- Reading “The Body” & “The Kinder Whore” from grunge feminism-do you agree that Courtney Love is a transvestic enigma or just a train wreck? Using the video Doll Parts, describe the performance of Courtney Love including any feministic contradictions. Is this behavior unique to Love or have you observed this in other rock stars?
Initially, Courtney Love did come off to me as a train wreck. I watched her music videos before reading “The Body” & “The Kinder Whore”, and then watched her music videos again. The more I thought about it, I found myself agreeing that she is a transvestic enigma. She comes across to me as a performance artist who gives her message not just through her lyrics, but through her actions and performance while on stage. In the music video Doll Parts, I did not notice many feministic contradictions, but toward the end of the video when she starts throwing the yard furniture (I believe it was a chair) it reminded me of the ending of a Rage Against the Machine music video. I think that Courtney Love’s behavior and style is unique. If there are other artists/rock stars like her, I am unaware of them.
2. Select 2 music videos from the list. Reflect on the performances in the videos. What does “grunge” sound and look like as portrayed in the videos. Secondly, critique the genders that you observe. Are girls feminine? Are guys masculine? Give examples of clothing, vocal performance, hair style, and or movements to support your answers.
The two music videos I watched were Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy.” In these two videos/songs, “grunge” sounded very aggressive and loud and appeared to be promoting opposition to figures of authority. The videos seem to portray expressions that were going against social and societal norms. In Nirvana’s video there were some woman that looked like they had no shirts on at one point in the video presenting a more masculine vibe. the cheerleaders were wearing black with black hair and dark lipstick/makeup (not the norm for cheerleaders). The guys in the video were masculine, but had a very ununiformed look. The main singer was wearing a shirt and jeans but his hair was long with a shaggy rocker style look.
3. what is grunge?
In your words, describe what this word means to you. Is it related to a genre of music? Something else perhaps? Do you listen to the bands listed on BB?
To me “grunge” means people or groups that are oppose authority and social norms of society, and are able to express those feeling through art, music, and performance. I would say that grunge is related to music, but not sure if I’d say it is related to a specific genre. The two bands that I listen to listed on BB are Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but before this assignment/readings, I was unaware that I was listening to grunge.
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American Culture 