Gender Issue in Music

13 Pages 3223 Words

Issue of
November 12, 1997








Rock & Roll: Does it influence teens’
behavior?

(Continuation of article)

Male- vs. female-appeal music

From conversations with their friends and acquaintances,
Roberts and Christenson have concluded that most adults
generally think of adolescent music as all the same. Most don't
seem aware of the astonishing increase in music genres and
subgenres since they were young. Billboard now reports on
more than 20 music charts, and the annual Grammy awards
recognize 80 music categories. Yet even the industry does not
recognize as much fragmentation as youthful consumers when
they are asked about their music preferences.

This diversity and selectivity are important, the authors say,
because the "symbolic environment" of genres varies and
adolescent preferences are linked to both individual and group
identity. "A kid whose tastes run to rap artists such as Coolio
or NWA probably thinks of himself in different terms and
associates with a different peer group than one who prefers
the pop sound of Mariah Carey or Janet Jackson."

American adolescents perceive a cluster of music grounded in
the racial origin of performers, they say, and also combine into
one group various music types of British origin, such as punk,
new wave and reggae. They also recognize "classic" rock of
the '60s and '70s as a category, heavy metal, American hard
rock, Christian music (inc...