Radio’s Effect on Stereotypes
by admin - September 24th, 2013
Segregation is a topic that is usually thought of in visual terms. When I think of segregation, I imagine a United States history textbook with photographs showing the barriers between black and white bathrooms. Or, I flashback to a documentary on the Little Rock Nine. Yet, until reading chapter 9 of Dunar’s book and analyzing Halberstam’s article, I had not thought about the segregation of music that existed within the 1950s.
Music can be a simple and extremely effective manner of stereotyping someone, because everything is split into categories. Genres, lyrics, melodies and album covers all contribute to how we view a song. And, quite frequently, people judge their peers based on musical tastes and the predisposed stereotypes that follow these tastes.
All humans have emotion, therefore it is a connection that can exist in music. If you were to listen to a song in a foreign language, understanding may be found in the beat and vocal inflections rather than the spoken words. As in Halberstam’s article, Elvis Presley was intrigued by gospel and blues music because “it had a power of its own […] and that power seemed to come as much as anything else from the beat” (464). Despite the emotional quality of “black gospel music”, Presley’s parents viewed it as “sinful music” (Halberstam 464). Before the 1950s, many people had only considered rhythm and blues music to be “relegated [to] African-American performers” in the way “white singers controlled the Billboard pop charts” (Dunar 268). This barrier was broken by singers, such as Nat “King” Cole, who ultimately obtained success on the pop charts. Music before the fifties was not only segregated by color, but also by gender.
Country music was an industry that “men had long dominated,” until the breakthroughs of artists such as Loretta Lynn and Kitty Wells (Dunar 269). It is amazing to think that the fifties, a time that is often stereotyped as being an age of conformity, actually brought about a great change in the music industry. Without the success of Nat “King” Cole and artists, such as Kitty Wells, we may be listening to the same, mainstream music that people were afraid to break away from prior to the 1950s. And, it is amazing to think that without the dramatic shift in musical culture, the radio could have continued discrimination on skin color and gender despite the fact music is a universal language.
Music is a form of artistic expression and communication, and it’s changes suggest that the fifties is not as simple a time period as many people think it is. If it was so simple, Cole, Wells and Presley may not have had anything to sing about because when people have something to sing about it shows “so much more feeling and so much more love” (Halberstam 468).
-Erin R.
How were people who listened to music of the opposite gender or race stereotyped?
I found it really interesting when you were talking about Elvis’ interest in gospel music and his parents’ reactions to it. You said they called it “sin music” which I find to be really ironic because it was church music! How could it be a sin? That example alone shows just how weak of a platform people of the time had for being racist, they would use anything as a form of racism even if it didn’t make sense!
Thanks God times have changed.
I really like what you said about music being a universal language. I think that is true, and it is hard to believe that segregation ever occurred within the musical world. Even today there are stereotypes about music that I do not agree with. I wonder what causes this separation?
I also never thought of segregation to be a part of music. After reading chapter 9 and the article, I realize now how important Elvis, BB King, and Nat King Cole were in destroying segregation from music!
I think it’s crazy how segregation went as far as music. Music is a way to express yourself, it shouldn’t be segregated the way it was. I like how the teenagers of the era would still listen to the black music even though their elders viewed it negatively. The way that white artists would break the barrier was also interesting to me. I liked how artists would use the same songs but put their own twists to it. It showed how creative each artist could be and defined their own sound, no matter their race.
A very interesting essay that combines two well known aspects of the decade in a way not usually thought of. The author brings up a manner of discrimination that few would probably think of, including me. Also, they talk about essential revolutions in music I did not know previously about, particularly those dealing with women and going against the conformity of the era. Overall, this essay was able to educate the reader on aspects of the 1950s that few would even think about or know.