The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock 'n' Roll by Simon Reynolds; Joy Press

Review by: Stephen W. Baron

The Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers canadiens de sociologie, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Autumn,
1996), pp. 583-585
Published by: Canadian Journal of Sociology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3341541 .
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in the five main chaptersthe authorsconclude that their "comparisonof the
Canadianmosaic and the American melting pot reveals that the differences
between them arenot overwhelming.At any rate,they do not appearto be large
enough to justify the distinctionimpliedby the choice of metaphors.When one
looks at relationsin the two countriesbetween the dominantethnic groupsand
ethnic groups composed of immigrantsand their descendants,the similarities
far outweigh the differences."
With regard to actual cultural retention there does not appearto be any
significantdifferencesbetweenthe United Statesand Canada.Ethnicityin both
countriesis becominglargely symbolic, i.e., linkedto the retentionof identities
which do not significantly impact upon behaviourfigure significantly in the
formation of social relationships.Following Kralt, the authors suggest that
Canadais not the multiculturalrealitythatmany believe it to be.
Concerningthe extentof prejudiceanddiscriminationin bothcountries,once
againthe authorsfind few significantdifferencesin attitudeor behaviour.Overt
racismis a marginalproblemand social distancebetween racialminoritiesand
others is diminishingnorth and south of the border.A majorityof Americans
and Canadiansreject the premises of affirmativeaction and equity programs
believing that discriminationis not a significant source of inequalitybetween
minoritiesand the majority.
On the economic front,afterconsideringthe differencein averagelevels of
educationin the United States and Canada,the authorsdemonstratethat there
is little differencein the earningsof racialminoritiesin the two countries.
These are some of the conclusions which the authorshave drawnin orderto
show the "illusion of difference"which many Canadianstake for reality. The
careful argumentsand qualificationsfound in the book cannot be reproduced
within the confines of a review. It is this elegance of presentationand sophisti-
cation of analysiswhich make this work a standardin comparativeresearchon
ethnicityin Canadaand the United States.

McMasterUniversity Cyril Levitt

Simon Reynolds and Joy Press, TheSex Revolts:Gender,Rebellionand Rock

'n' Roll. Cambridge,MA: HarvardUniversityPress, 1995. 410 pp.

Research in the area of rock music and gender has focused primarilyon the
misogyny of the genre and the strugglesfaced by female artistsin the industry.
In an attemptto go beyond the traditionalcritique of misogyny in rock the
authorsof this piece supply a psychoanalysisof rock rebellion (both male and
female) throughan examinationof lyrics, sounds,and images. The first section
of the book, "RebelMisogynies"explores those elements of rock music where

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the male artisthas dramatisedhimself againstthe feminine. In this tradition,
rockis rebellionagainstwomenandconformitywherebyone can rejectsociety
by rejectingwomen. Here such themes as the "bornto run"impulse(running
fromdomesticity,commitmentandclosure),the soldieror warriortakingrefuge
in the camaraderieof brothersin arms,and the fantasiesof self aggrandisment
and "man-machineomnipotence"are all said to displaythe matricidaltenden-
cies of the rebelrocker.
The second section of the book exploresthe otherside of male rock. "Into
the Mystic" examines the idealised images of women and femininityin the
"emasculated"rock traditionof male artists.Exploredhere are the endless
expressions of the desire to returnto the womb, incest and cosmic/oceanic
mysticism,or worshipof mothernature.Throughoutthis partof the book the
authorsmove betweeninterpretingthis music as an attemptby male artiststo
rebelagainstmasculinityandarguingthatthese artistsaremerelyutilizingtheir
male privilege to dabblein the other.They note that females are still missing
from this lyrical and musical feminizationprocess. As with the music of the
rebel,the womanis alwaysobject,neversubject.In the rebelversus"mamma's
boy" dialectic, "womanalternativelyrepresentswhat's being run from and
what'sbeing runto."
In the final sectionof the book, "LiftUp YourSkirtandSpeak,"the authors
tracethe variousmethodsin whichfemaleartistshave struggledto imagineand
createa specificallyfemalerebellionwithinrockmusic.Thisappearsto involve
definingthemselvesagainstconventionalnotionsof femininity,a processthat
oftenleavesthesefemalerebelsgrapplingwithslipperycontradictions.Thefour
strategiesoutlined by Reynolds and Press include the "Can Do" approach:
anything a man can do a women can do too. This approachis viewed as
unsatisfactorysince it simply emulatesmale rebellionincluding,often times,
misogyny.The second approachinfuses rock with femininequalitiesby imag-
ining a female strengththat's differentbut equivalentthatof the male. While
this musicvalorisesthe feminine,the authorsarguethatthe approachoften runs
theriskof confirmingpatriarchal notionsof femininity.A thirdstrategyadopted
by femaleartistscelebratesfemaleimageryas seriesof identitiesto be assumed.
Here artistsexploit stereotypesagainstthe society thatproducedthem. Again
the authorsnote thatthis has invitedmisunderstanding reducingthe influence
of this type of rebellion.The final themeexploredby female rockrebels is the
traumaof identityformation.The authorssuspect that this type of rebellion,
while liberating,is bluntedbecauseit displaysprocesswhile the outsideworld
demandsstability.This underminestheserebels'statements,leavingthemto be
viewed as mad (whereas a male artist would be viewed as exploring the
darkness).In sum, in all of the approachesthe authorsfear female artistsrisk
providing ammunition for those who would dismiss their rebellion. At the same

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time they suggest thatfemale artistsare makingrock and roll confronta reality
thatit has always excluded:the experienceof the female.
In the end the authors believe that the psychosexual dynamic of male
rebellion has been exhausted with the only new frontieravailable being the
specifically female experience. Yet they note that even the most powerful
female artists are musical traditionalistswho have merely insertedtheir own
subjectivitiesinto the style while failing to feminize the rock form itself.
While provocative,this books suffers from a numberof weaknesses. First,
stylistically the book fails to guide the reader.Readersare not provided with
any sufficient theoreticalbackgroundto help facilitate their understandingof
the analysis and the authorsneglect to summariseand threadtogether their
arguments.The book ends without drawingtogetherthe enormousamountof
materialprovided,leaving readersto drawtheirown conclusions.
The formatof the book is really a stringof musicreviews blendedwith "pop"
cultural studies and gender theory. The authors' writing style is sometimes
overwhelmingly aesthetic and in the examinationof many cases borderson
obvious fandom. While there are certainly insightful nuggets of discovery
throughoutthe piece, sections of the analysis, fuelled by the authors'passion,
seemed overinterpretedto the point of parody.
In termsof analysisthe authorsstrikeout to focus on subtext,avoidingliteral
narrative,and the idea thatthe music goes beyond documentingthe artist.Yet
again and again biographicalinformationand materialsfrom artistinterviews
are drawninto these pieces to suggest thatthe music is nothingbut a mirrorof
theirpsyches.While advocatingthatmusicprovidesa "crackedmirror"in which
listeners can recognize their own inner conflicts, the authorsappearbent on
gluing the mirrortogether.
In some cases thisis dangerous,particularlyin thecase of femaleartists.Other
works on rock and gender have documentedthat many of the images, videos,
lyrics andsoundsof female artistsarethe creationsof males in the business.And
it just might be the case, althoughthis is never acknowledgedor explored,that
the male controlof the musicbusinessat thesevariouslevels influencesthe types
of female rebellion in rock music, both in its creationand control.Withinthis
context it might be easier to understandwhy female rebellion is wroughtwith
contradictionandhas so farfailed to createa feminizedrock.
Nevertheless, anyone who reads this book will never again listen to rock
music in the same way. And in its attemptto capturebothacademicandpopular
audiences it may provide academics with launchingpads for exploration,and
educate the general public about the misogyny in music. Yet without back-
groundsin culturalstudies and feminist analysis most rock fans will probably
be left out in the cold.

Universityof Windsor StephenW. Baron

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