I had this strange realization a few months ago. As far as I know, no one else seems to see this or think this, but every time I think about it, it makes me giggle. No one can really deny that the music industry is run by men. Now, before you zone out, thinking I'm this ultra femme, relax. I'd much rather be a housewife than work in an office as the CEO of some company (of course, I am extremely lazy), but that's sort of beside the point.
But, so everyone knows that men sort of run the whole music thing. Men make up the majority of singers (I'm mostly talking about the pop/rock genre, here). Yes, there have been a few female singers like Mariah Carey or, God help me, Britney Spears or whatever. But I honestly just had to sit here trying to think of their names. This is opposed to the likes of Bryan Adams, Sting, R.E.M., Radiohead, Counting Crows, Hootie & the Blowfish, Edwin McCain, Collective Soul, Live... hell, even Eminem. I could go on. Men are more widely known and accepted (and those names were just the first few that came to mind). How many female rockers can you name that have had long, fulfilling careers? Or hell, even if their careers weren't that long and fulfilling, how many of them do we still remember (and we're ignoring one-hit wonders from both sexes)?
I'm sure they do exist, but I cannot think of any of them right now. So, considering that, in our culture, men are the singers. So, what is singing? I'd define it as an emotional expression of feelings and thoughts through a tonal and lyrical medium. But wait, aren't those typically "female characteristics"? Aren't women the ones who are typically stuck with the trait of being sensitive and caring and emotional and whatever? And yet, here are all these men making a living being just that.
I'm not saying that men can't be emotional or sensitive. I'm just saying that they are traits that are associated with women, and yet are clearly visible in every single male musician. And we accept that as fact. Does anyone else see this as ironic? I'm not saying it's bad, it's just interesting. And it has been going on for centuries. Just think of the wandering balladeers. As far as I know, none of them were female. Who was more sensitive and charming and emotional than the balladeers?
And so, after coming to that conclusion, every time I really think about a guy being a singer, it brings a smile to my lips and a giggle to my throat. Singing just feels like such a female quality, that it makes me laugh whenever I think of a man doing it. (It's really the same concept as poetry being female, though there are arguably more examples of successful female poets than there are successful female rockers).
Perhaps the deeper issue I'm getting at here is this: there is a societal double standard on men, saying that they cannot be sensitive or emotional or express their feelings without being labeled "gay." UNLESS they're a singer. Then it's okay.
And it's this double standard that is ironic and amusing. It's the reason society both fascinates and irks me. Guys can be phenomenal singers. I'll take a male voice over a female voice any day (depending, of course, on whose voice, haha). But singing just seems like such a female thing. Maybe it comes from other genres of entertainment where females are more dominant. Like musical cartoon fairy tales. Growing up, I used to watch that old Cinderella movie almost daily. Ol' Cindy sang while doing chores, to the mice, to herself, whatever. In fairy tale movies, most of the singing is done by women. Maybe that's why, when I move to another genre like more popular music, the fact that most of the singers are guys is a little... off.
I don't know. I don't know how to explain it any better. It's just something that amused me. And as I'm listening to a guy I know sing in a register he's perhaps not that comfortable singing in, the irony really makes me giggle... (I still love his songs and his voice though).
Just thought I'd share.
(Here's another interesting thought: why is it that when guys are singers, they are labeled sensitive and slightly less masculine than a fireman [though still acceptable], but when women attempt to be singers in the same genre, they have to "butch" up, they have to be tough and kind of bitchy, like Avril Lavigne, or Meredith Brooks [remember that song "Bitch"? That's what I'm talking about]? Singers, it seems, can bring in both sides of sexuality to create entities that are both gender-bending and socially acceptable. Hmm...)
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