Does Pop Still Just Exploit Gay Culture Or Does It Celebrate It?
The music industry has drastically shifted course from what it used to be; once a hetero-loving environment where those within the LGBTQ+ community were beaten and outcasted simply because of who they love, to now a time where gay people can express their love interests and sing openly about gay sex experiences in pop music. Queer artists of the past would hide their lesbian/gay relationships in their music, disguising the lyrics to make them appear as heterosexual, or women simply being ‘curious’- which was usually the excuse for gay women if ever found with someone of the same sex. Gay people would be ridiculed and shunned from society, treated like less of a human being for loving someone of the same sex.
An example of a famous singer who did this in her music was Ma Rainey (1886–1939). Ma Rainey was deemed the ‘Mother of the Blues’ for her influence in authentic blues music of the late 1800’s in America. Whilst Ma Rainey was at her peak in her career, the ideal lifestyle for a woman was ‘no premarital sex, you get married, you raise a family, you stay together all of your life, you go to church, and you raise proper Christian children who take their place in society and reproduce’ (L Hill, 2013).
May Rainey, however, steered away from what was expected of her by loving men and women. Her music focused on sexual affairs with men and women, with common themes of lesbianism and bisexuality feeding through her tunes. Her peers at the time were hostile towards the LGBTQ+ community, often resorting to violence to impose their ideologies of their lifestyles therefore her singing openly about enjoying sexual relations with women will have been incredibly dangerous. One instance where Ma Rainey’s personal affairs shed light on her sexuality was in 1925, when she was arrested for taking part in an all-female orgy at her home, and despite this she was convicted as she was married to at the time and seen as a ‘curious’ woman. In response to her arrest, ‘an ad for the song embraced the genderbending outlined in the lyrics and featured Rainey in a three-piece suit, mingling with women while a police officer lurks nearby’, representing her ‘not caring’ point of view when regarding being with women publicly.
From this experience, Ma Rainey recorded and produced ‘Prove it on me’ in 1928 where she sang ‘Went out last night with a crowd of my friends. They must’ve been women, cause I don’t like no men.’ Once again Rainey is being unapologetically herself, proud of her sexual orientation, and despite the consequences of not just singing but simply just preferring women, her career only blossomed further. Whilst the world around her hated homosexual or bisexual men and women, Ma Rainey prevailed her blues artist career becoming one of the most influential artists of all time – one reason being her confidence of singing about women and adultery.
Ma Rainey’s track ‘Prove it on me’, according to political activist and scholar Angela Y. Davis (1998), is a ‘cultural precursor to the lesbian cultural movement of the 1970s, which began to crystallize around the performance and recording of lesbian-affirming songs.’ With this in mind, a lesbian artist of the mid 60’s- 70’s was Dusty Springfield. Springfield was never reported to be in a relationship with a man, and this meant that the issue of her sexual orientation was raised frequently during her life. She came out publicly as bisexual in 1971, after living in a domestic partnership with fellow singer Norma Tanega. During her career, the way society viewed gay people remained the same to what life was like for Ma Rainey; refused bar entry or drinks if allowed in, seen as ‘indecent’ to authoritative figures or beaten and trolled if seen holding hands with someone of the same sex.
As well as this, as said by Christobel Hastings (Vice Magazine) ‘Though her sexuality was an open secret to the gay community, the fact that Springfield was a lesbian is not common knowledge today, thanks in part to the legacy of homophobia that left prominent queer figures in constant fear of being outed.’ This represents that despite the 60’s being a prevailing time of sexual liberation, the violence and homophobic society made the LGBTQ+ folk hide away in fear of being hurt, or worse killed.
A third example of a famous musician who was part of the LGBTQ+ community was rock band Queen singer Freddie Mercury (1946–1991). For the majority of his life, the world around Mercury didn’t accept the LGBTQ+ community; same-sex attraction was seen as a joke or mental illness. His own parents saw homosexuality as a demon worship (they practiced Zoroastrianism). During his career he had many relationships with men and women, most being with men. These included record executive Paul Prenter, David Minns, DHL courier Tony Bastin, German restaurateur Winfried “Winnie” Kirchberger, and Jim Hutton, who was with him until Mercury’s death in 1991. Mercury suffered from AIDS in silence due to the stigma of having it at the time, eventually it leading to his death at the age of 45 where his sexual orientation was spoken about negatively even after his death.
Even in a time of gay liberation, homosexuality is still deemed disgusting and unlawful by many. In hand with this, mainstream society and pop culture have become accustomed to ripping off gay culture for the benefit of those absorbing it – one example being the language used by drag queens, stripped of its meaning by everyone else using it. Drag performers have been prevailing since early Grecian times, with many men exploring their sexuality and confidence since then. Shows such as Pose (1970’s), and RuPaul’s Drag Race (2009-Now) have increased the popularity and acceptance of drag culture in modern day society even further, reducing the stigma surrounded by it. However, the uprising of drag and gay culture has caused terms used by those involved with the subcultures to be stripped of their true meanings and used in the wrong way.
As explained in Wired (2018), ‘Though “yas,” the word of the moment, has undergone the most scrutiny, it has still become synonymous with hetero women. Urban Dictionary, for example, defines it as “An annoying expression used by girls expressing extreme liking.”’ In reality the use of the word ‘yas’ has been used for decades, synonymously linked to a 1990 Paris is Burning documentary – something incredibly important to drag culture due to it being filmed in underground queer balls in New York. This is only one example of how a word has been disrespected and stripped of its true meaning to fit society – which has in hand taken the attention back onto heterosexuality rather than the true intention of embracing homosexuality and drag queens. Saying this, however, the entwining of drag culture has since brought everyone together, bonding over shared terminology used by their favourite performers, which is the main goal for society – for everyone to be accepted rather than shunned for who they are.
An example of an individual who has used gay and drag culture for their success and in hand has become an LGBTQ+ icon is Madonna. One of her most influential songs is ‘Vogue’, which is hugely inspired by the New York ballroom scene in the 1980’s – the dance performed by mostly black members of the LGBTQ+ community. This song, despite receiving scrutiny and backlash for supposedly stealing from the gay and drag culture and being accused of cultural appropriation, became a ‘Gay Anthem’ to the community. Alongside this, Madonna also represented many drag queens at the VMA’s in 1999, which was an homage to Madonna’s love and respect for the community. Madonna had also used her platform to spread awareness regarding the HIV/AIDS outbreak which could have caused a potential threat to her career as society avoided and hated gay people during this time. She didn’t rip off gay culture, but used it to her advantage whilst simultaneously embracing it with the utmost respect. Madonna’s embrace of drag and gay culture in her music and performances opened up many outlets for other artists to do the same.
Another artist who received the same backlash as Madonna did of being accused of stealing from the LGBTQ+ culture is Harry Styles. He created a video on National Coming Our Day of him being caressed and dancing with men and women, which many saw as an ‘industry plant’ to increase his fanbase. However, as stated by Knegt, 2019 states ‘Immediately and rightfully labelled a “bisexual anthem,” the fact that Styles essentially announced he’s not straight and the world barely flinched marks some pretty significant progress in popular culture’. This quotation recognises that Harry Styles isn’t stealing, but accepting his own sexual identity in a prevailing time of his fanbase and others assuming his sexuality. The significance of this music video was huge for the LGBTQ+ community, as it created a safe space for bisexual people to relate to one another, accepting each other in their community whilst enjoying music in the process.
Even in the 21st century, homophobia is still prevailing, however the expansion of self-acceptance and the LGBTQ community is overpowering it. In comparison to Ma Rainey, who was scrutinized and sang about her bisexuality in secret, and was even arrested for being around women in a sexual manner, modern day pop artists have the creative freedom to express themselves and their sexuality in their music and social media presence. Music has always been about expression, even during the times of Dusty Springfield who hid her lesbianism in fear of losing her career and status. In comparison to her, is a modern-day lesbian artist Hayley Kiyoko – known to the lesbian community as ‘Lesbian Jesus’ due to her impact and importance to her fanbase and also the lesbian community altogether. She embraces her sexuality within her music, expressing the importance of self-acceptance and standing out from the normality’s of society. This contrasts hugely to LGBTQ+ artists of the 60’s to 80’s where self-acceptance was never truly fulfilled – sexual identity was constantly hidden behind a screen, unable to be known to the surrounding world due to the attitudes of others.
Alongside Haley Kiyoko, is Olly Alexander. He is an openly gay artist formally of Years and Years. He rose to a higher importance in the gay community due to his performance in TV show ‘It’s a Sin’, which focused on the lives of those suffering and knowing people with HIV/AIDS. Olly Alexander opened many conversations to the community alongside the wider population about gay and lesbian people, the importance of pronouns and why stigma surrounding HIV is dangerous. As said by David Levesley (GQ,2021) ‘Anal hygiene are two words we have probably never published together in GQ, but, more importantly, are probably not the subject of many – if any! – scenes in a piece of media not uploaded to OnlyFans.’ This show allowed closeted gay people and those open with their sexuality to learn more of themselves with the education of gay sexual health – understanding what many experienced in terms of homophobia can create bonds within the community – everyone has experienced the same thing one way or another.
His influence contrasts to that of Freddie Mercury, who was known to have male relationships and did die from HIV – one was shamed and ridiculed for having HIV, the other praised for talking about the importance of gay sex, testing for HIV and anal hygiene. Freddie Mercury didn’t tell anyone about his diagnosis of AIDS until it was too late, due to the stigma around men having it – it was known as ‘gay cancer’ as society were naïve to what the illness actually was but only knew it affected gay men due to unprotected sex – this contrasts massively to now where shows are being presented about AIDS, medicines have been made to control the disease itself and society are now more educated in what it truly is; It’s a Sin had a huge effect on this due to it being enjoyed by those outside of the LGBTQ+ community.
The intertwine of gay culture within pop culture leads to the education of those previously unknown or naïve to the LGBTQ+ community. Despite uproar of ‘straights’ and society stealing from gay culture in the form of music, dance and art, gay and drag culture have always been about acceptance and involving everyone. The fact gay culture is being used in everyday life is creating less stigma around the LGBTQ+ community – using things such as phrases or watching specific shows designed and originated by gay people allows for them to be accepted, loved and acknowledged for who they are without receiving negativity because of who they love.
COPYRIGHT LUCY DINGLE
