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Songs in Black and Lavender: Race, Sexual Politics, and Women's Music (review)

Songs in Black and Lavender: Race, Sexual Politics, and Women's Music (review) am"; "I'm more of a boy than a girl"; "I'm not a lesbian tho' . . . not before a Sambuca anyway."2 Dusty's constructed identity protected her from outright censure for her sexuality and sexual behaviors, but we may also remember that her rage--and that of at least one of her partners--is as much a part of her mythology as Winehouse's is. The difference may be that Dusty's self-construction was, on balance, affirmative camp that maintained a distance from its stereotype, whereas Winehouse's use of the same signs was unable to maintain that same distance and so became emblematic of her self-destruction. Moreover, Dusty knew what she was up against, whereas Winehouse and her generation are "asked to reconcile autonomy and the possibility of achievement with compliancy with a patriarchal order which is dissolved, de-centralised, and nowhere to be seen."3 Such an analysis as I offer here would not be possible without the work that Randall does in her book: Dusty! Queen of the Postmods begins the task of illuminating the processes whereby the female pop singer constructs her persona. By placing Dusty and her many meanings so carefully in a contemporary context, Randall's book allows us to http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Women and Music: A Journal of Gender and Culture University of Nebraska Press

Songs in Black and Lavender: Race, Sexual Politics, and Women's Music (review)

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Publisher
University of Nebraska Press
Copyright
Copyright © the International Alliance for Women in Music.
ISSN
1553-0612
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

am"; "I'm more of a boy than a girl"; "I'm not a lesbian tho' . . . not before a Sambuca anyway."2 Dusty's constructed identity protected her from outright censure for her sexuality and sexual behaviors, but we may also remember that her rage--and that of at least one of her partners--is as much a part of her mythology as Winehouse's is. The difference may be that Dusty's self-construction was, on balance, affirmative camp that maintained a distance from its stereotype, whereas Winehouse's use of the same signs was unable to maintain that same distance and so became emblematic of her self-destruction. Moreover, Dusty knew what she was up against, whereas Winehouse and her generation are "asked to reconcile autonomy and the possibility of achievement with compliancy with a patriarchal order which is dissolved, de-centralised, and nowhere to be seen."3 Such an analysis as I offer here would not be possible without the work that Randall does in her book: Dusty! Queen of the Postmods begins the task of illuminating the processes whereby the female pop singer constructs her persona. By placing Dusty and her many meanings so carefully in a contemporary context, Randall's book allows us to

Journal

Women and Music: A Journal of Gender and CultureUniversity of Nebraska Press

Published: Nov 9, 2012

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