Re: Womens' Music?

[Seth Austen <klezmusic...>]

on 5/1/01 9:06 PM, Warschauer (at) aol(dot)com at Warschauer (at) aol(dot)com 
wrote:

> Winston's post raises an interesting question: What qualifies as "Women's
> Music?"  
> 
> I note that at least two of the performers listed (Pharoah's Daughter and
> Robin Helzner) perform and record with male musicians.  One could argue that
> the fact that Basya and Robin are the leaders of their respective groups
> makes what they do fall into the category of "Women's Music."
> 
> But is my duo with Deborah Strauss also "Women's Music?"  After all, 50% of
> the creative work is being done by a woman.
> 
> Hmmmm... does this question lead to a quagmire as sticky as the question
> "what is Jewish Music?"  ;-)

I have a friend, a gifted performer and musician, who, although she is a
woman and is the leader on all of her recordings (on which I've played), was
not accepted for inclusion in the LadySlipper Catalog (a prominent Womens'
Music distributor). She was told her song choices were not "feminist" enough
(and she is a feminist).

Not to generalize too much, but you could say there are two definitions of
Womens' Music. The first (and original) category in the 60s - 70s was
considered to be somewhat political, ie music that was feminist in nature.
It was/is often called womyns' music. The second category would be music
made by women, regardless of content.

It appears to me that we have a similar split in our attempts to define
Jewish music. Music that is somehow "Jewish" vs music made by people who are
Jewish.

Seth

-- 
Seth Austen
http://www.sethausten.com
email: seth (at) sethausten(dot)com
klezmusic (at) earthlink(dot)net

"i can't be the only whatever it is i am in the room"
                         -- Ani DiFranco


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