Brendan

In analyzing Mahon's article regarding Willie Mae Thornton, she consciously projected her image as a lesbian, defying her audience's aptitude for respectability within her timeline. Mahon explains that the methods she portrayed herself on stage instigated, "These choices are evidence of an unconventional, transgressive, and liberated form of black feminity that rejectts prevailing expectations of how women should comprot themselves to secure respectability" (Mahon, 5). She was on the forefront of displaying an image that many would consider a sin. I believe this aided in illustrating how she elicited herself as a powerful character in rock-and-roll history. As of now, many artists openly present themselves, and this could be due to icons like Willie Mae Thornton. Rezz, as an example, openly critiques herself as lesbian and is a leader in producing a new genre of electronic music. It reminds me that if artists are comfortable in how they portray themselves in modern society, then they would also feel comfortable producing music not commonly heard. The Women Who Rock project highlights the importance of understanding the transformation of popular music studies and how an artist's background influences this transformation. It is noted that, "WWR implements this approach, asking how particular stores of popular music determine a performer, band, or scene's 'legendary' status or excision from the official annals of memory" (Pallan, Retman, & Macklin, 2014). After reading, I began to connect the mission of WWR and the image of Willie Mae Thornton. Was Thornton truly one of the first to display herself as lesbian in the world of music openly, and without thought to consequences instilled by society? I wonder if Thornton is included in the frameworks of the WWR project, and what she has ultimately contributed to the movement of popular music. How can new and upcoming artists (click here) contribute to changes in popular music? I think that many sources of music heard today, stem from songs often utilized in the world of electronic dance music. It is possible, that with the next coming years, what the discourse of 'popular music' may change greatly.