Skip to main content

The Concept of Masculinity within Music and Entertainment


The Concept of Masculinity in the World
Within the world of music and entertainment, it is common to discuss how the world perceives women. But what about Men? What defines masculinity?

In the dictionary, the term Masculinity means the possession of the qualities traditionally associated with men such as handsome, muscled, and driven. The ideal man, according to the world, is meant to be a strong, emotionally disconnected and tough. This idea dates to the ages of cave men. The men who were strong and manly enough to bring home food were always preferred where as the man that was ‘weaker’ died off. That was just natural selection.

But today, is this truly the definition of Masculinity? Artists such as Olly alexander (Years and Years) Boy George, David Bowie, Jaden Smith (Son of Famous actors, Will and Jada Smith) and Prince have challenged the traditional definition of the word.

These men have been famously known for stepping outside of the box and challenging the traditional definition of masculinity. David Bowie would be seen wearing glitter or in a dress on occasion. Boy George would wear make-up and ostentatious clothing. Prince branded himself with the iconic symbol that was a fusion of the female and male symbol. Jaden Smith has been part of large brand campaigns where he was photographed wearing skirts as well as releasing his own gender-neutral clothing line.
 Olly Alexander has said in many interviews that men don’t talk about their feelings and how that can be toxic. All these things take bravery and confidence in their sense of masculinity to do.

By doing all these things, these artists are stripping back the definition of the word ‘Masculinity’ and re- defining it

In my opinion, and no disrespect to those who don’t agree, but I feel like the definition of masculinity varies on the person. You don’t have to be incredibly toned and spend a minimum of four hours at the gym a day. You don’t always have to wear plaid shirts and construction boots to be masculine. I feel like whatever empowers men, whether that is wearing nail polish and makeup or wearing plait shirts and boots, is the true definition of masculinity.

Please come back to read my next post!

Yours Truly
@TheTruthbehindtheMusic
Email: thetruthbehindthemusic1997@gmail.com




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Latin Music in an English-speaking industry

Over the years, I have learned and discovered many new things about the music industry. One of the things I discovered when I was young and soon fell in love with was Latin music.    Latin music has become increasingly popular in English speaking countries with the recent release of the Popular track ‘Despacito’ By Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee with a remix featuring Justin Bieber. Since the release of the track, the world of Latin music seemed to crack open and flood to the rest of the world. Since then, the Latin influence has been used by several artists like Little Mix, Ed Sheeran and Camila Cabello. In 2004, Daddy Yankee (who is one of the pioneers of the reggaeton genre) released his track ‘Gasolina’ . The track was released at the time when the genre of reggaeton was crossing over into the USA and Europe. For now, Latin music popularity is on a steady incline. But is this love of Latin music just a thing of the times? If you have any question or querie...
Post a Comment
Read more

Women in Music: Is it really a Man’s World?

Since starting this blog, I wanted to write this article. This article is one that means a lot to me because it is something that needs to constantly be brought to attention and needs to be discussed many times because it is extremely important.   In the past I have had discussions and seminars with women in a high position within the music industry. One guest inspired me the most. She came in to talk to my class about herself and how she got to where she. Her visit struck something in me. Hearing about her struggles to get to where she is made me think about other women that have or are going through the same thing she went through. From that lecture, I decided to do a Women in Music masterclass at my university because i felt like everyone, not just my class, needed to hear about the stories of prejudice and struggle these Women went through just because of their sex. In the past, it was believed that a woman’s role was to be a homemaker or in low positions within the wor...
1 comment
Read more

Mental Health Awareness in the Music Industry

As it is mental health awareness week it seems only fitting that this week I wrote about mental health in the music industry. In the past it was not common, almost taboo, for mental health to be discussed openly. However, in the current day, mental health has become a very important topic of discussion, across all fields of work. I myself suffer from depression and anxiety, so the discussion of mental health has always been of the upmost importance to me. In the UK alone, one sixth of the population between the ages of 16- 64 suffer from mental health problems and is on the increase. In 2013, there were 8.2 million cases of anxiety in the UK, 4 million cases of mood disorders (including bipolar disorder) and 18.2% of the population suffer with depression. According to the Mental Health Foundation, women are more likely than men to suffer from mental health problems and are over twice as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety disorders. So, what is the music industry doing ...
1 comment
Read more