Ever wonder how we got from Chuck Berry to Elvis Presley? From Little Richard to The Rolling Stones? I've always marveled at how something which emerged in close alignment with Jazz and Blues and whose pioneers were diverse in background, but very noticeably featured a large swathe of African American musicians, could have so quickly become dominated by mostly Caucasian artists and audiences. Isn't Jimmy Hendrix still the greatest Rockstar of all time? Or is he just the greatest guitarist now? I wonder. Perhaps even more importantly, how did we get to Elvis Presley from the likes of popular female artists of the day, which accounted for almost a third of artists in the singles charts prior to the emergence of Rock 'n' Roll.
Nevertheless, somewhere along the line, things must have changed. Because from the early days of Rock's emergence in the cultural mainstream, the Rock format and the aesthetic of the Rock Band has shifted to reflect a very Anglicized and male dominated picture of the culture's form and purpose.
An account of grassroots trends, participation and the production of cultural forms and aesthetics in Rock Music by William T. Bielby (2004) attempts to map these transitions, looking specifically at trends in popular music consumption, gender roles and the like, hoping to give us an insight onto the subject. Whilst previous accounts frame the emergence of the first wave of anglicised male rock bands as an expression of anti-authoritarian pre-adolescent rebellion embraced by young males mimicking the aggressive, sexually charged looks, lyrics and sounds of contemporary black musical styles, this does little to explain the absence of females from Rock n Roll bands, especially considering that the study itself indicated teenage girls held greater savvy in both consumption of popular music/culture and listened to rock music as much as males of their age.
Previous explications of the subject pointed to the greater rebelliousness of boys and the more conformative emphasis on female gender roles in society. However Bielby elucidates upon School Culture and specifically the congruence between organised sport as a status culture and participation in Rock culture as holding the key to unlocking gendered participation and the appeal of rock n roll band to males. Whilst the pursuit of status and popularity with social networks of boys and girls within educational peer groups is a perk offered by both, where these two differ is that whilst school teams are often conformative with school values and hierarchies, Rock n Roll culture and circles of those participating in the culture itself formed as what the author describes as a "deviant subcultural movement" outside of the moral, political and authoritative bounds of their parents and thus their control.
This seeking out of deviant sub-cultures is part of a process of social navigation which the author asserts, allowed boys specifically to gain greater social standing and attain better occupational outcomes in later life, primarily due to their participation in the rock scene which is comparable to "college fraternity life and careers where after-work socializing is an important part of workplace culture." allowing boys to carve these connections out in a still as of yet unfilled and undominated sub-cultural movement. The author attributes the domination of this field by males specifically to the differing social attitudes towards girl's and boys involvement in activities like drinking, dating and partying, which, in association with rock sub-culture, was permissible for boys, but not for girls whom they would tolerate no such deviance from.
References
1. Bielby, W. T. (2004), 'Rock in a Hard Place: Grassroots Cultural Production in the post-Elvis era: 2003 Presidential Address', American Sociological Review, Vol. 69, No. 1, pp. 1-13
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