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Paper Teplate Volume-04 ISSN: 2455-3085 (Online) Issue-03 RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary March-2019 www.rrjournals.com[UGC Listed Journal] Gender in Popular Punjabi Music Kiranbir Kaur Research scholar, Panjab University Chandigarh (India) ARTICLE DETAILS ABSTRACT Article History The paper chapter deals with portrayal of gender in popular Punjabi songs, focusing on the Published Online: 13 March 2019 subordination, objectification and trivialization of women. The paper also brings out the underlying causes of misogyny in these songs, be these of feudal and patriarchal nature, or Keywords related to decadent consumerist culture in the heydays of rural capitalist prosperity, or folk music, green revolution, anomie and escapism in the face of present-day agrarian crisis. The paper also notes that consumerism, objectification, agrarian there popular Punjabi music has heard no counter voices of resistance from women‟s crisis. perspective even though there are some popular female singers. 1. Introduction c. How was the relationship of gender with caste and For the simple reason that it enjoys mass appeal, popular religion viewed in these songs? music is an instructive index of the views, values and beliefs d. Were there any discernible differences between current in a society. Gender related expressions in popular traditional/folk music and contemporary popular music Punjabi music of recent decades ought to be treated, therefore, on these gender questions? as sociologically and culturally significant reflections even if e. Do these songs reflect any changes in gender these expressions are morally abhorrent. equations before, during and post Green Revolution? f. What, if any, were the counter-hegemonic themes It is in this spirit that this chapter examines varied and strategies adopted by women singers? expressions of gender-related issues in current popular Punjabi music. The basic argument is that even though the 4. Research Methodology blatant and violent forms of misogyny in this music are new, There are several layers to the thematic of this music. It is they can also be seen as the most degenerate forms of gender well nigh impossible to unpeel all of them in a one paper. I prejudices that had always existed in Punjabi society. chose, therefore, to focus on only those themes and expressions which have a direct bearing on questions of In order to establish this context, I preface the main gender relations. discussion here with two kinds of backdrops. One, I go into the socio-cultural context of being a woman in the Sikh, and Jat, In more operative terms, the objective of this study is to social orders. Second, I relate the gender question to the make to survey of popular Punjabi music produced in the last changing nature of social economy of Punjab. The paper deal ten years in order to examine the forms in which gender find briefly with its two earlier phases, pre-capitalist subsistence concrete expression in lyrics, singing and visual elements in agriculture, and capitalist agrarian relations, before zooming in music videos. on the question of gender relations in the post-Green Revolution period. Selection of Songs Since I wanted to focus on the most recent phase of 2. Objectives of the Study popular Punjabi music, I chose the segment of 10 years from The present study is an attempt to break through that 2006 to 2016. The period had seen a spate of music with an magic spell and use popular Punjabi music as a living archive ever-growing number of singers producing frequent songs. In of contemporary socio-cultural life of Punjab, a state caught in order to identify the most popular among them, I went online to a flux of sudden prosperity, consumerism, decadence and see which songs had made to the Top 20 on YouTube every eventual decline, all brought about by the Green Revolution year going by the number of hits. Music companies like T- introduced in the 1960s from above. I believe that studying the series, Speed Records, Saga Music, Vehli Janta Records, thematic of popular Punjabi music is to study not just Punjabi Amar Audio, White Hill Music, Lokdhun Punjabi, Jass Records culture and social psychology; it is, at a deeper level, also to and Indian Music Mafia had their music had made their music study the sociology, economy and politics of Punjab. available on the YouTube. However, there were no YouTube Top 20s prior to 2012. For the years preceding that, we chose 3. Research questions the data provided by DD Punjabi. 1. How were gender relations portrayed in the selected Thus I generated a list of 200 most popular songs. These songs: were then categorized in terms of their themes. The most a. Were gender stereotypes questioned or reinforced? prominent themes were: dominance and glorification Jats; b. Were gender hierarchies and inequalities questioned class and caste hierarchies; objectification of women; or reinforced? pleasures of drugs and alcohol consumption; acclamation of RRIJM 2015, All Rights Reserved 1030 | P a g e Volume-04, Issue-03,March-2019 RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary weapons and violence; love of expensive cars, SUVs, jeeps, women as fully equal to men. A more recent study of rock motorbikes, tractors; lust for luxury goods and brands; videos found that traditional sex role stereotypes continue to university and college romances; fascination with westernized predominate: 57% of videos in which women were present girls particularly in Chandigarh. There were also songs that depicted them in a „„conventional‟‟ manner (passive, dependent spoke of social issues such as fragmentation of agricultural on men, accenting physical appearance), while a third land, rural indebtedness, farmers‟ suicides, pollution of soil and presented them as strong and independent (Alexander, 1999). water, spread of deadly diseases like cancer, diaspora, migration through marriage with NRIs, honour killing of women, Researchers suggest “a link between adolescents‟ beliefs unemployment, reservation, deras, corruption, etc. about women as sex objects and their exposure to homogenous media depictions of objectified/sexualized I also found that even though the themes of these songs, women.” (Turner, 2008: p. 3).Because of the discriminatory they were at a broader level touching upon the main concern of practices imposed by social institutions, women are compelled this study, namely gender relations in contemporary Punjab. to confine themselves within the norms, values and expectations of the society. Rosaldo and Lamphere hold that 5. Review of literature women in patriarchal societies have often accepted and Gender and Popular Music internalized a „derogatory and constraining images‟ of Since most theories hold that music is a cultural reflection themselves (Rosaldo and Lamphere, 1974). of society, any assessment of the status of women in music has to placed in the social context. Aaltio & Mills (2002:4) 6. Gender construction in Punjabi society argue that feminine and masculine gender consists of the Being a Sikh Woman ideals and values which originate in culture. Understanding Punjabi peasant society is largely a Sikh society. The Sikh what gender means therefore equals understanding cultural religion has greatly influenced the traditions, values, beliefs dimensions. and culture of Jat peasantry. In the process, Sikhism has also Music has been described as an essentially gendered played a significant and complex role in the formation of discourse, a marker of sexual identity It has been said that “the women‟s identity, defining their role and place in social history of Western music is a history of sexual anxiety, relations and power structures. ambivalence, and negotiation” ( Cusick, 1994). Music industry is under the patriarchal culture. It is the “listening equivalent of At one level, given utter subordination of women at the the male gaze”. It excludes female desire and generates time, Sikhism contributed to a notable improvement in their sexualities as power and pleasure (Shepherd, 2003). Frith and status, particularly in the pursuit of religious and spiritual goals McRobbie stated that music is both a means of sexual and duties. The Sikh Gurus pleaded for full rights to women. expression but also as a mode of sexual control (Frith and They advocated equal status for men and women. A woman is McRobbie, 1990:p.387). One particularly disturbing gender considered to have the same soul as man and has equal right trend found in contemporary music is the extent to which to grow spiritually. As a result, a Sikh woman is allowed to lead women‟s bodies are being portrayed in a sexualized manner religious congregations, take part in Akhand Path (the (Aubrey & Frisby, 2011; Moncrief, 2004). Among recent continuous recitation of the Holy Scriptures), perform Kirtan, findings is strong evidence for an increasingly pornographic work as Granthi (priest) or a preacher, and participate freely in representation of women in popular music media (Allen, 2001; all religious, cultural, social, political and secular activities. Dines, 2010). On a closer look, however, a more complex picture would The representation of women in the media has always emerge. Consider, for example, the often-quoted verse of Guru been exploitative. It has, throughout the years, reduced women Nanak Dev from his „Asa Di Var‟: to being nothing more than objects to be won, prizes to be shown off, and playthings to be abused. Click and Kramer The world O, why call woman highlight primary gendered difference between males and Evil, who gives birth to kings” (JS Grewal, 1993). females in contemporary popular music, including: women‟s underrepresentation versus male dominance, women being It is not difficult to see that Guru Nanak‟s assertion about highlighted for their physical appearance and beauty versus the worthiness of women emphasized their role in reproduction men being highlighted for their musical ability, and women and furtherance of kinship: women gave birth to men, as well being portrayed as staying the same/never maturing over the as to the future mothers of men, hence men should regard years while men mature and gain increased responsibility over them as equals (Doris R.
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