This tape surveys thirteen examples of women in American music &endash; as performers, as authors, or both. It’s fascinating to trace the development of woman’s artistic control in American music. In the nineteenth century, woman performed and composed outside of the commercial sphere and achieved a degree of artistic freedom. Upon entering the commercial arena, women often served as the mouthpiece for men who called the shots from behind the scenes. Men wrote the songs, wrote the lyrics, chose the female performer’s clothes, managed her career, etc. Gradually, women began to win more artistic autonomy as evidence by the explosion in woman’s music in the last several years, epitomized by the financial and artistic success of the Lilith Fair tour this past summer.

#1 "Smack My Bitch Up" (1997), excerpt ca. 2:20
Prodigy
Written by Howlett, Smith, Miller, Thornton, and Randolph
The Fat of the Land Maverick/Warner 46606

It won’t surprise you to hear that there are no women in Prodigy. This tune has caused great controversy because the album lacks a parental advisory label and has since been pulled by chain retailers such as K-Mart and Walgreens. (Prodigy has defended the text by claiming that it is an innocent song about a wild, energetic state of mind and has nothing to do with women or "bitches" at all. Personally, I don’t know which is worse: the lyric or the implication that in a wild and energetic state, violence against women becomes somehow innocent, justifiable, or acceptable.) I present this excerpt as a reminder of the importance of women’s music today and the all too real human costs at stake in this music. Regardless of the band’s intentions, audiences have heard this song as yet another instance of misogynist violence. While homophobia and racism are becoming increasingly difficult to find in today’s pop music marketplace, violence against women is prevalent, even essential to certain genres of music, especially heavy metal and rap. It is its sheer ubiquity and supposed innocence that makes Prodigy’s song so insidious. (If the title doesn’t mean anything, why use it?)

Why has misogyny in popular music continued to be so prevalent, despite outcries from groups such as the National Organization for Women and Riot Grrl? If you’re a woman, how do you feel about this tune? Am I over-reacting? Is this offensive or is it just so typical of today’s society, that it loses any potential for meaning and becomes harmless? If you’re male, how do you feel about this tune? Is the dance beat compelling enough to justify the lyric? Is the title just an attempt to get male fans of rap and heavy metal to buy techno albums (or "electronica" as record execs would like us to call this music)? Is it important that this is the first cut on the CD?

Change my pitch up

Smack my bitch up.

#2 "Singing Joyfully" (ca. 1893) 1:42

Mrs. H.H.A. Beach (Amy [Cheney] Beach) (1864, New Hampshire&emdash;1944)
Performed by Susanne Mentzer Sunny Joy Langton, and Kimberly Schmidt.
Women at an Exposition Koch 3 7240 2 H1 ©1992

Amy Beach is one of the few women composers to be accepted into mainstream histories of music. Within the realm of American classical music, she is viewed as a member of the New England School of composers along with Horatio Parker, Arthur Foote, George Chadwick, and to a lesser extent Edward MacDowell. In 1892, a prominent Chicago socialite, Bertha Potter Palmer, asked Beach to contribute a work for the dedication ceremonies of the World’s Columbian Exposition. Members of the Bureau of Music, all men, overruled Potter’s commission, but Beach’s work was featured prominently at a remarkable component of the Fair &endash; the Woman’s Building. Dedicated solely to the achievements of American women, the building hosted a series of concerts by female composers and performers active in women’s music clubs. In these clubs, affluent women composed, performed, and listened to music away from the controlling restrictions of the male gaze. While the men were at work, their wives and daughters found a remarkable level of freedom and creative expression. In Victorian America, music was a soft, effeminate art, but many women took full advantage of this gendered difference, culminating in the Women’s symphony orchestras of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s.

#3 "Bobby’s Girl" (1960s) 2:14

Performed by Marcie Blane
Girls, Girls, Girls K-Tel BU 787-2 ©1988

While I’d be oversimplifying to condemn all "oldies" as sexist, it is clear from this song that even female performers were expected to fulfill restrictive, even reactionary social expectations. Here Marcie Blane performs a song written by two men (Hoffmann and Klein) in which she defines and measures her value as a person through the possession of and act of acceptance by a man, i.e. "Bobby." If she can call herself, "Bobby’s Girl," then her dreams have been fulfilled. Scary. But not a surprising lyric considering the post-WWII reaction against women in the public sphere. When "Rosie the Riveter" entered the workforce to support the boys at the front, she discovered that she was capable of working in traditionally male roles: auto plants converted to tank manufacturing, for example. Figures like June Cleaver (the Beaver’s mother on the TV show Leave It to Beaver), unequivocally reasserted a woman’s place as in the home. Songs like "Bobby’s Girl," likewise express a return to the values of the past, when men were men and women were woman and neither had the freedom to decide how to behave.

#4 "Too Many Fish in the Sea" Time, 1965

The Marvelettes (formed 1960, Inkster, Michigan)
Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgia Dobbins, Juanita Cowart, and Wanda Young, all born in Detroit in 1944. (Dobbins died in 1980 from Sickle Cell Anemia.)
No composer credits or date given on CD yet this was probably not written by the Marvelettes, but by a (male) Motown production team.
The Big Chill Motown 6062 ©1983

The Marvelettes began when five high school "girls" formed a vocal quintet for a talent contest. They lost the contest, but attracted the attention of a Motown producer. Such "Girl Groups" were a staple of the 1960s. Yet a few groups, particularly African-American ensembles such as Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and The Marvelettes, managed to escape male expectations while catering to them at the same time. The Marvelettes participate in an economy of desire, yet they use their position to assert female pride. They take the role of worldly wise woman giving advice to young girls. They encourage their female audience to expect love and reject anyone who offers less. They still want to be in a relationship and have the protection and acceptance of a male, yet for the Marvelettes, it is the woman (not "Bobby") who decides whether a relationship succeeds or fails.

#5 "St. Louis Blues", 1925

Written and transcribed by W.C. Handy, ca. 1920
Performed by Bessie Smith (vocals) (1894, Chattanooga, Tenn.&emdash;1937, Clarksdale, Miss.) and Louis Armstrong (cornet)
Columbia G 30818 ©1973

The Blues as music is often confused with the blues as feeling. In music, the blues are a source of strength and recovery from despair, rather than the experience of despair or depression itself. Bessie Smith’s performance here transcends the text as her sheer vocal power establishes a dominant rather than subordinate character. She sings of being betrayed by her man and a "St. Louis Women." Yet Smith’s voice embodies power itself. She shouts, rather than cries. Although her career ended in a tragic automobile accident, she became a huge influence on 1960s folk and rock ‘n’ roll. All of her recordings have been re-released on CD and she has become a symbol of triumph for feminists.

#6 "RESPECT" 2:24

Written by Otis Redding
Performed by Aretha Franklin (b. 1942, Memphis, Tenn.)
Released April 1967
30 Greatest Hits Atlantic 7 81668-2 ©1985

According to the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll:

"Respect" hit number one on both the R&B and pop charts in 1967. Although written by a man, this song clearly calls for an improved treatment of women in American society. It demands trust and love. Yet this song does not overthrow the patriarchal social order: the woman is still largely defined by the home and her role as wife and mother.

(***If you're listening to the online version of the tape, you'll hear the Otis Redding version of Respect too.***)

#7 "Sex as a Weapon", 1985

Written by T. Kelly and Billy Steinberg
Perf. by Pat Benatar (born Patricia Andrzejewski, 1953 in Brooklyn, NY)
Chrysalis / EMI 8 52256 2 ©1996

Benatar was the most successful female hard-rock vocalist of the 1980s. Rejecting classical operatic training at the Juilliard School of Music, she began her career as a cabaret singer with a chanteuse style based upon the stylings of Diana Ross and Barbra Streisand. In 1978 she switched to a more aggressive rock style and signed with Chrysalis after being rejected by several labels. Her debut album went platinum (selling 1 million+ copies). Her early sex kitten image (which she later claimed had been thrust upon her by marketing executives) belies her artistic authority and professional self-determination. After giving birth to a daughter, she returned to the studio to record "Invincible" (#10) and "Sex as a Weapon" (#28).

In this song, the lyric implores a (presumably) male listener to stop using sex as a weapon &endash; for Benatar, the power play of sex destroys the possibility of love as a relationship between equals: "Love is more than a one way reflection." Yet I think that this could have several meanings, particularly considering that Benatar commandeers a traditionally male role -- i.e., the lead singer in a hard rock band. It would be safe to say that Benatar, herself uses sex as a weapon, i.e. that she uses male desire against itself. For me this song is laden with irony, because Benatar takes on the male mythos herself. Not only is this a driving rock tune, but (if you’ve seen her videos) she takes on the bodily performance of "sex as a weapon." (Of course, her videos were produces by men which complicates matters further.) Benatar has a history of inverting male and female roles: on her True Love album, she performs a series of R & B hits written by men, such as "Payin’ the Cost To Be the Boss" by B.B. King.

#8 "Express Yourself" (ca. 1988)

Written by Madonna (b, 1958 in Bay City, Mich.) and Stephen Bray
Performed by Madonna (orig. Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone)
The Immaculate Collection Sire / Warner Bros. 26440 ©1990

According to the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock:

With the exception of "Lucky Star," each of Madonna’s early hits had been composed by men. It was only later in her career, that she began to receive creative credit for her work and/or that record companies felt confident enough in her star status that they trusted her to sell records using her own material. As Madonna’s lyrics became more controversial and powerful, her stature and acceptance as an artist grew. It’s hard to believe that the author of this cut also performed "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl." "Express Yourself" calls for women to demand much more from men in relationships by refusing to accept the typical roles of either the co-dependent female or the emotionally remote male. It explicitly rejects diamond rings and fancy cars in favor of communication. It rejects the trappings of romance (flowers and satin sheets) in favor of "love." Love seems to be defined as a relationship of communication and mutual respect among equals.

Note: Madonna was a dance major at the University of Michigan in the mid 1970s and lived in Stockwell.

#9 "Ladies First" (©1989) 3:54

Queen Latifah with Monie Love
Produced by DJ Mark the 45 King
All Hail the Queen Tommy Boy 1022

Queen Latifah is considered to be the first woman rapper who succeeded in escaping male expectations and material. Her joined by a European counterpart, Monie Love, Queen Latifah co-opts the position of male dominance to assert women’s pride. The title is a play on the attitudes of chivalry. Queen Latifah does not allow male rappers to hold the metaphorical door for her; rather she struts to the front of the line and challenges male playas on their own turf -- hard, rapid-fire lyrics saturated with boasts and innuendo.

#10 "She’s Got Her Ticket" (©1986) 3:54

Written and performed by Tracy Chapman (b. 1964 in Cleveland, Ohio)
Elektra 60774 ©1988

I first saw Chapman perform live in Philadelphia as the warm-up act for Johnny Clegg. Chapman stole the show and I purchased her self titled debut album the next day. Publicity shy, Chapman is an unlikely candidate for stardom, but I think that it’s the quality of her lyrics and expression that make her music so powerful. (She won four Grammys in her first year, including Best New Artist.) Raised in a black working-class neighorhood, she won scholarships to some of the most exclusive schools in the country. She attended Wooster prep school and graduated from Boston’s Tufts University with a degree in anthropology and African studies. Her songs have always responded to a socially conscious folk-rock sensibility. In this song, Chapman takes on a variety of issues, especially race and class. This song is about a woman leaving a bad and imprisoning relationship.

#11 "Sexuality" (©1995) 3:24

k. d. lang (b. Kathryn Dawn Lang, 1961 in Alberta, Canada)
All You Can Eat Warner Bros. 46034

When Lang came out as a lesbian, she already enjoyed success and mass market popularity. This tune plays upon the ambiguity of sexuality and demonstrates how her music has come to serve as a source of lesbian identity. Although sometimes attacked by conservatives, lang’s symbolic stance as the "Cowgirl from Calgary" has not injured her career: she has won three Grammys, including Best Female Pop Vocalist (1992). Initially lang did not receive much radio play because she did not fit the country female mold, yet she was too country for rock stations. Despite a smear campaign by the meat industry after she recorded a PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) television ad, lang’s success never suffered. In a 1992 interview for the gay magazine The Advocate, she officially proclaimed her homosexuality. The announcement seemed to generate even more media attention. New York magazine dubbed her the icon of "Lesbian Chic" and she appeared in a Vanity Fair cover that showed her in a barber’s chair, clutching and pretending to be shaved by a scantily clad Cindy Crawford. The lyrics to this song are androgynous, lacking any definite markers of gender identity. Yet this in itself is remarkable. Since love songs and especially songs of seduction, such as this, are intimately connected with power, male dominance is often at stake. This song exemplifies Suzanne Cusick’s argument that lesbianism is on some level an attempt to escape the gendered power relations of society.

#12 "Out of Range" (©1995) 3:43

Ani DiFranco (b. 1970)
Out of Range Warner Bros. 46034

Ani difranco not only writes and performs her own material, but she owns and operates the record company, "Righteous Babe Records." She is also a monster guitarist. (She’s the only musician appearing in this song and manages to cover the melodic, harmonic accompaniment, and percussive roles with just her voice and a guitar.) On one hand, this song is another escape narrative &endash; the story of a woman rejecting both the expectations of her mother and a lover who terrorizes her. Male escape narratives are common, but rarely is the escapee a woman.

According to the alt.culture website, Ani DiFranco is:

a New York-based singer-songwriter who has almost single-handedly reinvigorated folk music with her punk-infused, percussive-acoustic sound and feminist lyrics. Gigging since the age of 11, Di Franco founded her own label, Righetous Babe Records, with a loan in 1990 after the majors showed no interest. Sales were initially made at concerts and through an 800 number; by 1997 the label had sold 750,000 copies of DiFranco’s nine albums (the 1996 studio album Dilate sold close to 200,000 copies). In 1995 DiFranco exacted a measure of revenge on "the industry" by snarling "You ar looking at the million that you’ll never make" on her Not a Pretty Girl album.

DiFranco maintains an exhausting tour schedule (she grossed $2 million in 1996 alone), converting legions of fans with emotionally-charged live shows. Many obsessed DiFrancophiles&endash;who were at first predominantly female&endash;are almost oppressively idealistic, protesting the presence of rock business courtiers like MTV at DiFranco’s shows, and even taking it personally when the openly bisexual singer declared her love for a man. DiFranco told Ms. magazine in 1996 that her more ardent fans have brought her to the brink of quitting.

#13 "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" (©1997) 3:53

Shania Twain and Robert Lange
Performed by Shania Twain
Come On Over Mercury 314 536 003-2

In my opinion, some of the most interesting feminist music of 1997 was written for the country music market. Shania Twain might be considered the Madonna of country music in that she has found strength in the sensual. (She’s famous for being the first Country star to show her navel on an album photo.) The lyrics of this tune might seem regressive, but one should remember that sexual stereotyping is strong and resistant in Country. Her politics find voice in meeting male expectations head on, instructing without preaching, and taking complete control of her body and femininity. Starting out the track with the call, "Let’s Go Girls," Twain co-opts male conceptions of femininity: "Man, I feel like a woman." At issue is not as much what women do, but who gets to decide what it means to be one in the first place. (Since Martha Reeves and the Vandellas expressed their own lustful passions as a "Heat Wave," the expression of desire by woman has been read as a militant act.) Twain turns the tables on male sexual gaming. She dons a short skirt and heads out to the bars in a group of women. They feel the attraction and toys with male desire but refuses to satisfy it. Yet Twain’s approach is controversial because she plays to male expectations while securing her own freedom for expression. Her audience is made up of heterosexual men as well as women, and many of her songs have a didactic purpose. "If you want to touch her, ask," for example, is basically a "user’s guide" for men. The similarities in sound between ask and ass at once draw male listeners in while instructing them on how to behave. What do you think? Is "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" a feminist manifesto or a giant step backwards for women’s rights?