![]() Firstly, Gregory notes, “The roots of the social changes which led to the evolution of Glam Rock can be traced back to the social climate of the post-war period and the legal changes which took place during the1960s” (Gregory, 41). Gregory specifically highlights three key changes that led to the growth of the Glam Rock genre. All of which are reasons that glam rock came about and was accepted by society. According to Georgina Gregory, in her piece mentioned above, opinions and approaches to homosexuality started to change, teenagers got more spending power, and men being interested in fashion started to become the norm. In the 1970s, when glam rock was first rising, the world was going through major social changes. ![]() ![]() In our photo essay, we will be looking at famous glam rock artists in order to see how this genre and its features deviate from the typical hegemonic masculine features that men often find themselves confined to. Phillip Auslander includes an excerpt from Todd Haynes novel in his work, Performing Glam Rock: Gender and Theatricality in Popular Music, when noting that “glam rock departed from both the normative masculinity and countercultural gender identities in favor of “a new and radically fluid model for sexual identity: no longer defined by its performance, but by the multi-colored result of constant change and reinvention” (Auslander, 61). Based on these qualities, Glam rock opened the door to new ways for men to express themselves. As stated by Georgina Gregory in her work Masculinity, Sexuality and the Visual Culture of Glam Rock, “the main characteristics of the visual style, worn almost exclusively by male performers were: transvestism/ the use of glittery, shiny and soft fabrics such as velvet, satin and lurex leather clothing spangled, shiny or brightly colored platform soled shoes and soft flat slippers (Gregory, 39-40). When considering this change, we can look at how the stars and performances that arose out of the Glam Rock movement in the 1970s began to challenge these gender norms. When considering this cycle of influence, we should take into consideration how norms for men would change if these “material and symbolic resources” exemplified something other than hegemonic masculinity (Eastman, 191). Under this pressure, men look to the “material and symbolic resources they have at their disposal” to conform to these standards and perpetuate the norm (Eastman, 191). As Eastman points out in his piece, Rebel Manhood: The Hegemonic Masculinity of the Southern Rock Music Revival, “ all men of all classes are under immense social pressure to conform to this ideal type of manhood, which prescribes strength, dominance, aggression, independence, rationality, physical vigor, competition, and emotional detachment” (Eastman, 191). Such distinctions have the ability to have a deep-rooted effect on how one lives their life. Within this binary, women are often subjected to the ideas of emphasized femininity, and men are subjected to the ideas of hegemonic masculinity. The gender binary, as discussed in class, explains the belief that there are women and men and no genders existing in-between. Such habits allowed for stereotypical ideas of how a man and woman should act to arise which further ultimately leads to the idea of the gender binary. For centuries, men and women have been compared, contrasted, and separated based on their differences. ![]()
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