The Relation Between Music And Gender Stereotypes

From a sociological standpoint, gender affects virtually all faucets of society in one form or another. Music is no exception. Music as an art form has many aspects, from pitch and rhythm, to cultural significance. Perceptions of gender and different gender roles are represented heavily in the media, and in today's social climate, this is being actively observed like never before. Unfortunately, potentially harmful stereotypes associated with gender are equally as present within the media, specifically in music. An especially ugly part of the gendered society that people live in, is the harsh reality of gender related violence and crime. Battery, rape, assault, murder, and otherwise violent acts are both portrayed and discussed directly through
It would not be sufficient to simply listen to a song and ignore other forms of representation within the scope of music such as music videos and performances, or even the culture of the music industry itself. Sexualized violence is portrayed in a number of ways throughout these various aspects. Explicit and implicit messages regarding gender, sometimes intended by the artist, other times interpreted independently by the audience can be found in virtually all music. Gender is so entrenched in people's lives that it is almost impossible to find music that has not been affected in any way by gender. The same can largely be said about messages regarding violence, and often times sexualized violence. These messages may provide a conscious commentary of a certain social climate in a given time period, or be an unintentional product of said time period. The implicit, often unintended representations are easy to miss because "every day, unconscious familiarity with misrepresentations in music makes it difficult […] to identify the more subtle manifestations of [gender]," which basically explains how being constantly surrounded by these kinds of gender representations make people ignorant to them and how they affect daily life (Morton 2010). It is important to understand context, in order to fully understand how gender, and in turn sexualized
Women in music are often objectified, through visual imagery and style choices, as well as how language is used to talk about women. As relationships and love are common themes in music, sexual conquest is as well. Rap and hip hop are genres heavily associated with the objectification and hyper sexualization of women, with sexual conquest being a prominent theme within these genres. There is a strong connection between misogynistic ideologies and the how black women have been treated as "violence, and misogyny have […] been expressed through the medium of rap," historically, and these representations have strong societal meaning behind them (Jones, 2009). Although hip hop and rap have been heavily criticized for participating in this culture of sexualizing and objectifying women, this custom of portraying women as more object than people has not been limited to one specific genre. Country music is also guilty for perpetuating an image of the "ideal woman" who adheres to specific gender roles and is more of an object of love interest than a human with distinct traits and ambitions. Imagery in virtually all genres reflect the attitude that women are sexual objects, and focus on the pursuit of women and sex. Women are often stylized in a way that is pleasing to men, whether it be background dancers in music videos or live performances,