Music Can Tell You Who You Are
Music has the power to influence both our gendered self-narratives and our collective identity. The belief that music conveys meaning is unquestioned. It also provides a way for listeners to express their personality and identity, and to interpret their feelings.
Researcher of music, Professor Emerita Sheila Whiteley relaxes by playing the piano.
Professor Emerita Sheila Whiteley from the University of Salford, Greater Manchester (UK) gave the keynote lecture at Music Research, Now! 2013, ‘Music as Culture’, organised by the Cultural History Department of the University of Turku. The seminar included music–related papers from media, cultural history and, of course, musicology.
Professor Whiteley has an international reputation as a feminist musicologist, writer, and researcher into issues of identify and subjectivity.
- Music represents to us how things are and conveys prevalent ideologies, but also helps to construct our responses through its choice of language. Music relates both to experiences and the broader patterns of culture. This, in turn, can influence how we relate to the norms surrounding femininity and masculinity, not least the relationship between an artist and his/her fans, Whiteley explains.
Whiteley gives an example:
- Justin Bieber’s hit song ‘Baby’ (‘You know you love me, I know you care’) is a stereotypical framing of femininity as ‘girl’, ‘baby’, ‘babe’ and a possible reason why so many young teenage girls searched his website for information on the types of girls who appealed to him, changing their appearance and style accordingly. They are nicknamed, ‘beliebers’!
Icon and a Dress Made of Meat
Artists express their gender, sexuality and identity through their music and performance.
- Pop music is traditionally associated with codes of romance; rock expresses a more raw sexuality, Whiteley tells.
- Singer-songwriters, such as Joni Mitchell, Tori Amos and Tracy Chapman have also given voice to more problematic issues, such as rape, incest, the traumas of family life, pregnancy, miscarriage, abortion, religion, racism and human rights. This sort of introspection is important in voicing subjective experience as well as giving voice to those who have been silenced, she continues.
According to Whiteley many contemporary music stars, such as Katy Perry and Lily Allen, create a schizophrenic image by dressing demurely, in the mould of 1950s stars Doris Day, Debbie Reynolds and Sandra Dee, but whose girlyness is juxtaposed with overtly raunchy lyrics and dissipated party scenes.
- The question here is whether they are aware of, or exploiting the eroticism surrounding their image and how this impacts on their fans. I have to admit, I’m not sure, Whiteley ponders.
Doctoral Student Anna-Elena Pääkkölä from Musicology subject of the University of Turku continues the conversation about groundbreaking artists.
- Lady Gaga is truly transgressive both in her music and style and constructs her image as art. She contested the interpretation of pop = romantic/sensual: rock = raw sexuality by, for example, wearing a gown made of meat to the 2010 Music Video Awards, stating that it was intended to draw attention to human rights with a focus on the LGBT community, Pääkkölä tells.
Exploring Emotions
We as audience can also express our identity through music and learn how to express our feelings by listening to the lyrics and the musical arrangements.
- We can learn how to love or how to behave or even how to release our anger or sorrow. Different styles of music allow us to explore our emotions, Whiteley says, and undoubtedly the Internet has opened up more avenues for both wanna-be composers, musicians, artists and fans.
But what does a Music Researcher choose to listen in her free time?
- I am quite selective and enjoy classical music, jazz and pop legends. I especially relate to artists like Joni Mitchell, the Smiths, Jim Morrison, and Chet Baker, Whiteley smiles.
Henna Borisoff