Work It: Gender, Race, and Sexuality in pop music professions
In association with the 11th Annual Experience Music Project Pop Conference
Thursday, February 24, 2011
University of Southern California
The Forum at the Tutor Campus Center
10am-4pm, Free
The biggest stars of the day from Katy Perry, Nikki Minaj, Lady Gaga, to Adam Lambert, play in the brightest lights with conventions of gender and sexuality, echoing and building upon traditions of pop performance as old as the stage itself. In basements, barrooms, concert halls and cafes across the country, artists of all types do the same—and more—while rooted in various political, performative, and social contexts they might hesitate to call “feminist” but will surely call “doing their thing” or “taking no shit.” And at the same time, an industry shifts dynamically in the wake of dramatic technological changes, rendering concepts of “professionalism” in new light while the academy shifts to deal with popular culture in ways more inclusive than ever before (or not). At this day-long conference, a group of music journalists, scholars, musicians, and music industry professionals come together to talk about the changing role of gender, race, and sexuality in the pop music world.
The conference will include a discussion with feminist scholar Alice Echols about her newest book, Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture (WW Norton, 2010); a panel on gender/sexuality/race in pop careers; a panel on self-objectification as a performance/business strategy with Judith Halberstam, Gayle Wald, Daphne Brooks, Tavia Nyong’o, and Christine Bacareza Balance; and working groups devoted to discussion/skill sharing on issues of gender/race/sexuality’s role in education, activism, musical careers, and journalism.
Lunch will be served.
This conference is co-sponsored by the USC Gender Studies Program, Center for Feminist Research, Department of Music, The Popular Music Project at the Norman Lear Center, and The Journal of Popular Music Studies. Work It! is held in association with the 11th Annual Experience Music Project Pop Conference, “Cash Rules Everything Around Me: Music and Money,” to be held at the music department of UCLA February 24-27, 2011.
The event is free and the public is encouraged to attend.
Please RSVP as food will be provided and we would like to accommodate guests well.
Please email workit2011@gmail.com to RSVP or to ask questions
The conference is organized by Dr. Karen Tongson, Daphne Carr, Ann Powers, and Dr. Sarah Dougher.
A conference at USC that was held February 24, 2011 in association with the 2011 EMP Pop Music Conference
For current information on the Feminist Working Group, click here.
The biggest stars of the day from Katy Perry, Nikki Minaj, Lady Gaga, to Adam Lambert, play in the brightest lights with conventions of gender and sexuality, echoing and building upon traditions of pop performance as old as the stage itself. In basements, barrooms, concert halls and cafes across the country, artists of all types do the same—and more—while rooted in various political, performative, and social contexts they might hesitate to call “feminist” but will surely call “doing their thing.”
And at the same time, an industry shifts dynamically in the wake of dramatic technological changes, rendering concepts of “professionalism” in new light while the academy shifts to deal with popular culture in ways more inclusive than ever before (or not).
At this day-long conference, a group of music journalists, scholars, musicians, and music industry professionals came together to talk about the changing role of gender, race, and sexuality in the pop music world.
This conference was organized by Karen Tongson, Ann Powers, Daphne Carr, and Sarah Dougher.
The biggest stars of the day from Katy Perry, Nikki Minaj, Lady Gaga, to Adam Lambert, play in the brightest lights with conventions of gender and sexuality, echoing and building upon traditions of pop performance as old as the stage itself. In basements, barrooms, concert halls and cafes across the country, artists of all types do the same—and more—while rooted in various political, performative, and social contexts they might hesitate to call “feminist” but will surely call “doing their thing.”
And at the same time, an industry shifts dynamically in the wake of dramatic technological changes, rendering concepts of “professionalism” in new light while the academy shifts to deal with popular culture in ways more inclusive than ever before (or not).
At this day-long conference, a group of music journalists, scholars, musicians, and music industry professionals came together to talk about the changing role of gender, race, and sexuality in the pop music world.
This conference was organized by Karen Tongson, Ann Powers, Daphne Carr, and Sarah Dougher.