Has the traditional male dominated gender role in contemporary popular music been affected by sexual representation of female artists?

This piece of work aims to identify the extent to which popular international female recording artists have changed/influenced traditional theories of gender politics in popular music over the course of the last twenty years. I also intend to outline the ways in which they have succeeded in challenging traditional stereotypes in accordance with the current discourses on feminism of that particular period. I shall, through the course of this work, refer chronologically to key performers from the world of music who have significantly influenced the representation of women by adopting into their personas a form of sexual characteristics that have been traditionally associated and restricted to male performers. My aim is to offer an evaluation of Frith and McRobbie’s theory that ”male domination of the music industry leads to representations of masculinity in contemporary pop music” (Longhurst, 1995).
Since it emerged as a dominant form of youth culture in the 1950s and 1960s with the explosion of popular music and rock and roll in particular the music industry has been characterized by a pervasive sexism (Shuker, 1994). The majority of performers at this time were male, as this is still arguably the case, as were the main decision-makers in the broader music industry. Sexism is defined as the denial of equal rights and power to women, as well as discrimination against female voices in music resulting in the marginalistion of women in the industry.
In 1977 Chapple and Garofalo (cited in Shuker, 1994) claimed:
”Sexism is as pervasive in rock music as in any other form of music. It pervades the structure of the music industry along with the lyrics and instrumentation of the music itself.”
This belief is expanded upon by Frith and McRobbie who assert that popular music can be divided into two categories both controlled and performed by men – ”cock rock” and ”teenybop”. ”Cock rock” is ”music making in which performance is an explicit, crude and often aggressive expression of male sexuality” (Longhurst, 1995). Performers of such a strand of music are characterized as posturing and dominant – the alpha male if you like, influenced by rhythm and blues and containing qualities traditionally associated with masculinity for an audience which identifies with these traits (i.e. other men). ”Teenybop”, on the other hand, is aimed principally at women as it reflects ideals and qualities more frequently associated with femininity such as vulnerability and passivity. It is significant that despite appealing to a more female audience teenybop also marginalised women excluding them from performance altogether by having men perform and adopt a certain degree of femininity, as defined by.
”In Frith and McRobbie’s view the conventional narratives of the decline of rock and roll are actually accounts of its feminization”
(Longhurst, 1995).
These ideas of what it is to be male and what it is to be female are, given the gender inequality within music industry management and record production in general, are defined by men as a result leading to the promotion of ”unrealistic images of women and women’s dependence upon men” (Cohen cited in Longhurst, 1995). Added to this exclusion of women from the music making process girls’ magazines rarely dedicate much space to reviewing records. This is still the case today with music centered magazines such as Kerrang and NME being targeted mainly at teenage males. Those women who have succeeded in achieving a degree of international mainstream notoriety have traditionally been ”packaged as traditional, stereotyped, male images of women” (Cohen cited in Longhurst, 1995). EXAMPLES?????
”Capitalism as a reified ideology also of course conditions our understanding of Western sexuality, gendered divisions of labour and normative standards in feminine/masculine behaviors.” (Williams, 1998)
In order to understand why stereotypical representations of both genders prevail in popular music it is necessary to look at the broader picture. Capitalism is the pervasive ideological foundation if Western society and therefore is represented in all forms of media. We are all conditioned from a very early age to behave in accordance with what patriarchal society deems to be traditionally masculine or feminine ways. In the study of cinema it has long since been acknowledged by many theorists (notably Laura Mulvey in her influential essay Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema) that the gaze is masculine and therefore that the spectator is traditionally assumed to be the heterosexual male.
”The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure.” (Laura Mulvey)
In patriarchal society women have always been objectified in mainstream cinema and ”the operation of scopophilia is a tool of the collective patriarchal unconscious” (Mulvey cited in Williams, 1998). As a result, women are objectified in cinema and are filmed in such a way as to fetishize them or reduce them to specific signifiers of feminine sexuality by honing in and drawing attention to one or several physical components thus disembodying them and portraying them as mere objects. This is very much the case in music videos also, for example, note the contemporary media fascination and obsession and frequent references to Beyonce Knowle’s and Jennifer Lopez’ posteriors or further back, Dolly Parton’s breasts.
”To perform for an audience as a woman means something different than to perform as a man – different both in terms of the social connotations of what it means for a woman to show her body publicly, to pose, and in terms of the power play of sexual desire. As Susan McClary puts it, a woman’s problem is how to keep control of herself in a space, the stage, patrolled by an objectifying sexual gaze conventionalized by hundreds of years of patriarchal command.”
(Frith, 1996)
Similarly, capitalism has another significant knock on effect as to why certain traditional stereotypes of femininity persist in the music industry – particularly since music videos have become such a significant part of a star’s promotional process. Out attitudes to mainstream performing artists are molded by carefully implemented and expensive marketing campaigns which are aimed at encouraging consumers (the general public) to purchase records and all manner of ancillary items and merchandise endorsed or launched by that particular ‘personality’. The ”persona” created by these conglomerate and record companies must therefore appeal to as large a demographic as possible (Wall, 2003). The stars image is therefore representative of wider social values – the dominant one being patriarchal capitalism thus ensuring a predominance of sexually desirable and appealing portrayals of female artists. For example, teen pop sensation Britney Spears (who I shall consider in more depth later) was initially marketed in her early days as a pop star at young pre-teen girls. Her website was designed in feminine pastel colors and contained a blurb stating ”Britney loves being a girl. She loves colors that pop and shopping ’til you drop, romance novels and idyllic days at the beach.” At that time girls aged between 6 to 14 were reported to have an annual spending power of US $100 billion. (Williams, 1998).
Overall, I would agree that women are excluded to a large degree from participation in music making and are objectified to serve the needs of patriarchal capitalism. Some writers have hopefully pointed towards the adoption of female signifiers (for example, long hair, make up, androgyny) into the image of male artists/bands as a sign of men attempting to embrace feminine qualities however, Robert Walser believes that ”the fantasy of rock music represents women as a threat to male control’ and that their incorporation of these signifiers constitutes an attempt for men to exercise ”heterosexual power over all imagery”. (Wall, 2003). I shall now examine the ways in which certain female performers have responded with respect to the construction of their image.
”The only thing you can do if you are trapped in a reflection is to invert the image”
(Juliet Mitchell cited in Press & Reynolds, 1995)
A number of female artists appeared in the early and mid 1980s who played with traditional cultural representations of femininity. These women, such as Grace Jones, Siouxie Sioux, Madonna and Annie Lennox, were striking in their appearance as they were relatively androgynous (with the exception of Madonna – who I shall consider in depth later) and did not portray a typically female image. Instead of adhering to feminism’s belief in an ‘authentic self’ these women played with various persona’s in a form of ‘masquerade’, reinventing themselves repeatedly and refusing to be tied down to any one fixed identity by presenting a solid and unchanging look. These women provoked and confounded the male gaze by turning the negative stereotypes of femininity into a weapon and ultimately used their appearance as a tool of self-empowerment. (Reynolds & Press, 1995). This approach fits in neatly with postmodernism which refuted the belief that identity was fixed and promoted a mutable attitude to gender and sexuality. The female artists conquering the charts during this period opted for a more ”ironic use of archetypal/stereotypical feminine imagery” (Reynolds & Press, 1995). Marjorie Garber, in reference to Joan Riviere’s essay ‘Womanliness as a Masquerade’, points out that the woman in popular culture is ”already an impersonation” and ”womanliness is mimicry, is masquerade” meaning that the stereotypical notions of women are not accurate and therefore conforming to these ideals and notions is to adopt a form of masquerade in itself. Pop cultural theorist Lawrence Gross has therefore coined the term ‘authentic inauthenticity’ to describe the tactics employed by these female performers; ”instead of the fraudulent posture of honesty this approach accepts the constructed nature of the performer’s persona.”(Reynolds & Press, 1995). This approach to representation and constructing a star image acknowledges the absence of a fixed identity and celebrates the fluidity and fragmentary nature of their image.
Annie Lennox is a prime example of a pop star that sought to deconstruct gender in her various guises. The lead singer of the Scottish rock band the Eurythmics, Annie was known for her androgyny and her tendency to wear men’s suits. When she burst onto the music scene in 1983 with the duo’s commercial breakthrough release Sweet Dreams (Are made of this) she sported a bright orange crew cut and bright red lipstick. Much of the Eurythmics early success can be attributed to their clever and subversive videos in which Annie played with gender bending personas and her androgynous appearance. In the videos for Sweet Dreams and it’s follow up Who’s that girl? she played up her ambiguous appearance. In Sweet Dreams she played a dominatrix and in Who’s That Girl she played both, an Elvis impersonator and the male and female roles in the story. Her appearance was so radically confounding that she was actually asked for proof of her gender when she entered the US in 1983. The video for Love Is a Stranger was initially banned by MTV for it’s reputedly ‘gay content’ – the irony was that the content in question involved interaction between Annie in male drag and a man, not a woman. The video contained Annie in a number of other guises, which she would adopt frequently in subsequent videos including ‘Beethoven’ and ‘The King and Queen of America’.
‘I regard music as something that transcends the labels of gender, class or creed, which is why I think it’s such a powerful medium.’
(Annie Lennox in Downey)
In the video for I Need a Man she appears as a woman, although so caked in makeup it would not be difficult to construe her as a transvestite. The lyrics of the song present Lennox as a woman who treats men as playthings.
”I Need a Man is a Moebius strip of gender confusion: is Lennox playing a man in drag who is impersonating a man-eating vamp, or a ‘real’ female vamp, or what?
((Reynolds & Press, 1995).
Lennox is an example of a female artist who has adopted transvestitism as a sartorial style and who has incorporated an androgynous image which is comprised of a blending of aesthetic gender traits – feminine red lipstick combined with short crew cut – as well as the psychological gender traits of strength and sensitivity.
”Deliberately assumed and foregrounded, femininity as a mask for a man, is a take-it-or-leave-it proposition; for a woman, a similar flaunting of the feminine is a take-it-or-leave-it possibility. To put femininity with a vengeance suggests the power of taking it off.” (Mary Russo cited in Press & Reynolds, 1995)
Madonna is commonly associated with post-feminism and she has been the centre of many debates about the representation of women. Like post-modernism, post-feminism is predicated on refuting the theories of its predecessor. Post-feminism is regarded by some as a backlash against feminism but it can also be seen as a new wave of feminism –a feminism which doesn’t dwell on the old battle grounds which feminism patrolled in a quest for equal pay or the right to have an abortion. This type of feminism was popular among a younger generation and focused more heavily on representations of women in the public domain, most specifically in popular culture. Rather than being heavy handed and somber it adopted a more ironic and playful approach. (Press & Reynolds, 1995). As mentioned previously when considering the act of masquerade, this new form of feminism promoted a provisional sense of identity and rejected the older feminist belief in an authentic, fixed self. Post-feminism can be characterized most notably for reclaiming the stereotypical aspects of femininity (sexiness, adornment, vanity etc and the stereotype of ‘the vamp’ and ‘the whore’ that permeate male definitions of women in popular culture) that the first wave of feminism had criticized.
”One must assume the feminine role deliberately. Which means already converting a form of subordination into an affirmation, and thus begin to thwart it…’
(Luce Irigaray cited in Press & Reynolds, 1995)
This strategy has been commonly employed my minority groups in their struggle to fight negative stereotypes. The homosexual community have employed a subversion of language and have thus reclaimed pejorative words such as ‘queer’ and ‘dyke’ which have been in the past used to degrade and insult them turning them into ‘badges of pride’. Similarly, members of the African American community, most significantly gangster rappers, have started to use the offensive term ‘nigga’ as a greeting within their social groups. Post-feminists understood that by defiantly recognizing and asserting and celebrating their difference they could play with and subvert stereotypes and enjoy a sense of empowerment. Madonna is one of the clearest examples of this approach due to her constant reinvention. Madonna’s approach to image borrows a great deal from the ‘camp’ aesthetic as drag queens have long claimed that femininity ”is located not in the essence of the person but in accoutrements, make-up, wigs, high-heels, glamorous clothes”. (Press & Reynolds, 1995).
What has made Madonna so interesting to feminists and such a key area of study with regards to the representation of women is her constantly changing image. Typical of the postmodern era her ‘personae’ draw heavily from a variety of stereotypes, such as her ‘Boy Toy’ and ‘Material Girl’ personas, as well as cinematic influences. Unlike Annie Lennox and Grace Jones Madonna draws upon elements of female masquerade and gender parody from iconic figures such as Mae West and black and white photography of 1930s Hollywood. Her videos, as do her changing styles, contain numerous references to films such as Bringing Up baby (as seen in her Who’s That Girl? Video) and Giuletta Masina in her video for Open Your Heart. (Robertson, 1996). Grace Jones and Annie Lennox and Madonna have, in their ironic toying with gender parody, snatched back the process of gender bending from the clutches of male performance rockers.
”Gender bending in performance rock was, however, primarily a masculine privilege. The ‘redefinition’ of sex and gender roles in performance and Glam rock was the host of male aesthetes.” (Robertson, 1996)
Her changing images challenged essentialist concepts of femininity and womanhood and thrust into the popular consciousness an alternative vision of what it was to be a woman. As a result the response of critics and feminists has been divided. Camille Paglia has praised her as representing the ”future of feminism” whilst Joyce Millman has described her as ”the video generation’s Barbie…the Madonna/whore complex molded into shapely plastic”. This description can be understood in two ways. Firstly it refers to the way in which Madonna has adopted a very sexual image with her naval and bra straps on display and in the lyrics of songs such as Like a Virgin – ‘touched for the very first time’. By portraying herself as teasingly sexual and sensual being she conforms to traditional female stereotypes while at the same time displaying a strength, independence and control which is not so commonly associated with femininity. As a famous figure Madonna has frequently made headlines as an icon who has rearticulated a number of feminist issues including pornography, abortion, sex and fashion.. A swarm of articles praised her sharp business sense and her general persona has been renowned for being controversial and assertive. Through her various stage and video personas Madonna has asserted her power and independence. (Robertson, 1996)
”She parodies not just the stereotypes, but the way in which they are made. She represents herself as the one who is on control of her own image and of the process of making it.”
(John Fiske in Robertson, 1996)
Madonna is comparative to Barbie also in the way that she has succeeded in her own self-commodification. She continually updates her image, discarding old personas in favor of something new like a range of dolls to be played with.
”’I’m just being ironic…That’s the joke of it all. It’s a luring device, like the whole boy-toy thing. It’s playing into people’s idea of what’s humiliating to women.”
(Madonna in Robertson, 1996)
Through her videos Madonna acknowledges Laura Mulvey’s theories on the nature of the male gaze and subverts the female representations of classical Hollywood cinema. In defiance of patriarchal society several of her videos, including Borderline, Papa Don’t Preach and Express Yourself, feature Madonna returning the male gaze in a reflexive commentary on ‘male’ looking. By returning the gaze of the men in her video and that of the spectator Madonna asserts her existence as not merely the object of the look but as a sexual subject with her own sexual desires. She portrays herself not as a helpless victim but as an assertive woman with her own desires. (Robertson, 1996).
During the 1990s another group female artists rose to the forefront of the international music industry adopting an approach significantly less playful and ironic. These women were self-identified feminists and emerged at the time of third wave feminism. They were angrier and more aggressive than their female predecessors and this characterized their music and their videos.
The first wave of feminism emerged with the suffragist movement of the 1920s when women fought for the right to vote. The second wave of feminism took place during the 1960s with women campaigning for equality and a range of issues including abortion and sexuality. The third wave of feminism predicates itself on a rejection of the stringent attitudes of the second wave – permeated by a feeling that such feminism had little relevance to contemporary living. This type of feminism was characterized by inconsistencies and contradictions, finding the attitudes of the 60s restrictive and ultimately stifling. .
”The third wave is simply premised upon the assumption that the time of social revolution is past and the compulsive reification is those role of women as oppressed, men as oppressors is unnecessary and even harmful, serving to constrain women rather than inspire them to action.” (Shugart, 2001)
This generation of women falls into the category of ‘Generation X’ – the first generation to grow up in a supposedly integrated society. The music and fashion tastes of this demographic are similar to those of grunge music – a trend led mainly my male musicians from the Seattle area of the US such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. The essence of this style of music and representation was anti-fashion and rejected highly stylized and polished images. The look was casual, dirty and oversized. The women who personified this third group of women were intentionally and consciously not caked in make up and slaves to current fashions. They were decidedly their own people, nonconformist, opinionated – almost aggressively so, loud and not scared of what people thought of them. Their image was a far cry from the ultra feminine stereotypical beauty which characterized many of their female predecessors and the teen queen pop stars that dominate the charts nowadays. Theirs was a new take on the notion of feminism. (Shugart, 2001).
”Brought up in a patriarchal society, I was always denying my femininity, seeing it as something that would make things difficult for me if I embraced it. Over the last year, especially, I’ve reintegrated both [masculine and feminine] sides. In reintegrating my femininity, I realized that not only had I rejected it myself, I had also rejected any feminine forces in my immediate world.” (Alanis Morrissette in White, 1998)
Alanis shot to stardom in 1995 with her debut album Jagged Little Pill. She became a key figure in a movement of female singer/songwriters who eschewed the traditional trappings of femininity and became strongly associated in the popular consciousness with a new form of ‘angry feminism’. Jagged Little Pill was full of angry songs dealing with the exploitation of women by men and reflecting contemporary issues of gender and inequality. Her debut single ‘You Oughta Know’ has been dubbed an ‘anthem of female rage’ about a man who has dumped her for an other women. The fact that her music was dubbed with such a title reflect the sexist attitudes in the press about women who express their anger and emotions so vociferously as the lyrics of the music of popular male bands of the time were equally angry and reflected a dissatisfaction which is at the core of the so called ‘generation X’ stream of consciousness. In a later video, Thank You, Alanis made the bold decision to appear nude, in a simple and natural non exploitative or sexual way, despite the protests of the record companies, in an attempt to show young women that it is ok to be oneself and that they don’t need to be ashamed or dress up in make up and designer clothes to be accepted.
Another female performer who characterized the essence of the third wave of feminism and who demonstrated, like Alanis, the qualities of aggression and rage that are typically associated with men rather than women is Courtney Love. Courtney was the lead singer in the female punk band Hole and wife of Nivana lead singer Kurt Cobain. A controversial figure Courtney’s image consisted of a mélange of tatty but ultra feminine clothes combined with smeared red lipstick and eye makeup and heavy lace up boots – a mixture of masculine and feminine signifiers. She has loudly addressed issues of gender inequalities within the music industry and identified herself as a militant feminist determined to stand as a role model for young women – aiming to show them that they too could infiltrate the masculine arena of grunge music/hard rock if they so chose. Her image was characterized by an outright flaunting of her gender whilst participating in acts generally confined to her male counterparts. Courtney adapted into her stage performance the act of stage diving which was previously an exclusively male practice. (Shugart, 2001)
Both Courtney Love and Alanis Morrissette are woman who embody qualities traditionally perceived as being male – they are vocal about their sexuality and their sexual desires and they reflect these desires or any other concerns they may wish to address loudly, assertively, unapologetically and aggressively. They refuse to conform to stereotypes and embody a mixture of masculine and feminine qualities.
The current state of affairs however if not as uplifting or inspiring. Today’s music scene is peopled with a number of young female stars who flaunt their sexuality in the guise of empowerment but are doing little more for the representation of women in the media that perpetrating a clichéd and titillating attitude to female sexuality. This trend however has much more to do with commodifcation and marketing an image to sell consumer products.. The stars of MTV and VH1 these days are commodified products. The current trend in popular music is stripper inspired ‘raunch culture’ as personified by generic record label products Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and Christina Aguilera. Jean Kilbourne describes these current female performers as promoting a ”brand of sexuality that has to do with attracting men, and has nothing to with a girl being the agent of her own sexual desire.”(Hutwitz, 2004).
The music videos constantly being played on 24 hour music channels present a mass marketed ideal of female sexiness and these female stars are little more than puppets in a huge international marketing campaign. Britney Spears and Chistina Aguilera, both self confessed fans of Madonna, frequently update and transform their image but one gets the impression they have very little control over their individual images. Both women burst onto the music scene in their teens when their target audience was pre-teen and teenage girls. At the time both women conveyed very wholesome images. Britney was the innocent schoolgirl, an image her debut video ‘Hit me baby One More Time’ played with in a disturbing manner to appeal not only to a teen female audience but also to a sleazy older male audience who whole heartedly embraced the idea of the naughty schoolgirl role the 16 year old star was played. At that time much was written about Britney’s belief in retaining her virginity and her respectable Southern belle origins. As Britney grew her image became increasingly sexualized – her costumes became more risqué and revealing and her dance routines and lyrics became more suggestive. Realizing that as the star got older she would loose her grip on the lucrative teen market the puppets pulling the strings behind the scenes have sexed up Britney’s image to appeal to an older, mainly male audience. This representation of women is merely a marketing campaign and is constructed behind the scenes by men. The image Christina and Britney convey is one of the exploited, controlled and objectified women. The influence of raunch and stripper culture in their videos serves to highlight this point.
The influence of the manufactured stereotypical images of female sexuality permeating music videos, such as Christina’s Stripped video in which she simulates sexual intercourse wearing leather chaps and a bikini top in a boxing ring while a horde of alpha males call her ‘dirty’, convey an image of women which is clearly created by men. Teenage clothing stores are heavily stocked with innuendo laden sloganed thongs and ‘Porn’ tee-shirts. In August 2002 to July 003 thong sales in the US climbed to $610 million and Time Magazine reported that in 2003 girls between the ages of 13 and 17 years spent $512 million on them. (Hutitz, 2004). A US teenage store Hot Topic stated on its website that ”the company believes teenagers throughout the US have similar fashion preferences, largely as a result of the nationwide influence of MTV, music distribution, movies and television programs.” (Hutwitz, 2004). A Playboy fashion range has also emerged in teenage fashion and has even influenced a makeup range in conjunction with MAC makeup featuring lipsticks called ”Playmate Pink” and ”Bunny Pink”. A cartoon series is being produced for television featuring Playboy playmates who ‘fight the enemies of democracy’ in a cartoon series aimed for mainstream viewing. (Hutwitz, 2004). The image of these female artists is controlled by men entirely for the purpose of selling products and perpetuating stereotypical male sexual fantasies.
One strand of contemporary popular music which promotes more positive representations of women is hi-Hop and rap. Although many rap and hip-hop videos promote the stripper imagery many female rappers have emerged in this arena and reflect through their music a strong female discourse.
Although rap is dominated by a masculine discursive strand and men outnumber women both the artistic arena and behind the scenes a number of female artists have emerged to present a street level form of feminism. Artists such as Mary J Blige, TLC, Foxy Brown and Eve has emerged as key players in the hip hop music industry having been introduced by male crews. A number of other artists including Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill and Queen Latifah have launched themselves without the assistance of male artists. The image that these women convey is of a ‘female militancy’ which is unique to the African American culture from which hip-hop emerged. Through their music these female performers educate, motivate, inspire and critique each other in the face of sexist assault and exploitation from men who disrespect them. (Stephens, 2005)
”In this realm women support each other, critique each other, consientize each other, challenge each other and bear witness to each other. Another purpose of woman’s rap is to air women’s concerns to men and provide a forum for discussion.”
(Stephens, 2005)
Women defend themselves and regain their pride and dignity though playful boasts and taunts directed at men. The content of some songs go as far as the aggressive revelation of revenge fantasies for those who have strongly transgressed against then. Although no t labeled as feminists these women, like Madonna and Courtney Love etc, are preoccupied with fighting patriarchy and contradict the assumed power and superiority of men. A common recourse in female rap music is the ‘dis’ record in which an artists responds to or criticizes a man who has disrespected them. Hip-hop duo Salt n Pepa released a record called Tramp in 1985in which the women responded to being labeled a ‘tramp’.
”in an era when women’s sexual prerogatives were being re-negotiated in the larger social sphere, this song was a timely expression of women’s demands for both sexual agency and respect.”
(Stephens, 2004).
Similarly, in 1993 Queen Latifah released UNITY – a song which also challenged sexist language with the line ‘Who you callin a bitch?’. In 2000 rap star Trina released ‘Watch yo back’ which reveled in a fantasy of wreaking revenge on a man who has physically abused and disrespected a woman. .
”These songs highlight women’s solidarity whether in the form of women trying to educate one another in order to help one another avoid life’s pitfalls or overt assertions of sisterhood.”
(Stephens, 2004)
Other songs raised awareness about female issues and aimed to empower fellow African American women. In 1991 Salt n Pepa’s Let’s talk about sex raised the issue of female sexuality and it’s double standards while in 1998 TLC ‘s Unpretty criticized the social pressure placed on women to conform to stereotypical ideas of beauty and appearance.
”Women rappers present not only sisterly messages of inspiration and encouragement, but also harsh critiques of one another designed to elicit a higher consciousness about women’s oppressions as well as women’s inherent worth and integrity.”
(Stephens, 2004)