“a race within the race of humanity, a race which bears no prejudice, no judgement, but boundless freedom.”[1]
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”[2]
in popular music culture, the “representations of sexuality in
mainstream pop culture continues to be, for the most part, rampantly
heterosexual.”[3] 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 thirty
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 leads to the misrepresentation of
homosexuals as being extreme. In more recent times there is more visibility of
homosexuals in popular music culture however it could be argued that this is
mainly because
of the “progressive critique."[4]
that LBGT groups have made aware over the years.
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”[5], 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. Section 28 of the Local
Government Act 1988 sparked controversy in British society as it elevated
homophobic attitudes across Britain for LGBT groups; it clearly stated that
there is “Prohibition on promoting
homosexuality by teaching or by publishing material.”[6] for
local authorities. It is key to note that there are a number of close
ups on the people in court and the judge's facial expression as there seems to
be a collective shock and disapproval of Boy George’s identity as he is
representing many homosexual men of that time.
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, be considered unusual as there was and still
“is social prohibition against the
feminization of men”[7],
it would seem that during this period of time popular music culture was
becoming more aware of LGBT groups. George
Michael, however, was not open about his sexuality as society had not become
more aware of LGBT groups. It was not until the mid 1990’s that George Michael
decided to ‘come 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.
Though artists
such as Madonna were not part of LGBT groups, her music videos such as 'Express
Yourself' challenged the gender roles that mainstream media had enforced
through music videos. Madonna’s behaviour, costume and dancing would have been
deemed as 'butch' as “A woman attired as a man may be seen as ‘power dressing’
or as adapting the mannerism of lesbianism”[8]. 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."[9] as the music video
challenged tried to empower women and LGBT groups. The long shots of Madonna
dancing in a suit focuses on her clothing as she challenges the gender roles
through her actions of grabbing an implied crotch which represents “Madonna’s rebelliousness
towards conventional, limiting notions of sex, femininity”[10] as she opens her jacket showing off her bra. This would suggest Madonna representing
females who have to take on stereotypical male traits to become independent
like men but also homosexual groups as she has to “put on”[11] both genders and
challenges them, suggesting Madonna’s view on gender and sexuality as simply
being a “put on”[12]
rather than being something that is fixed according to one’s sex.
From a
Marxist point of view it would seem that music videos like ‘Express Yourself’
and ‘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”[13], 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 be argued that this
did not create awareness but presented them as “victims
of ridicule”[14]
because of the fact that
homosexual artists in the media was rare, hence the lack of diversity during
this time formed society’s perception of LBGT groups to be bizarre like the persona of the artists seemed.
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"[15]
literally giving birth to "the new race”[16]
which “bears no prejudice, no judgment."[17]
through the symmetrical long shot, which would connote the birth of the “new
race” as being equal. Throughout the video there
are medium shots of the Monster Mother, with the third eye on her
chin, the repetitive symbolism of the eye in would connote
Gaga's positive values of equality as the eye would be a
representation of the new outlook that we should have on people who are
different, thus the "new race"[18]
is born.
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."[19]. 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.”[20].
It would seem that "Lady Gaga has clearly mastered the new social network
phenomenon”[21],
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’. The “firework”[22] has many connotations in
this text referring to each of the characters situation for example when the
two children are listening to their father abuse their mother in the long shot,
the lyrics change to “like the 4th of July” [23] referring to the American
Independence, so in this case the fireworks connote freedom. Perry tweeted on 28th October 2010
on Twitter to Perez Hilton “@PerezHilton I am officially dedicating my new video to
#itgetsbetter,”[24]
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.
Although
the fireworks signify freedom and celebration it is important to acknowledge that
the music video intended to empower LGBT youth in particular, if this was the
case then surely the gay kiss would have been shown to generate more support of
LBGT 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”[25]. The
“majority”[26],
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”[27]
as it is criticised to be from a “rampantly heterosexual”[28]
point of view.
Sort this mofo! 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”[29]
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. 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. One could argue that the “stereotypes survive by undergoing change”[30], however the LBGT representations become difficult to
challenge stereotypical gender roles have become ingrained in our society
through being enforced in popular music culture and the media as a whole, therefore
popular music culture does not create enough awareness of LGBT groups.
Word Count: 2,090
Bibliography
Works cited
Books:
Benson,
C., & Metz, A. (2000). The Madonna companion: two decades of commentary.
New York: Schirmer Books.
Dines,
G., & Humez, J. M. (2011). Gender, race, and class in media: a critical
reader (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications.
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, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
Pullen,
C., & Cooper, M. (2010). LGBT identity and online new media. New
York: Routledge.
Romanowski,
W. D. (1996). Pop culture wars: religion & the role of entertainment in
American life. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.
Schwichtenberg,
C. (1993). The Madonna connection: representational politics, subcultural
identities, and cultural theory. Boulder: Westview Press.
Internet:
Gaga,
L. (2011, June 25). Lady Gaga. Twitter. Retrieved January 4, 2012, from
Perry,
K. (2010, October 28). Katy Perry. Twitter. Retrieved January 5, 2012,
from
Richardson,
S. (n.d.). Lady Gaga: Mistress of Convergence. Media Magazine. Retrieved
December 29, 2011, from www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/mmagpast/MM36_Collab_gaga_convergence.html
Local Government Act 1988. (n.d.).Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved
February 1, 2012, from
Moving
image:
Firework (2010, Katy Perry, USA, Stargate, Capitol Records)
Born This Way (2011, Lady Gaga, USA, Interscope Records, Kon Live
Distribution)
Te Amo (2010, Rihanna, USA, Stargate, Def Jam Recordings)
Do You Really Want To Hurt Me (1982, Culture Club, UK, Steve
Levine, Epic Records, Virgin Records)
You Spin Me Round (1984, Dead or Alive, UK, Stock Aitken Waterman,
Epic Records)
Express Yourself (1989, Madonna, USA, Stephen Bray, Sire Records)
Works consulted
Books:
Balswick, J. K., & Balswick, J. O. (2008). Authentic human sexuality: an integrated Christian approach (2nd ed.). Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.
Elledge, J. (2010). Queers in American popular culture. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Praeger.
Gauntlett, D. (2002). Media, gender, and identity: an introduction. London: Routledge.
Giffney, N., & Rourke, M. (2009). The Ashgate research companion to queer theory. Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate.
Hawkins, S. (2008). The British pop dandy: male identity, music and culture. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Internet:
Chappell, S. (2009, April 28). Diploma - freedom of music: . Media Magazine. Retrieved December 27, 2011, from
www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/mmagpast/mm28_diploma_freemusic.html
Lacey, N. (2008, September 25). Anarchy? Where? When subversive sub-cultures hit the mainstream. Media Magazine. Retrieved January 3, 2012, from www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/mmagpast/mm25_anarchy.html
Morgan, A. (1998, February 7). Do you really want to hurt me?. The Independent. Retrieved December 28, 2011, from
www.independent.co.uk/life-style/do-you-really-want-to-hurt-me-1143223.html
Wood, M. (n.d.). Gays/Lesbians on TV. Aberystwyth University - Home . Retrieved January 2, 2012, from http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/mtw9402.html
