Constructing Masculinity in the Lyrics of Metallica
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Is It a Boy Or a Girl? – Constructing Masculinity in the Lyrics of Metallica Tomi Ristola University of Tampere School of Modern Languages and Translation Studies English Philology Pro Gradu Thesis December 2008 Tampereen yliopisto Englantilainen filologia Kieli- ja käännöstieteiden laitos RISTOLA, TOMI: Is It a Boy Or a Girl – Constructing Masculinity in the Lyrics of Metallica. Pro gradu -tutkielma, 73 sivua + Appendix Syksy 2008 Tutkielmassa tarkastellaan maskuliinisuuden ilmentymistä heavy metal -musiikissa. Aineistoksi on valittu Metallica-yhtyeen tuotanto, josta tutkielmaan on seuloutunut 43 kappaletta. Populaarimusiikki – ja varsinkaan raskas musiikki – ei ole kuulunut akateemisen tutkimuksen suosituimpiin aiheisiin. Mikäli sitä on tutkittu, on lähtökohtana usein ollut muun muassa genren haitalliset vaikutukset nuorisoon. Yhtenä tutkimuksen tavoitteena olikin nostaa osa populaarikulttuuria akateemisen käsittelyn piiriin ilman ennakkoluuloja. Heavy metal -musiikkia on perinteisesti pidetty maskuliinisena musiikin muotona. Metallica on 25-vuotisen uransa aikana ollut vahvasti vaikuttamassa muun muassa thrash metal -genren syntymiseen ja on täten perusteltu valinta aineistoksi. Metallicaa on luonnehdittu ”ajattelevan miehen metalliksi” ja tutkimuksen tavoitteena olikin selvittää, millä tavoin mies ja maskuliinisuus on esitetty yhtyeen sanoituksissa. Lisäksi tutkitaan, eroaako tämä esitystapa jollain tavalla perinteisemmäksi koetusta mieskuvasta heavy metal -musiikissa. Tutkimuksessa teoria tuodaan esille analyysin rinnalla. Kappaleessa 3. käsitellään maskuliinisuuden alkukehitystä ja vanhempien vaikutusta lapsen myöhempään kehittymiseen mieheksi. Seuraavassa kappaleessa nostetaan esille maskuliinisiksi koettuja (negatiivisia) tunteita – kuten viha, pelko ja niiden kontrollointi – sekä niiden ilmentyminen lyriikoissa. Kappaleessa 5. nähdään, kuinka miehinen kyvyttömyys käsitellä tunteita saattaa eskaloitua riippuvuuksiksi sekä mielenterveysongelmiksi. Viimeisessä analyysikappaleessa pohditaan, kuinka kontrolloimisen teema ei ole pelkästään maskuliinisuuden sisäinen ongelma, vaan miestä pyritään kontrolloimaan myös ulkopuolelta. Kappaleessa käsitellään myös Metallica-yhtyeen valkoihoisuutta sekä liitetään lyriikantekijät historialliseen kontekstiin ja kerrotaan millaisen yhteiskunnan päälle lyriikat taustaltaan rakentuvat. Lopuksi tutkitaan Metallican sanoituksissa esiintyvän miehen toimimista sodassa. Aineistosta kävi ilmi, että perinteistä heavy metal -genren esittämää mieskuvaa ei lyriikoista löydy. Metallican esittämä mies on itsepohdiskeleva sekä altis riippuvuuksille. Heavy metal -musiikin voimakkaaseen imagoon ei haavoittuva mies ole perinteisesti kuulunut. Nähdään, että ainakin jossain määrin heavy metal -tematiikka on vuosien saatossa muuttunut naisvihan sekä seksuaalisten vihjailujen jäädessä vähemmälle. Avainsanat: maskuliinisuus, Metallica, heavy metal, tunteet, populaarikulttuuri Table of Contents 1. Introduction.......................................................................................... 1 2. Background considerations ................................................................. 5 2.1. Introduction to heavy metal ................................................................................ 5 2.2. Introduction to Metallica .................................................................................. 10 2.3. Studying music/popular culture ........................................................................14 2.4. Introduction to masculinity............................................................................... 18 3. Family ................................................................................................. 24 4. Anger, fear, (loss of) control within................................................... 33 5. Mental health, addictions................................................................... 42 6. Social critique..................................................................................... 50 6.1. Metallica as white American men..................................................................... 50 6.2. America in the 1980s........................................................................................ 52 6.3. Corruption, control (without)............................................................................55 6.4. Hero of the day?............................................................................................... 58 7. Conclusions......................................................................................... 64 Works cited............................................................................................. 70 Appendix: Selected lyrics....................................................................... 74 1 1. Introduction Heavy metal has been popular for almost 40 years, but despite the commercial success of heavy metal bands the genre has been ignored by academics. Heavy metal and rap music have been deemed to endorse sexism, violence and anti-religious behaviour. Much of the opposition to these genres of music is related to the explicit lyrics. According to Rafalovich 1 “the bulk of academic literature on metal music is inundated with concern about the extent to which metal music harms young men and/or the greater culture”. With its popularity and the strong reactions it evokes, its study – without a condemnatory approach – should be justified. Rafalovich’s view is supported with the lack of results in, for example, EBSCO 2, which lists only 11 results when searched with the following entries: “heavy metal”, music, masculinity. Although the link between heavy metal and misogyny, drug abuse and Satanism (to only name a few) are not devoid of merit they certainly “limit the manner in which heavy metal music can be understood” (Rafalovich 2006, 20). Heavy music is traditionally considered one of the most masculine forms of popular music 3. According to Weinstein 4, “[t]he essential sonic element in heavy metal is power, expressed as sheer volume. Loudness is meant to overwhelm, to sweep the listener into the sound, and then to lend the listener the sense of power that the sound provides”. Perkkiö (2003, 169) notes that the aesthetics of heavy metal consists of many factors concentrating on power which, in our culture, has been traditionally seen to 1 Rafalovich, Adam. 2006. “Broken and Becoming God-Sized: Contemporary Metal Music and Masculine Individualism.” Symbolic Interaction. 29, 1: 19-32. (p. 20) 2 Search made 16th December 2008. 3 Perkkiö, Heli. 2003. “Kukkomunarockia ja virtuooseja.” In Yhdestä puusta: maskuliinisuuksien rakentuminen populaarikulttuureissa . ed. Jokinen, Arto, 164-189. Tampere: Tampere University Press. (p. 164) 4 Weinstein, Deena. 2000. Heavy Metal: The Music and Its Culture . Boulder, Colo: Da Capo Press. (p. 23) 2 belong to men. “Like opera, heavy metal draws upon many sources of power: mythology, violence, madness, the iconography of horror.” 5 Thus powerful music is also regarded as masculine. If we are – for the purpose of this thesis – to stay in the realm of Western culture, it is possible to say that heavy metal has been historically appreciated by an audience consisting of teenage males6. During the past couple of decades, this balance of gender has, however, evened out to some extent. Heavy metal itself, however, is still “presenting images and confronting anxieties that have been traditionally understood as peculiar to men, through musical means that have been conventionally coded as masculine” (Walser 1993, 110). The genetic formula – chromosomes – for manhood was distinguished in the 1950s, but “being a man” has probably been a constant process throughout history. Becoming a man, however, has more to do with psychological and social factors than biological. Masculinity has only recently been understood as natural and not purely an antonym for femininity. As women began to define themselves through feminism, men began to do the same. It is not rare to hear the words “be a man” directed at a boy (or an older man for that matter). It thus appears that virility and other characteristics attached to being a man are partially acquired and do not come naturally. When one adds the adjectives “true” or “real”, the question of masculinity becomes more nuanced. Men themselves often use these definitions, but do they mean that some men are men only in appearance? 7 5 Walser, Robert. cop. 1993. Running with the Devil: Power, Gender and Madness in Heavy Metal Music. Hanover (N.H.): Wesleyan University Press. (p. 109) 6 Christe does state, however, that “though the imagery could be overwhelmingly macho, it was important to notice that metal’s power was as appealing to young women as it was men”. He continues by noting how “[in the early 1980s] the metal scene was a progressive force, and far less sexist than rock music as whole”. (Christe, Ian. cop. 2003. Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal. New York: HarperEntertainment. (p.99-100)). 7 Badinter, Elisabeth. 1993. Mikä on mies? Tampere: Vastapaino. (pp. 15-16) 3 To talk about one masculinity is like having stereoscopic vision with one eye closed. It is not necessary to travel across the world to understand masculinity, when it is apparent even in our Western societies that masculinity is defined by time, class, race and age (Badinter 1993, 49). If masculinity is something that is constructed it is also subject to change. If we are to study books, films and television programmes in order to find