- Paperback: 440 pages
- Publisher: Serpent's Tail (15 Jan 1995)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1852422548
- ISBN-13: 978-1852422547
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 13.4 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 862,118 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
The Sex Revolts is the first book to look at rebellion and rock ?n? roll through the lens of gender. It argues that rock music is most thrilling when it is most misogynist and macho. Provocative and passionately argued, the book walks the tightrope between a rock fan?s excitement, and a critic?s awareness of the music?s darker undercurrents. It sheds new light on the angry young men (The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols, and Nirvana) and the psychedelic mystics (Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Syd Barrett and Brian Eno) that make up the rock?n?roll pantheon. The Sex Revolts is rich cocktail of rock criticism, cultural studies and feminist theory.
About the Author
Joy Press is a freelance writer and co-author of The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock'N'Roll (along with husband Simon Reynolds). She has contributed to the Village Voice, Seattle Weekly, and Slate.com. In 2003, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies awarded her second place for Arts Criticism. Press has written extensively on gender.
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First Sentence
Rebels come in all shapes and sizes. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Rebels come in all shapes and sizes. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Fundamentally, this book offers a great overview and analysis of much of the "important" rock music put out since the Rolling Stones. The first two-thirds of the book look at many many (mostly male) rock artists and the various ways they relate to the act of creation, the opposite sex, their instruments and the final product through the expression of their gender. The guitar as phallus, feedback as amniotic fluid, etc. It is very interesting, and whether right or wrong, forces one to consider the music in a new way. Generally, I feel, the authors are right on the money with their analyses even when the reader is forced to groan outloud (an analogy involving Lynard Skynard and intercourse springs to mind). The last third of the book deals almost exclusivly with female (and effeminate) artists and leads to a theory concerning the nature of a female rock and roll and whether or not one exists. They don't provide a physiological answer to any questions(although their earlier analyes could have pointed to this). Instead, the authors view rock as a male creation that females may coopt for their own, feminist expression through lyrical content. However, Rock music, as we know it, cannot expression the truly *feminine* because no women have come along and turned the music on its head. Some examples of people who have come close include the Raincoats and Kristin Hersh. Of course, the theory can't really be summarized here, but one leaves the book wondering if the authors call for the creation of a true female music is just a call for a new genre because they are board with what they know. And what they know was demonstrated in the first two-thirds of the book. A good read for the rock fan and the aspiring gender critic.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is a groundbreaking study of rock musicians' fascination with femininity.
The authors have exposed the meanings behind the songs - everything from misogyny to love.
By using examples ranging from the 60s to the 90s, from pop to punk, they show trends that may not be apparent to the casual listener.
The theories and conclusions are sometimes surprising, sometimes evident, but always intriguing.
It is well written and researched.
This book is a must read for anyone interested in what lies behind the music.
The authors have exposed the meanings behind the songs - everything from misogyny to love.
By using examples ranging from the 60s to the 90s, from pop to punk, they show trends that may not be apparent to the casual listener.
The theories and conclusions are sometimes surprising, sometimes evident, but always intriguing.
It is well written and researched.
This book is a must read for anyone interested in what lies behind the music.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"Gender, rebellion and rock'n'roll" - ooo, gender theory and music, two of my main areas of interest combined, I'll give this a read. And then the book starts like this: "Our argument is that, whatever the ostensible pretext or context, a large part of the psychological impetus of any rebellion is an urge to separate from the mother." Groan. No, this isn't going to be a thought-provoking book about gender and music. It's going to be a first year psychology essay.
On the next page: "He can long for the womb and for an idealised mother-lover". Groan.
Going on, it seems the authors are going to examine their subject by concentrating on the lyrics. The lyrics! The lyrics are crap. Rock lyrics are almost always crap! Rock music isn't about lyrics.
We get to punk: "a sort of asexual relative of metal: cock-rock, with the cock replaced by a sort of generalised castration-paranoia". Groan. I feel like throwing the book in the bin by this point.
Flip on to the end of the section: "Could it be that the urge to outrage is a kind of severance rite, a re-enactment of the original disconnection from the mother's body?" Groan.
Flip to the end of the next: "What to make of the mother's boy? Is he truly androgynous? Are his passivity, his apparent acceptance and affirmation of castration, his womb-nostalgia"... Groan.
But then there's the next section: "Turning our attention from what rock'n'roll has made of women to what women have made of rock, it's immediately apparent that (...) the ancestors of female rock rebellion are rather more elusive." Oh, thank god. No more Freudian claptrap. And yes, this part of the book actually examines music, how women have made rock music, found their place in rock music. It talks about politics, about feminism, about real and interesting subjects. What a relief!
In conclusion, this book is one third quality, two-thirds crap. Ignore the first two sections, rip them out, use them for toilet paper. But keep the third, because this is worth reading at least.
On the next page: "He can long for the womb and for an idealised mother-lover". Groan.
Going on, it seems the authors are going to examine their subject by concentrating on the lyrics. The lyrics! The lyrics are crap. Rock lyrics are almost always crap! Rock music isn't about lyrics.
We get to punk: "a sort of asexual relative of metal: cock-rock, with the cock replaced by a sort of generalised castration-paranoia". Groan. I feel like throwing the book in the bin by this point.
Flip on to the end of the section: "Could it be that the urge to outrage is a kind of severance rite, a re-enactment of the original disconnection from the mother's body?" Groan.
Flip to the end of the next: "What to make of the mother's boy? Is he truly androgynous? Are his passivity, his apparent acceptance and affirmation of castration, his womb-nostalgia"... Groan.
But then there's the next section: "Turning our attention from what rock'n'roll has made of women to what women have made of rock, it's immediately apparent that (...) the ancestors of female rock rebellion are rather more elusive." Oh, thank god. No more Freudian claptrap. And yes, this part of the book actually examines music, how women have made rock music, found their place in rock music. It talks about politics, about feminism, about real and interesting subjects. What a relief!
In conclusion, this book is one third quality, two-thirds crap. Ignore the first two sections, rip them out, use them for toilet paper. But keep the third, because this is worth reading at least.
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