Sexing the groove : popular music and gender

Why is record collecting associated with men and not women?Why are female singers well-known but female guitarists anddrummers overlooked? Are record companies misogynistic? What different ideas about masculinity are represented by BruceSpringsteen and the Pet Shop Boys? Can there be such a thing as a Female Elvis? How do Take That videos represent the erotic male body? Sexing the Groove providesthe answers to these questions and many more, bringing together leading international music and cultural theorists to explore the relationship between popular music, gender and sexuality. Using a variety of methodologies and a wide range of case studies, from Mick Jagger to Riot Grrrls, the contributors describe and debate how pop music performers, subcultures, fans and texts construct and deconstruct ’masculine’ and ’feminine’ identites. Sexing the Groove is structured into sections focusing on rock music culture, masculinities and popular music, women and popular music, and music,image and identity.Each section begins with an introductory essay which contextualises the individual essays and situates them within the overall argument of the collection: thatthere is nothing ’natural’, permanent or immovable about the regime of sexual difference which governs society and culture. Sexing the Groove also includes a comprehensive annotated bibliography for further reading and research into gender and popular music. Mavis Bayton, Ruskin College, Oxford, Stella Bruzzi, Royal Holloway, University of London, Norma Coates, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, Sara Cohen, University of Liverpo