Breaking Barriers
Tags: Rock And Roll, Gender Identity

Ambiguous and controversial style is nothing new to the world of rock. Known for its rebellious origins, rock music is the voice for those who “do not fit in” with the social norm. Led by individuals and groups who embrace this idealism, not only is the music of rock considered rebellious, but also the style. Rock music has been led for decades by people who were not afraid to express themselves socially. This translates through music and lyrics and into their appearance on stage. Big-name idols and groups such as David Bowie and KISS are just a couple of examples of those who did not take others’ opinions into deep consideration and expressed themselves freely through dress on stage. The outlandish style with gender ambiguity ranging from David Bowie’s androgynous character, Ziggy Stardust, to the full-faced makeup and tight clothing of KISS, are seen as iconic symbols of rock music over the decades. As the years go on, society once again frees itself of the gendered norms of clothing in the form of new-wave artists. Taking notes from those before them and their success, newer rock artists, and those of different musical styles, are straying away from what has been deemed as socially acceptable in terms of expression through identification and clothing. This practice is nothing new with younger generations, finding new ways to rebel against their elders and using what they saw growing up as inspiration. Seeing that others before this generation have achieved greatness and success with their practices, nothing should hold back younger artists from expressing themselves freely as well.

Wanting to appeal to a larger audience, newer artists are discouraged from making big statements in their appearances and values when they first debut. This was more commonly known when newer artists started coming over from Britain and making an appearance in the United States back in the 60s. Coming from an era where everything was considered traditional and conservative, bands such as the Beatles took that idea into consideration and dressed appropriately in order to win over the hearts of their newer audience. This idea of wanting to appeal to a greater audience took a turn when the Rolling Stones made their first appearance in America, and were instantly deemed “dangerous” and “rebellious” due to their more outlandish attitudes and dress. Ditching the American conservative ideals, they debuted their band in a more authentic way in accordance with their music. This shift in rock attitude paved the way for more artists to stray from the idea that they had to fit a certain role in order to appeal to a larger crowd. Nowadays, debuting artists are still encouraged to mask individual identity in order to gain the approval of more people, but that practice is slowly going out of style. Due to the trail of successes by artists who chose out-of-the -ordinary stage presences, it has allowed for younger and newer artists of today’s generation to take the same approach in their appearance and attitude. Artists should not have to sacrifice self-identity in order to appeal to audiences and should be able to express themselves freely with music and social presentation.

Photo by IJ Portwine on Unsplash

Starting with the basics, the idea of conveying a story through stage presence is a subcategory of rock music called “glam rock.” Stemming from the idea of a “concept album” which was an album revolving around telling a story, the idea of glam rock was to make the music being presented to the audience more of a theatrical experience (Covach, 2018). In the case of KISS, their stage presence consisted of heavy makeup that resembled a mask, teased long black hair, and tight clothing — nothing of what was considered masculine or conservative in the slightest. Their music in turn was considered more heavy than what was already available to audiences, but by no means did it lessen their impact in rock music. KISS is a band who is widely known because of their outrageous presence on stage, and because they did decide to branch away from the idea that they could be putting their music into jeopardy by not conforming. A second artist to use ambiguous dress to his advantage and overall success is David Bowie. In the article “Pop and Rock Music Styles” by American Decades, Bowie’s influence on the rock scene is described with his character, Ziggy Stardust. David Bowie created Ziggy Stardust as an onstage persona to further convey his lyrical story through theatrics. Ziggy Stardust was a pop space alien and was often seen onstage with heavy neon makeup and glitter, matching outfits, and orange hair. His stage presence was far from what was deemed normal in everyday dress, and shocked people when he first introduced the character. Rather than being shunned as an artist, this ambiguous alien character helped make Bowie into the star he is known as today. David Bowie is another example of an artist succeeding in the music industry despite going against previous thinking that in order to succeed, they needed to fit in. Both of these artists did the exact opposite and that is exactly why they made it big.

Photo by John Pratt on Unsplash

When the Rolling Stones made it big in America, the reaction was quite the opposite to what the Beatles received. Where the Beatles took hint of the time period and people’s thoughts and used their image to succeed in that regard, the Rolling Stones did not. Written by Amanda Howell, the article, “Performing counterculture masculinity: Mick, music and masquerade in Gimme Shelter,” the idea of expression and liberation in that freedom is discussed. The overall article is about the documentary “Gimme Shelter” but delves a little into what was captured on stage in Mick Jagger’s performances. Rock music itself is seen as rebellious, but Jagger took that idea of rebellion to another level. Rather than just using music and lyrics to express this, he used stage performance to further spread that idea of rebelliousness. It’s noted in the article that Jagger had “efforts to transform white masculinity, to liberate it from the constraints of ‘straight’ culture…” Before rock music made it big, the idea of a man was someone to provide for a family in an honoring way and a clean-cut image, especially in music. In order to make it big musically in the 50s, it was thought that the type of image and music being put out there had to be something that a family could determine as clean content. Jagger made it a point to stray away from this idea and made rock rebellion into an onstage persona, as did David Bowie in a different regard. While David Bowie led more of an ambiguous style with his gender non-conforming character Ziggy Stardust, Mick Jagger used the rebellious spirit of rock music to create a character that was fueled by the Rolling Stones’ music and made for an unforgettable performance. Again, rather than having this shift of conservative and family-friendly artist persona from the 50s, the Rolling Stones did not suffer due to their rebellious nature. They are deemed to be one of the most influential bands to date and are among the icons artists look to nowadays when they debut.

These examples have been of the past, but what about the present? The idea of conforming in order to make it big is still prominent in today’s music industry, but looking back at past successes without using such measures, it is slowly dying out. In more recent times, artists like Fall Out Boy and King Princess have taken the initiative to move away from the social norms as did the artists before them. In the case of Fall Out Boy, their bassist is especially looked at as being more open about expression within the band. During the broadcast “All Things Considered,” hosts Melissa Block and Robert Siegel spoke with Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy about his openness. He’s described as a guy who has “a goofy grin and a predilection for wearing eyeliner and girls jeans…” When asked about the eyeliner, Wentz responds with, “… I started wearing it because I felt like it tested boundaries.” This idea of testing what is acceptable to an audience is the exact practice of stage performance Bowie and Jagger led within their own careers. In hand with Jagger creating his rebellious persona, someone who does not care what others thought, Wentz describes his action with, “…I think that there’s something in art where you should be making people feel uncomfortable.” The idea of rock music is to test boundaries, to test what is socially acceptable, whether it be through lyrics or stage performance and dress, is something that has been practiced since the beginning. Fall Out Boy now is another example of a band who has made it big regardless of the initial outlooks on their band and their music. A current-wave artist who took the idea of being an individual to heart and not letting others’ opinions stop her from achieving greatness is artist King Princess. The article “King Princess, an Old Kind of Rock Star for a New Age” by Lizzy Goodman further explains King Princess as a current artist who embodies the same ideals as previous rock stars. In the article she’s described as “…a young, queer, female-presenting alpha…” as she does not feel like she fits into stereotypical gender roles in terms of clothing expression. Despite this she has still taken to making a place for herself in the rock world. Goodman describes one of her performances with her “wearing a leather codpiece, smashing guitars into kick drums and making out with her girlfriend side-stage…” Taking notes from previous artists, there is not much different from past artists in comparison with newer artists except for one thing. Where ambiguous dress or individual expression through lyrics or stage presence was seen as something more rebellious as it was new, it has become a norm in the rock world. Artists should not have to give up success for expression. Because of past artists, they do not have to.

Flash Warning

After seeing older artists make it big in the music industry, despite not really fitting in, younger artists should not have anything to worry about when they make their initial debut. Not only did the artists succeed in the music industry, they are now seen as rock icons for their risky actions and behavior on stage. The idea of individuality of an artist is still the same issue as it was back then, but things are starting to look up. With newer artists such as King Princess or Fall Out Boy continuing the practice of being authentic despite criticism of their music or stage presence, it seems that the efforts of people like Bowie or Jagger have not gone to waste.

Personally, the idea of individuality and being authentic is something that really resonates with me. As with most people, it took me a while to truly understand who I am as a person. There’s still more to learn, but seeing people whose music I loved being authentic to themselves while performing to a crowd made a difference. I was no longer afraid or hiding certain insecurities or aspects of my style I thought of as not normal. If those artists could be fearless on stage, then I could do it too walking around school. The main goal is encouraging newer artists to leave behind the idea that in order to succeed in their careers they must mask any individualities. Within this pandemic era, people have started to take up music as a hobby and release their own songs through the use of social media. These small artists could no doubt one day make it big, but they risk losing individuality in exchange for fame later on. The framework is there, you do not need to blend in in order to succeed, as proven by people like Bowie and the Rolling Stones.