pandemic increasing
rapidly globally. Therefore there were many problems surrounding the awareness
and acceptance in society as a whole.
Although artists such as Madonna were not part
of LGBT groups, her music videos such as 'Express Yourself' challenged what it
meant to be feminine; most people would have labelled her behaviour, costume
and dancing to be 'butch' as “A woman attired as a man may be seen as ‘power
dressing’ or as adapting the mannerism of lesbianism”[5]. It could be argued that
this alternative representation of women in ‘Express Yourself’ created
awareness of LGBT groups as it was described as "an encouragement for all
women and all oppressed minorities to resist, to express their ideas and their
strength faced with tyranny."[6] as the music video
challenged tried to empower* women and LGBT groups. From a Marxist point of
view it would seem that music videos like ‘Express Yourself’ and even ‘Do You
Really Want To Hurt Me’ portray the oppression that the proletariat, in this
case “women” and “minorities”, face in society and life from the bourgeoisie,
the heterosexual masses. Marx argues that in order to gain equality a
“revolution is necessary”[7], in terms of popular music
culture there was arguably a revolution of LGBT artists and change to gender
role in the music videos of the 1980’s. Boy George and Freddie Mercury, the lead vocalist for Queen, who
were both described as openly gay also questioned gender roles through the use
of their flamboyant attire and behaviour. However it could argued that this did
not create awareness but ridiculed LGBT groups as homosexual artists in the
media was rare, hence the lack of diversity and conservative values of society
LGBT groups would have been seen as bizarre like the persona of the artists
were perceived to be.
Contemporary pop
artists like Lady Gaga advocate social and political change through the use of
her provocative yet influential music videos, not only does she use her music
videos but also the use of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter
to convey her pro-homosexual ideologies. In Lady Gaga’s music video ‘Born
This Way’ Gaga is portrayed as the "Mother Monster" literally giving
birth to "the new race, a race within the race of humanity, a race which
bears no prejudice, no judgment." through the symmetrical long shot, which
would connote the birth of the “new race” as being equal. The ‘Born This Way’ music video was released on the
27th February 2011, promoting equality for LGBT groups in particular, after a
few months on 25th June 2011 the Gay Marriage Bill was passed in the state of
New York; it would seem that "The
debates surrounding popular culture representations of gayness became
increasingly politicized."[8]. Before the
‘Information Revolution’, there was rarely interaction between the LGBT artists
and the audiences however social networking sites enable artists like Lady Gaga
to interact with her audiences about her views for example on the 25th
June 2011, when the Gay Marriage Bill was passed in New York, Lady Gaga tweeted
“I can’t stop crying. We did it kids.”[9]. It would seem that "Lady
Gaga has clearly mastered the new social network phenomenon”[10], as Gaga has arguably created awareness of LGBT
groups through the use of Facebook and Twitter along with her music video which
has consequently lead to successful social and political change for LGBT
groups.
In today’s society LGBT artists seem
to have freedom of expression through music videos however there is still the
fundamental issue of the majority of society, heterosexual groups,
repressing the minority groups, in this case the LGBT groups which artists like
Katy Perry portray through her music video ‘Firework’. Perry tweeted on 28th
October 2010 on Twitter to Perez Hilton “@PerezHilton I am officially dedicating my new
video to #itgetsbetter,”[11] if this is the case then surely the gay kiss would have been
shown clearly? Katy Perry says that the music video of "Firework" is
dedicated specifically to the It Gets Better Project, which fights
discrimination against LGBT Youth. If it was meant to empower LGBT youth surely
the gay kiss would be shown to generate more support of youth that struggle
with their identity and sexuality. The homosexual character in ‘Firework’ is
presented to be distressed by the fact that a heterosexual couple is kissing in
the background of the medium shot but he cannot kiss a man openly. According to
the philosopher John Stuart Mill there will inevitably be an issue with the
acceptance and tolerance of the minority, the LGBT groups, in society as there
is “tyranny of the majority”[12]. The
“majority”[13],
the heterosexual groups, oppresses and coerces the minority to assimilate with
the majority which is what Katy Perry portrays. There
seems to be a problem when representing LGBT groups in “mainstream pop culture”[14]
as it is criticised to be from a “rampantly heterosexual”[15]
point of view.
It could be argued
that the lack of censorship surrounding LBGT characters in music videos leads
to a lack of awareness in popular music culture as a whole for example the lack
of censorship in Rihanna’s music video to ‘Te Amo’ did not create awareness of
lesbianism but sexually objectified the women. Whilst ‘Te Amo’ does portray lesbianism,
it arguably addresses lesbianism in an extremely sexual manner through the
medium shot of Rihanna controlling the other woman from behind in a sexually
provocative position which would be seen as pornographic. When looking at other
music videos like Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ and Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’,
which do seek to create awareness of LGBT groups, it would seem that these
music videos are censored and more controversial compared to Rihanna’s ‘Te Amo’;
but why would this be the case? Media theorists such as Laura Mulvey would
argue that the Male Gaze, the theory that the role of women is to be sexually
objectified for an acknowledged male audience, is the reason for the acceptance
of ‘Te Amo’ as it sexualises the women to create an “erotic impact”[16]
for the male audiences.
Is popular music culture successful
at creating awareness of LGBT groups? There is still the question of what
society as a whole tolerates and whether or not these music videos actually do
create awareness of LGBT groups, toleration is not the only issue but also the
issue of censorship. The change in popular music videos have created awareness
gradually over the years but has not encouraged much social or political change.
It would seem that social networking sites has enabled people to become more aware
of LGBT groups successfully as there is not much censorship to control what
people see. Nevertheless there is also the
problem of young, impressionable children and young teenagers who could see
music videos with gay and lesbians and be exposed to content which is beyond
their understanding of the world. Is it fair for young children to see this? It
could be argued that it is fair as this in itself generates awareness for
younger generations and educates them on modern culture and society. However one
could argue that as popular culture enforces gender roles through the use of
music videos, LBGT representations become difficult to challenge these
stereotypical gender roles as they have become ingrained in our society, Therefore
popular music culture does not create awareness of LGBT groups.
Word Count: 1,710
[1] Dines,
G. McMahon Humez, J. (2010). p. 274.
[2] ibid
[3] Pullen, C., Cooper, M. (2010). p. 29.
[4] Macdonald, M. (1995). p. 215.
[5] Macdonald,
M. (1995). p. 215.
[6] Guilbert, G. (2002). p.120
[7] Marx, K., Easton, L., Guddat, K. (1997). p. 38.
[8] Prono,
L. (2008). p. xi
[16] Erens,
P. (1990). p. 33.
Bibliography
Works cited
Books:
Dines,
G., & Humez, J. M. (2011). Gender, race, and class in media: a critical
reader (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications.
Erens,
P. (1990). Issues in feminist film criticism. Bloomington: Indiana
University Press.
Guilbert,
G. (2002). Madonna as postmodern myth: how one star's self-construction
rewrites sex, gender, Hollywood, and the American dream. Jefferson, N.C.:
McFarland & Co..
Macdonald,
M. (1995). Representing women: myths of femininity in the popular media.
London: E. Arnold ;.
Marx,
K., Easton, L. D., & Guddat, K. H. (1997). Writings of the young Marx on
philosophy and society. Indianapolis, Ind.: Hackett Pub. Co.
Mill,
J. S. (2006). On liberty. New York: Cosimo Classics.
Prono,
L. (2008). Encyclopedia of gay and lesbian popular culture. Westport,
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Pullen,
C. (2010). LGBT identity & online new media (1. publ. ed.). New York
[u.a.: Routledge.
Internet:
Gaga,
L. (n.d.). Lady Gaga. Twitter. Retrieved January 11, 2012, from http://twitter.com/ladygaga
Perry,
K. (n.d.). Katy Perry. Twitter. Retrieved January 5, 2012, from http://twitter.com/katyperry
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S. (n.d.). Lady Gaga: Mistress of Convergence. Media Magazine. Retrieved
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