Sometimes when I’m listening to music – particularly music written and/or performed by women – it occurs to me that the music I’m listening to would probably annoy or even anger Men’s Rights Activists. And that makes me want to share this music with the world. So I’m starting a new series here: Music to Annoy MRAs With.
First up: Meredith Monk, an avant garde composer/performer/filmmaker/etc probably best known for her “extended vocal techniques” which one music critic has described as a melange of “extraordinary ululations and incantations, vertiginous leaps, drops, cries and other wordless acrobatics.” That seems about right.
If you’re a fan of The Big Lebowski, you’ve heard at least one song of hers: when the lovably pretentious feminist artist Maude Lebowski makes her memorable entrance, swinging naked through the air on a harness in a darkened studio, splattering paint onto a giant canvas, it’s the voice of Meredith Monk that provides the musical accompaniment. (Monk found the scene hilarious.)
Anyway, here are some Meredith Monk videos for you all. You may like them, you may not – Monk is sort of an acquired taste — but one thing is virtually guaranteed: they will confuse and annoy the hell out of any MRAs who happen to watch. A critically lauded female composer/musician making music they don’t understand? Noooooooo!
The first video is a selection from a longer piece called Dolmen Music; essentially, we’re supposed to be listening to a conversation in a strange language amongst Neolithic Brits (or perhaps space aliens, as Monk has suggested). I may have posted this before, but I’m posting it again, dammit.
The second is a clip from her film Book of Days depicting a variety show of sorts in a somewhat unusual Medieval village; stick with it until the end. I think I posted a shorter version of this once as well.
The final video is Monk performing a solo piano piece that actually has words; try to ignore the really patronizing voiceover.
Her official site is here, though I was having trouble reaching it today.
Example 2! Kittehs and I generally get along rather well, but I really don’t think that my spamming her with the kind of loud screamy music that I’m fond of would do anything to bring us together, or achieve much at all other than maybe giving her a headache.
“The egalitarian nature of culture?”
Literally all bigotry is a product of culture.
It’s not that there’s no truth to “art brings people together” (Woodstock, anyone?), but that doesn’t mean that either a) bringing people together is the primary purpose of art or b) art that doesn’t bring people together is a failure.
Distanceleft seems to think that “culture” means “art and music”. Or at least I hope that’s what he thinks it means, otherwise his comment makes even less sense than I originally thought.
PS – If you really think that “culture” as in art and music are egalitarian, try showing up to the symphony or the opera in jeans and a tshirt.
You really aren’t clear at all about what you mean by “art”, “culture”, and “egalitarian” in this context.
In any case, art has a variety of purposes, and unity is just one among many.
Or that c) art has to bring everyone together, because clearly that is never going to happen.
Or tht cassandra would be too pleased with me spamming her with the sort of early music I like! (Which, take note, is only a subset of early music: there’s plenty of stuff under that broad heading I don’t like at all.)
Also, art = egalitarian? That’s kind of ignoring huge swathes of the visual arts, music and literature that were not and were never meant to be egalitarian – just the opposite. Or is distanceleft dismissing art from societies where egalitarianism wasn’t a thing to get the lip service it does in some today?
MRA would hate this one . lol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAvb5xSM6QY
Adding Ani Difranco to the misandry:
Grimes – “Oblivion” – a woman’s (girl’s ?) eye view of dealing with men.
@kittehserf:
Thank you for the welcome package! I haven’t had time to digest the significance of penguin whores yet, but they sure look good in Spanx!
Thanks also for your appreciation of my kitty avatar. It’s what my spoiled little princess thinks she looks like! (I should never have explained ancient Egypt to her when she was an impressionable kitten…)
just catching up on the topic. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!
I love that Grimes song, and that video; I think it would probably require a whole masters thesis to figure out all the gender stuff going on there.
As for this:
Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes it’s designed to unite SOME people and alienate others. Art is too complicated to be reducted to utiliatarian purposes, or judged by how well it achieves some non-artistic goal. Many of the best artists spend zero time thinking or worrying about how people will react to their art. A lot of art that goes out of its way to appeal to lots of people and “unite” them is TERRIBLE.
But beyond that, there is nothing about Meredith Monk’s music that is designed to alienate men or MRAs in particular. But she’s the sort of challenging female artist that tends to get shit on by misogynists not because her art is misandrist (it isn’t) but because they are misogynists. If a black musician were to play at a KKK rally they’d get booed, not because their music is bad but because KKKers are racist. The people doing the dividing here are the bigots unwilling to accept women (or black people, or whoever) as legitimate artists.
That said, in the future I will feature musicians who are more challenging ideologically to MRAs. Sorry, but I have no interest in “uniting” with them. The world is a vast place, and there are a lot of people out there who aren’t misogynistic assholes, and I’m more interested in hanging out with them, both literally and figuratively.
Um, no. You don’t have any clue as to what the actual history of most classical music is, do you? Because a lot of composers were practically kept as pets by the insanely rich and/or titled. There’s nothing “uniting” about that.
And frankly, the more wedges between MRAsshats and me, the better! Last thing I want is those knuckle-draggers breathing down my neck.
Ugh…for “insanely”, substitute “absurdly” or “inanely”. I cannot brain tonight.
I love that Grimes song, and that video; I think it would probably require a whole masters thesis to figure out all the gender stuff going on there.
Well, I suspected and then confirmed in reading in an interview that she wrote the song after being sexually assaulted by some guy.
http://bluestockingsmag.com/2013/07/24/see-you-on-a-dark-night-grimes-oblivion-depicting-sexual-assault/
My personal take is that this critique failed to pick up on the tension inherent in the video – the singer is both *attracted* to the hypermasculine display and *scared* of it. She *wants* guys, but is also very aware of the threat they offer.
“See you on a dark night” can be taken two ways, after all…
(I really should go through her other stuff at some stage, but I don’t have the time or the understanding)
Winter Walker – it would make no difference. All the kitties know they are gods.
Also I found this adorable cartoon on Deviantart.
http://serverustare.deviantart.com/art/Gods-of-Egypt-Origin-of-Heroes-351451635
Cats created the universe.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/bigdavey88/how-cats-are-the-ultimate-creators-of-the-universe-frbw?sub=2759645_1986512
::worships::
Bartok? Weird choice if we talk about the Hungarian composer, one of the influential artists whose work helped to build and solidify the Hungarian national identity. He collected folk music/songs and incorporated their elements into classical music, with this we could say he united people across class, but at the same time (regardless of his original intent) this research gave more fuel to the nationalistic us-vs-them mentality. So the guy is neutral at best in this regard. :]
@kittehserf: That first link was absolutely beautiful use of classic Pratchett! Now I must find my feline overlord and worship her with cuddles!
On another note, I think I really need to check out some Grimes!
Start by mixing 1-2 eggs with a little bit of warm water, then wet your hair with warm water and apply the egg mixture to your scalp.
It’s easier to find what you’re looking for if you have a clear picture
in your mind. Some types of coverage, however,
are permanently excluded, and may only be obtained through Federal insurance programs.
Bake your head in the oven for 15 minutes and hey presto, you’re a meringue!
Misandry meringue. I like it.
What?
First #Gater chatbots, now scammy spambots! We’re moving up in the world of automated non-comments!