Diversity audit on music blog...

This blog post seems to have been doing the rounds today: 12 extremely disappointing facts about popular music. It's about how some acts of dubious quality hyped up by the music industry have outsold some "classic" acts. But check out the subliminal sexism...

Of the 12 examples:

Men who "shouldn't have been" more popular than other men: 3

Men who "shouldn't have been" more popular than mixed sex groups: 0

Men who "shouldn't have been" more popular than women: 0

Mixed sex groups who "shouldn't have been" more popular than men: 2

Mixed sex groups who "shouldn't have been" more popular than other mixed sex groups: 0

Mixed sex groups who "shouldn't have been" more popular than women: 0

Women who "shouldn't have been" more popular than men: 6

Women who "shouldn't have been" more popular than mixed sex groups: 0

Women who "shouldn't have been" more popular than other women: 0

And of course: jokes about Justin Beiber: 1

Including Beiber there are 12 acts who they are suggesting are over-rated, or deserved less success: 6 solo women, 2 mixed sex groups and 4 solo guys. And there are 15 acts who they are suggesting are under-rated, or deserved more success: 100% male.

Maybe the most disappointing fact about popular music is that in the 21st century brilliant female acts still find it incredibly difficult to be taken seriously.

Which is a miserable note to end on, so instead I'll leave you with proof that women have been rocking out pretty damn hard for a long long time... Sister Rosetta Tharpe, I particularly urge you to pay attention to the guitar solo she launches into about 1m20 in. But frankly the whole thing is a joy!

Very Moving Video

Do watch this:

Tesco and Me

Re-posted from The F-Word where I am currently guest-blogging.

Somehow or another I have failed to tick a box somewhere online and I have been added to a mailing list run by Tesco. Today their marketing director Kendra Banks has written me with some recommendations. Her first pick for me is Eminem's new album "Relapse".

This album's title track includes some interesting lyrics, like this one:

"he stuck the bitch with the pitchfork with the long prongs"

I wonder how this fits with Tesco's fancily worded policy on diversity and inclusion: gender?

But maybe lyrics about killing women pale into insignificance next to some of the other things he says in the very same song. Such as these:

"Slice you up and cook you after you`re murdered by strangulation
That`s bacon souffle you makin`, ain`t you? well, thank you jason
There goes one more coma
Due to blunt force trauma"

"The medication is making my hands a little shakier
Hand me the 18 month old baby, come shake `em up
It`ll only take me a second to choke his trachea
Breakin` his neck in eightysome places"

Maybe someone could print out the above stanza and put it in Tesco stores next to the nappies and baby food? Or maybe Kendra Banks should double check what is being sent out to Tesco customers with her name on the bottom!

Women In Music

Wow, yet another link for my dear readers to feast upon. Be sure to turn the sound up and listen to the brilliant music while you're reading (especially the lyrics - if that doesn't make your bnrain explode from doing two things at once!).

Carnival of the Feminists!!

Yeah! Here it is! Welcome to the 41st Carnival of the Feminists.

Firstly some great news - reported everywhere but I'll give you the Tennessee Guerilla Women take on it: George W Bush is frightened of women bloggers! Go team!

Now after all the trouble I've had with Jezebel, (and it seems abusing feminists on the web is all the rage these days) you wouldn't think I would be linking to a blog post about one of their articles but this one, highlighted on Pandagon, started some pretty interesting debate. Including from blogstress Amanda Marcotte herself who says "The weird thing about all this is that it tends to affect my own view of myself, but doesn’t really affect my view of other women. I don’t tend to think there’s anything wrong with a little softness, a few crow’s feet, etc. on other women, but I can be irrationally hard on myself. It’s just bizarre how it works on that level, just so personal." And on the other hand All Girl Army assures us Feminists Don't Have Self-Esteem Problems (or boob jobs).

Melissa from Pretty, Fizzy Paradise has a theory on why we still get angry about these things, she says: All Women Are Me, Dammit! Diary of a Goldfish argues some women exist in the media purely as figures for us to hate in Paris Hilton and the Iconic Blonde while Mind The Gap Cardiff wonders why so many women in the media look as if they're dead. But amazingly in the midst of all this Social Justice Feminist has found a film that offers some positive role-models for men. Staying with media roles for women Greta Christina is just livid about two little words in a celebrity magazine and Lee Kottner at Spawn of Blogorrhea (I know - good blog name!) is unhappy about the way strong independent women are portrayed. Of course even strong independent women aren't as bad as the dangerous lesbian gangs (not) intimidating Bill O'Reilly - Melissa McEwan says Release The Douchehounds (I know - good post title!).

Katha Pollitt at Alternet is unimpressed with the way the film industry is portraying pregnancy in it's latest offering Knocked Up. So I wanted to take the opportunity of the carnival to highlight a great blog which tells the whole warts-and-all truth about having a baby.

For a positive famous female role-model though 6th July 2007 was the 100-year anniversary of Frida Kahlo's birth! Invoking Frida which is somewhere between a blog and a website celebrates that with a collection of photographs and some great links for those who want to read more about her. For a more current positive role model Girlistic has interviewed Corey Houlihan, spoken word performer, who addresses feminist and gay rights issues. And science fiction magazine Helix has issued an all-female authored edition.

At the dark end of the spectrum Jennifer Ouellette at the Huffington Post looks at the latest in so-called "torture porn". I took a trip even further into the most disturbing areas of women-in-the-media, and what I found was truly awful and almost certainly criminal.

On the subject of crime a judge in Nebraska has decided a victim cannot use the word "rape" during the trial. And said victim has decided she's going to anyway! Rock! That case has started a lot of arguments. Aerik at The Science Ethicists has even had to argue with his father on the subject. Seems that finally heads have started to roll in Michigan, following a rape and murder which the authorities didn't even bother to tell the victim's parents about, according to Kindly Pogmothoin.

Meanwhile Dr Violet Socks extends the violence against women debate with some alarming statistics about ECT.

Natalie Bennett in The Guardian argues more needs to be done to protect sex workers. Come back and visit Cruella-blog in a week or two for more on that - I have an interview coming up with a former sex worker who I will be asking about of lot of these issues.

And (phew!) if that wasn't enough feminism for you - The F-Word now has a podcast you can go listen to. And if you didn't get round to submitting anything this time Miscellanous Adventures of an Aussie Mum will inspire you to do so next time!

The next carnival will be on August 2 on Uncool. Please send submissions via the blog carnival submission form, or email uncool.lina AT gmail DOT com.

Lice Up Yer Spife!

Don't worry - not a post about infestations of phthirus pubis crabs. I was on BBC Leeds this morning as their resident expert on - The Spice Girls. Yes, I know, not my usual type of thing but interesting none the less. A reunion tour is apparently on the way. And the question is: was "girl power" any good?

Musically, obviously, there wasn't much (anything) there. And as a genre I'd say girl- and boy-bands have very little to offer society as a whole. However, if we accept that they're here and here to stay, I have to say that of all the girl bands out there, the Spice Girls for me are one of the best. Which is to say one of the least offensive.

Ok so there wasn't a cardiologist spice or a corporate CEO spice, that would have been too much to ask. There was a sporty spice though - one that participated in sports(!) With the exception of posh, they weren't as ridiculously thin as most of the groups. They were all different from each other, they celebrated being (albeit two-dimensional) individuals. And they actually did make money out of their fame - which puts them streets ahead intellecually of most of the other groups who only made money for their managers. And GIRL POWER...? Not a bad thing to believe in when you're seven or eight, think we could all use a bit more of it now and again.

Misogyfication

This is an interesting piece about the state of hip-hop and among other things the use of misogynist and other unpleasant lyrics - which I've talked about before on Cru-blog.