From this week reading, the fact that Big Mama's ingenious innovation in music yet did not get recognition troubles me. According to Maureen Mahon's article about Thornton:
"Her "hound dog" was instrumentally advanced, pioneering the rock style and style being utilized by white musicians" and ". [N]ow, why do they do that? He makes a million and all this jive because his face is different from mine." 40 Here, Thornton artic-ulates the frustration she felt at being a stepping stone to someone else's success while struggling to establish a viable career of her own."
Due to racial and sexual prejudice, her work did not get recognized from public, even the artist who found success by borrowing her work. This troubles me because I could felt how tough it is for the minor community, especially black female, to make a mainstream presence in music industry back in the 50s. Even she got this ground-breaking, avant-grade song that lays an solid foundation for rock music, her contribution not only did not get acknowledged but also being "stolen" considering she did not receive any credit from Elvis Presley who used her work.
Living in 21 century, it's quite hard for me to imaging such situation and now I grew so much more appreciation for the current environment we had that values woman's voice and power in music, and most importantly, the female ancestors who continuously fight against society's distorted standard of mainstream popularity and ultimately earned the space for women to express and to be seen.
Living in 21 century, it's quite hard for me to imaging such situation and now I grew so much more appreciation for the current environment we had that values woman's voice and power in music, and most importantly, the female ancestors who continuously fight against society's distorted standard of mainstream popularity and ultimately earned the space for women to express and to be seen.
This also connect to one claim on Thursday's reading about the Women Who Rock Oral History Project. During the interview, one black females claims:
There are two songs I could relate to this week's reading. First one is actually not a song, but a drum sold performed by an iconic female drummer named Shelia.E. I believe her presence in the Late Night Show--a main stream media-- demonstrate how female black artist could be recognized and seen for the general public.
The second one is a pop tune called Truth Hurts by Lizzo. I was completely shocked about how this song and Lizzo could become such a success in Billboard. In a society that upholds slender women as the standard of musical success, it's quite shocking to see how Lizzo break the stereotype with her 300-pound body weight. Even though black female already got so much progress in their appearance in media, there are still a long way to go for them to alter the stereotype and ultimately dismantle the standards that applies to them.
Shelia E Drum solo
Lizzo - Truth Hurts
"it's okay for men to be just so so, but for women, they had to go all the way in. They need to be confident, courageous, almost constantly trying to bring presence in order to rise above the social prejudice in music scene" .This quote directly emphasis the Different standard that our society apply when accessing the success of artist. In a world where women are required to devote all of their time and energy to reach the bare-minimum level of recognition for an artist whereas men could easily achieve mainstream presence by simply being-there, I totally feel the sense of unfairness and social injustice for women artists back in 50s.
There are two songs I could relate to this week's reading. First one is actually not a song, but a drum sold performed by an iconic female drummer named Shelia.E. I believe her presence in the Late Night Show--a main stream media-- demonstrate how female black artist could be recognized and seen for the general public.
The second one is a pop tune called Truth Hurts by Lizzo. I was completely shocked about how this song and Lizzo could become such a success in Billboard. In a society that upholds slender women as the standard of musical success, it's quite shocking to see how Lizzo break the stereotype with her 300-pound body weight. Even though black female already got so much progress in their appearance in media, there are still a long way to go for them to alter the stereotype and ultimately dismantle the standards that applies to them.
Shelia E Drum solo
Lizzo - Truth Hurts
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