Women In Music

In class this week we discussed women in music in the 1950's and 1960's and how they were making music that stayed conservative yet pushed the feminist movement further. Because women were just breaking in to the music industry, it was hard for them to put out music that was straight forward and fully stood up for what they believed in. People wanted music that was easy to listen to and a lot of the music had lyrics that composed of the woman confessing their love to a man.

During the 50's and 60's women started shifting away from the idea that they are meant to be housewives, and they started working more and fighting for their rights. In the documentaries we watched in class, it showed just how significant the feminist movement was during this time. Something that is very different from that time to today is the outfits and lyrics of songs. Women back then would wear long dresses and have most of their bodies covered while today women can be practically naked and still have an audience. I also noticed how the lyrics were more conservative, and you don't see women during this time involving themselves with hip hop or other genres that are male-dominated. Lyrics that were sung back then would not fit in with what is sung today, and women can pretty much say whatever they want and don't care about negative backlash.

I find it interesting to learn about women in music because over just the past fifty years so much change has already been made. I like how women and men are almost equal in music now and there are all genders represented in all genres. I think it's crazy that when my mom was a kid she would listen to this type of music that was so conservative. It is probably apart of the reason why she hates most of the music that is put out today because it is so not-conservative.