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Erik Coupe
15 April 2019
As society progresses through the ages, ideas and philosophies are introduced and put to
the test until inevitably they are replaced by a new generation’s thinking. Through this we have
seen great empires rise and fall, wars break out due to opposing ideals, and entire peoples be
persecuted. However, through all of this, one thing has remained constant: music. Music has
been a central part of any culture worldwide since the dawn of mankind. Through music we have
told epic myths and legends, shared the thoughts of our past generations to future ones, and most
importantly we have spread new and controversial ideas to the masses. One of the most prevalent
In this essay I will focus on rock and roll using the various sub genres to examine how
artists and their audiences interact with each other to form this conversation about gender. To do
this effectively, as there is not a large amount of research done in this field on rock and roll
within the last fifteen to twenty years, I will perform my own analysis of three selected songs
from different artists. After completing my analysis of the songs, I will dive deeper into the
research already published and seek to add a fresh perspective to the conversation. Finally, in a
research question. Through this, I argue that the internal conversation between the artist and
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audience is dominated by the artist, and that media plays a significant role in maintaining gender
stereotypes.
1. Song Analysis
To accurately examine the complex topic of gender in rock and roll, we will start by
looking at and analyzing a few select songs. The three songs I have chosen to analyze are:
“Basket Case” and “King for a Day” by Green Day and “Girls & Boys” by Blur. Although two
of the songs are by the same artist, I believe that they show differing perspectives on gender, and
fall into different sub genres of rock and roll. In analyzing these songs, we will be able to see the
First, we will analyze Green Day’s “Basket Case”. This song is what initially prompted
me to further research how gender is described in rock and roll music. As I have listened to the
song in the past, I was always confused and intrigued by one specific verse in it:
I went to a shrink
To analyze my dreams
I went to a whore
To the average listener there may not be anything too striking about this verse, but once looked
at closely, we are clued into what the artist is offering. First off, the whore mentioned in the
verse is referred to as “he”. A harmless gender switch, but nonetheless different to the
stereotypical gender of a whore. Then to add to this, in the very next line the same character is
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then referred to as her. This is where the artist truly begins to show their thoughts on gender
expression. In this specific line, I believe that rather than offering answers to questions people
may have, the author uses this verse to prompt people to question how they perceive gender. In
addition, the author could also be telling the audience that gender is in fact a social construct that
has no bearing on what people want to do in their lives. An extreme example maybe, but the
Next, we will look at “King for a Day”, also by Green Day which offers more of a direct
insight to how the artist views gender. In opposition to the first song analyzed, “King for a Day”
tells us a story about a presumed male who does not fit the image of a stereotypical man:
“Started at the age of four/ (…) /Went sneaking through her bedroom door/ To find something in
a size four” (Green Day). Not fitting in with the conventional vision of masculinity, the narrator
explores the idea of trying on women’s clothes to fulfill a missing part of him. In a later verse,
the narrator then begins to explain how his dad would not allow this and made him go to therapy
(Green Day) so he could regain his masculinity. Finally, the pre chorus and chorus of the song
In the previous song, Green Day offered more of an indirect route to explaining gender
expression, however in “King for a Day”, the band says exactly what it wants the audience to get
out of the song. Lines one and two of the excerpt describe a similar genderless society that I
alluded to in the previous paragraph, stating that these stereotypically feminine things are not just
for girls. And then the notion in lines five and seven describe a character who in the day, acts
masculine so as not to be harassed, and hides their real self-identified gender. In this song, the
artist identifies the problems that people who struggle with gender identity face almost daily.
This is what I argue the artist is getting at in this song. Instead of questioning the environment
surrounding the conversation as they did in the first song, they directly address gender
In a similar way to the first song analyzed, Blur’s “Girls and Boys” takes an obscure
approach to addressing gender. There is one specific line in the song introduces the subject and
atmosphere surrounding the gender conversation very well. Simply put: “Love in the nineties, is
paranoid” (Blur). Although this does address more of the sexuality conversation, gender and
sexuality often do go hand in hand. To show this, we must look at the chorus of the song.
In this chorus, Blur challenges the duality of gender to be more fluid and non-conforming.
Similar to “Basket Case”, the artist leaves the interpretation of the lines to the audience
themselves, but I argue they are getting at a specific point. Instead of just having boys and girls
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be in romantic relationships, lines one and two display gender swaps to enforce the idea that
gender is not bound by any one thing (in this case who you love). The way that Blur uses these
gender swaps forces the audience to accept Blur’s argument in order to truly understand the
song. In doing this, Blur is able to captivate their audience and express their own ideas on gender
In all three of these songs, we see the artists being able to express their ideas on gender in
their own unique way. In addition, it is also worth mentioning that all three of these songs were
released around the same time and fall into very similar subgenres of rock and roll (this will
become more important in the third section of the essay). However, regardless of subgenre or
timeframe of its release, the artists were all able to communicate their ideas effectively and enter
2. Existing Research
After analyzing these few songs, we now must look at some of the research that has
already been done on gender in rock and roll. In this section, three articles will be used to show
their own perspectives on how gender is displayed within the rock and roll genre. In doing this,
we will be able to examine how different subgenres express gender, and how media plays a role
The first article I will discuss is “Rockin' The Tritone: Gender, Race & The Aesthetics of
Aggressive Heavy Metal Subcultures” by Kirk W. Mishrell. As stated in the title, Mishrell
explores how heavy metal subcultures express their ideas on a variety of social issues, however I
will only focus on the gender aspect of the article. In this section, Mishrell studies how heavy
metal musicians display their ideas on gender. Instead of looking into the lyrics, Mishrell looks
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at how bands often act on stage to embody these ideas. He states “’musicians [have] a propensity
for exhibiting their muscles on stage, accompanied by macabre stage décor and violent lyrics.
Music, lyrics, visual images and behavior serve to construct gender identities’” (Mishrell). We
can see then that musicians often not only put their ideas into lyrics, but rather show them in a
different form. In this example we can see that the attire and actions of the artists display a
strengthening of gender stereotypes, using masculine traits to express themselves. Although the
artists are in fact joining the gender conversation by acting in these ways, it holds a distinct
difference to using lyrics to express themselves. This difference is that it makes it much harder
for their audience to be a part of this conversation. The audience can directly connect with lyrics
and then respond; however, actions and self-expression are often harder for the audience
acknowledge.
In addition to Mishrell’s article, Rowan Samadi in his article explores a similar set of
hardcore rock subgenres. Though Samadi does not examine the exact same genres, he does come
to similar conclusions. When looking at bands such as Metallica and Iron Maiden, he explains
“the energy that is produced by them on the stage is no doubt a big matter but this whole process
is perceived by the crowd as a product of only male rocker and ultimately they continuously
build up a psychology of masculine rock occupied by only male energy no matter women
perform or not” (Samadi). This is where I believe the crux of the gender conversation lies. Bands
in rock can express themselves however they like, but it is up to how the audience can then
respond to make it an effective conversation. However, as we can see in this case, these hardcore
bands often create an atmosphere where only a masculine persona is accepted, leaving no room
for the progressive ideas of other sub genres. Additionally, Samadi’s article explains how the
media surrounding rock often perpetuates these ideas. He looks at music videos, album covers
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and posters, and forms of merchandise to describe the media’s impact on the gender
conversation. In the section about music videos, Samadi states “Men are engaged in significantly
more aggressive and dominant behavior in the making of rock music video where the effects of
modern technology make the whole scenario of a video presentable to the fans a male
dominated” (Samadi). We can see very clearly how the media surrounding rock music is in fact
presenting the same masculine dominated ideas discussed previously. Suffocating their audience
with the ideas that masculinity is the only acceptable form of rock perpetuates gender
stereotypes.
In the third article I have chosen, Louis Bowden seeks to explore Rolling Stone Magazine
and their rankings of “all-time” rock bands. In the article, Bowden explains how Rolling Stone
Magazine is maintaining and exemplifying gender stereotypes in the rock genre. For example,
after analyzing a few lists, Bowden finds “In the Rolling Stone ‘100 Greatest Guitarists of All-
Time’ only two women were featured out of the 100 entries in the list” and “there were seven
women entries in the top 100 of the ‘500 Greatest Albums of All-Time’” (Bowden). These
figures go to show that Rolling Stone, whether intentionally or not, is maintaining the gender
stereotype that rock is a genre for men and women are not to be respected or recognized. In the
same way, we can see that Rolling Stone Magazine is celebrating past rock bands for their
achievements. This would be normal, but because a small amount of women were recognized, it
brings no attention to the women in current rock bands. Simply put, it idealizes the stereotypes of
After exploring past research and analyzing rock songs, we can now see where the gender
conversation holds a place in current the rock and roll environment. To begin, the first section
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where I analyzed songs of my choice were all part of the alternative/punk rock subgenre. In this
analysis we were able to see how artists were able to express the ideas in an effective way and
support more progressive ideals in the gender conversation, often calling for people to be more
accepting of gender and promoting a gender fluid and non conforming society. In contrast, the
previous research which I referred to in section two focused on more hardcore and extreme
forms of rock and roll like death/black metal. In this section we saw how these sub genres
promote the ideas of the past and of a masculine dominated society. Bands were put under the
spotlight for how they acted on stage, acting in violent and aggressive manners all pushing the
gender stereotypes of the past. In addition, their use of media conveyed these same ideas,
Although these sub genres express themselves differently, the one similarity is how they
communicate with their audience. In fact, I argue that the bands in rock and roll express
themselves in such a way that they dominate the conversation. In all the examples that I have
explored, there has not been a single form in which the audience could truly interact with the
band. The audience’s only real way to express themselves to the band is to either “boo” or to not
listen to that band’s music. Either way, these are not truly effective ways to communicate in such
In addition, the other issue that arises is whether or not the audience is actually
understanding the allusions bands are making to gender expression. Although I’ve not done
research on this specifically, I would imagine that the majority of the audience is listening to
music because it “sounds good” and not for it’s political or social impact. How many people are
listening to the lyrics and trying to understand the implied meaning behind looks or stage acting?
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These are just assumptions, but I do believe that this is where some of the limitations to the
The way media portrays the gender conversation is also important to recognize. In the
research that I have done, media has only been helping to maintain the stereotypes of the past.
Music videos and posters continually demonstrate how masculinity dominates the conversation.
Media promotes the ideas and visuals that helped build upon the stereotypes in the past. The
media continues to advertise these same stereotypes, praising only the male artists because they
are the only ones being recognized, and only appreciating the women who either put on a
masculine persona or fill a feminine roll like singing. Once again, through media we are able to
see some of the limitations that the gender conversation has within the genre of rock and roll.
In conclusion, in different settings we can see that the gender conversation takes on
different forms. When looking at purely the sub genres I explored in this essay, the more extreme
and hardcore forms of rock and roll tend to promote the masculine stereotypes that are prevalent
in rock and roll. The violence and aggressive nature that have become synonymous with rock are
brought to the extremes with these sub genres. In contrast, the alternative/punk rock genre are
generally more progressive with their gender ideals and do not fall into the same gender
stereotypes. This stark difference is what I find so interesting. As I started this research, I
expected to have similar results throughout all genres of rock, but as we have seen, this is not the
case. Additionally, the way media is portraying the gender expression of rock and roll is also
surprising. I originally thought that the media would be pushing for gender equality and gender
neutrality like we see in current advertisements and political campaigns. However, in the
research I have conducted, we see that the media is in fact supporting the ideas of the past and
perpetuating the gender stereotypes in rock and roll. In these two forms, we can see that there is
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no easy or accessible way for the audience to contribute to the gender conversation, and that
through media we see no change in the stereotypes of the past. To conclude, I ask this: is it truly
Works Cited