Coupe 1

Erik Coupe

Ms. Asia Potts

ENGL - 1120 – 090

15 April 2019

Rock and Role

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

topics in present day music is gender expression.

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

culmination of the previous sections, I will combine my findings to provide an answer to my

research question. Through this, I argue that the internal conversation between the artist and
 Coupe 2

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

differing ways that artists influence the gender conversation.

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

She says it's lack of sex that's bringing me down

I went to a whore

He said my life's a bore

So quit my whining cause it's bringing her down (Green Day)

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
 Coupe 3

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

artist does push the idea of a genderless society.

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

state exactly what the artist is trying to make a point of:

Sugar and spice and everything nice

Wasn't made for only girls

GI Joe in panty hose is making room

For the one and only

King for a day, princess by dawn

King for a day in a leather thong

King for a day, princess by dawn

Just wait 'til all the guys get a load of me

 Coupe 4

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

expression and offer their own opinion on the topic.

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.

Girls who are boys

Who like boys to be girls

Who do boys like they're girls

Who do girls like they're boys

Always should be someone, you really love (Blur)

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
 Coupe 5

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

expression and the boundaries that gender is subject to.

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

the gender conversation within the genre of rock and roll.

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

in the genre’s gender conversation.

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
 Coupe 6

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
 Coupe 7

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

the past and allows for no growth in the gender conversation.

3. The Gender Conversation

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
 Coupe 8

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,

convincing their audience of their point of view on gender.

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

an important discussion such as gender expression.

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?
 Coupe 9

These are just assumptions, but I do believe that this is where some of the limitations to the

gender conversation lie.

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
 Coupe 10

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

a worthwhile conversation if only one side gets to have an input?

 Coupe 11

Works Cited

“Blur – Girls & Boys.” Genius, 7 Mar. 1994, genius.com/Blur-girls-and-boys-lyrics.

Bowden, Louis. “Rock 'n' Roll Girls: Gender Roles in Rolling Stone Magazine.” Academia.edu –
Share Research,
www.academia.edu/7689943/Rock_n_Roll_Girls_Gender_roles_in_Rolling_Stone_Maga
zine.
“Green Day – Basket Case.” Genius, 29 Nov. 1994, genius.com/Green-day-basket-case-lyrics.
“Green Day (Ft. Gabrial McNair & Stephen Bradley) – King for a Day.” Genius, 14 Oct. 1997,
genius.com/Green-day-king-for-a-day-lyrics.
Hartman, Caroline. “Girly Boys and Boyish Girls: Gender Roles in Rock and Roll Music.”
Edited by Letizia Schmid, Welcome to Dialogues Journal at School of Arts and Sciences,
2014, dialogues.rutgers.edu/all-journals/19-volume-9/41-student-research-papers.
Mishrell, Kirk W., "Rockin' The Tritone: Gender, Race & The Aesthetics of Aggressive Heavy
Metal Subcultures." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2012.
https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_theses/52
Samadi, Rowan. “Gender Representation in Rock Music.” East West University, 2012.