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Originally Posted by HejiraNYC
Oh, I agree with you that Christine has her own brand of (subtle) femininity. But the key distinctions between she and Stevie are that Stevie did not play a stereotypically masculine role in the band and Christine was not sexualized/objectified the way Stevie was. For all intents and purposes, Christine was just "one of the guys." It had nothing to do with her physical appearance (okay, well maybe just a smidge  ) and everything to do with her perception. If she twirled and danced in a graceful, feminine way, would that have detracted from her image as a serious musician?  |
Well, you're right, we can't know. But I just think of the Dixie Chicks, Martie and Emily seem to be stronger musicians than Natalie to me. Martie and Emily don't twirl, but they do stand up there center stage in a graceful and feminine way and I think they are considered strong musicians and, actually, I think they're more what people perceive of as traditionally feminine than Natalie is.
As for the perception of Stevie, maybe it has to do with HER and not her sex. She admits she's neither a good guitar player or piano player. Maybe that's why people discount her as a musician and not because of her gender.
She has said, "I write my songs, but Lindsey puts the magic in, and there's no way... well, I could pay him ten percent. I could walk up to him and thank him. If I were to play you a song the way I wrote it and gave it to them, and then play you the way it is on the album, you would see what Lindsey did."
Or like she told Courtney Love:
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I would sit down and play him Gold Dust Woman on the guitar, my simple little version, and two days later it would be recorded, and it would be recorded really well. He could take my songs and do what I would do if I had his musical talent. When he wasn’t angry with me, that is. That’s why there’s seven or eight great songs, and there’s 50 more where he wasn’t happy with me and didn’t help me.
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Stevie's comments like
that over the years have got to have as much to do with her being discounted as a musician as the fact that she's a female do. I mean when Ken said that none of the Macsters could read music, we all jumped in and said Christine could, because we knew her history. We know that she was classically trained and we bring that kind of background to the table when we come to conclusions about these people. The background we have for Stevie is much different than Christine's and I don't think it's because Christine wasn't swirling.
Michele