LITM Extra - 'Rather be a Cyborg than a Goddess': Feminist Perspectives on Music pt.1 [excerpt]

Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture

This is an excerpt from a patrons episode. To hear the full show, and much more like this, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons-only bonus episode, Jeremy explores what it means to analyse music from a feminist perspective. Beginning with a literature review of both the various forms of feminism theorised in the 1970s, and the body of feminist music writing from the late 80s to the early 2000s, we hear about the work of important thinkers like Susan McClary, Simon Reynolds, Angela McRobbie and Judith Butler to tease out what the various feminist perspectives were and what the task of feminist music criticism might be.

We consider formal expressions of gender within music through Bach, Beethoven and Black Sabbath; spend time with the feminist post-punks Siouxie Sioux, Patti Smith and the Raincoats; think about how disco fits into all this; and consider the work of Laurie Anderson and Donna Haraway in the early 80s as they point towards a new form of cyborg feminism.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Books and Articles:
Simon Frith and Angela McRobbie - Rock and Sexuality
Simon Reynolds and Joy Press - The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock and Roll
Richard Dyer - In Defence of Disco
Andy Beckett - I Promised You A Miracle: Why 1980-1982 Made Modern Britain
Donna Haraway - A Cyborg Manifesto

Tracklist:
JS Bach - The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080 (Contrapunctus 1)
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
The Byrds - Wild Mountain Thyme
The Chicago Women's Liberation Rock Band - Mountain Moving Day
The Pleasure Seekers - What a Way To Die
Joni Mitchell - Woman of Heart and Mind
Siouxsie And The Banshees - Mirage (John Peel Sessions)
Patti Labelle - The Spirit’s in It
Donna Summer - I Feel Love
The Raincoats - Lola
The Raincoats - Dancing in my Head
Soft Cell - Say Hello, Wave Goodbye
Laurie Anderson - O Superman