Votre recherche

Utilizing agenda setting theory, this study investigates the Bill Cosby sexual assault allegation scandal and how the scandal is framed by the media. In order to examine if and how varied networks reported differently on the Cosby scandal, sixty articles from three, distinct networks (CNN, FOX News, E!) were analyzed and coded under seven different categories. Results demonstrate a significant difference among the analyzed networks and media frames most reported in the sample for this study. Although all networks address Cosby’s rise and fall of an American hero, agendas set and story frames presented varied. Specifically, CNN highlighted victims’/survivors’ powerful voice whereas E! and FOX News highlighted Cosby’s support from the black community, celebrities and co-stars. Additional results, discussion and future directions follow.

This qualitative investigation seeks to identify the sociocultural determinants and psychoemotional ramifications of essentialist gender scripting on female employees in a sexualized work environment (SWE), such as a comedy club. Sexualized work environments incorporate work and sexuality and exist on a continuum according to the frequency and intensity of the sexual economic exchange that takes place within them. In this study, interviews were conducted with 13 female employees at a comedy club in Southwest Michigan to explore the social construction of female sexuality in such an environment.

This paper argues that stand-up comedy produces the places it uses in the city of Mumbai as “safe” for new middle-class women by excluding Dalit and working-class people who are deemed “dangerous.” Such exclusion is achieved by mobilising places and infrastructure that are built to make Mumbai a “world-class” city, a process that requires the dispossession and exploitation of the masses from which the new middle-class benefits. In the context of the sexual harassment charges that hit the stand-up comedy scene in 2018 and the responses to those charges, I posit that stand-up comedy is a site where “appropriate” gender hierarchies are formulated in the pursuit of “global Indian-ness.”

How does music play a role in normalising men’s sexual violence towards women? Using mainstream rock and metal music as an illustrative case study, we offer a nuanced account of the ways in which men’s sexual violence is normalised. Using a definition of sexual violence drawn from Liz Kelly’s notion of a continuum, which reframes sexual violence as the loss of women’s ability to control sexual experiences, we explore the ways in which sexual violence is a prevalent lyrical and audio-visual component of rock and metal songs. We show that a pernicious theme of rock and metal over the last 25 years is the erosion of women’s ability to refuse sexual activity and to have voice and be heard. We argue that this erosion of women’s consent takes place through the representational use of emotional abuse, controlling/coercive behaviour, and through the objectification of women. The erasure of consent presented through these methods becomes a key means of establishing sexual control. Through manipulation, the confusion of what counts as sexual violence and how it is defined, men’s sexual violence against women is normalised.

Sexual violence in the music industry is known to impact negatively on women’s participation. We examine how grassroots venues and promoters can implement changes to tackle sexual violence and work towards gender equality. We draw on UK-based, impact-focused research which sought to raise awareness of sexual violence, and to facilitate anti-violence changes within organisations. We find that working across a city’s music scene and engaging with oversight organisations such as local authorities can aid in persuading venues and promoters to seek training. However, for individuals leading on changes, personal experiences of sexual violence as a victim/survivor or bystander are important factors in their decision. We conclude that men in the music industry need to become more aware of the need for change, and willing to act on that awareness; and that more women need to own, manage, and run venues and events.

Abstract Over the past two decades significant changes in approaches to gender equity have taken place in the fields of contemporary music and music research. However, women in music are still disadvantaged in terms of income, inclusion and professional opportunities. In Australia a national approach to improving gender equity in music has begun to emerge as once-controversial strategies trialled by four tertiary institutions have become established practices. This article discusses successful inclusion strategies for women in music, including the commitment to gender-balanced programming across all concerts at Queensland Conservatorium of Music by 2025, the introduction of mandatory quotas in recital programmes at Monash University, mentoring programmes for women composers at Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and the development of coursework devoted to women in music at The University of Western Australia, as well as other initiatives that have emerged from them, both within and beyond the institution. Each approach is examined in the context of broader global discussions around gender and feminism. The public willingness to engage in discussions over sexual harassment, sexual assault and gender discrimination in the workplace that has resulted from the #MeToo movement is cited as key in influencing the engagement of students and professionals with these strategies and subsequent influence on performance practices, project development and presentational formats in new music.

Recent media reporting has highlighted that incidents of sexual violence frequently occur at live music events. Sexual violence has significant impacts on the health of those who experience it, yet little is known of how it impacts on everyday engagements with music, nor what measures venues and promoters might take to prevent and respond to incidents. Through interviews with concert goers, venue managers, promoters and campaigning groups, we investigated experiences of sexual violence at indie, rock, punk and funk gigs in small venues in one English city. We show that sexual violence at live music events significantly impacts on (predominantly) women’s musical participation. We argue that venues and promoters must work proactively to create musical communities that act as a defence against the normalisation of sexual violence, taking inspiration from safer space policies.

Cross-disciplinary research has highlighted the persistence of gender inequalities across music scenes. However, the way in which cultural policy shapes responses to gender inequalities in music has been relatively underexplored. This article draws on research from Swedish and UK contexts, supporting analysis with reference to 9 key-stakeholder interviews from both. Comparing perspectives from ‘more’ and ‘less’ gender-equal contexts, with sufficiently different cultural policy traditions, the article explores how responses to gender inequalities in music are influenced by ‘cultural democratic’ and ‘arm’s length’ approaches. It demonstrates that, as a result of these traditions, there is a comparatively more interventionist approach in Sweden at a national level, whereas the lack of central government response in the UK has encouraged more market-oriented solutions. It suggests that this ‘arm’s length’ approach necessitates different grassroots organisational strategies in order to affect change but notes that these, alongside austerity agendas, are insufficient in the long term.

The mosh pit is a unique crowd formation where audience members dance aggressively to engage with the music, the performers and each other. However, in this space, Australian punks may experience violations of bodily integrity. Multiple levels and types of transgression occur, as members break with mosh pit ethics by engaging in unwanted and unlawful sexual and physical violence. This case study provides an example of how group normative behaviour is confounded in liminal spaces – how transgression within such spaces undermines the supposed freedom experienced by its participants. Whilst the mosh pit is perceived to be a site governed by its own particular ethics, some defy these in word and practice. The rules of engagement are ambiguous, and offenders are able to rationalise their harms through neutralisation techniques and the diffusion of blame and responsibility. The consequence is that more often than not, offenders can use the unique physical nature of the mosh pit to execute personal vendettas and engage in intentional violence such as ‘crowd killing’ and sexual assault, with little social and legal consequence. Moreover, a certain culture of denial permeates participant responses to these issues. Throughout it all, the violence occurring has a decidedly masculine basis, reflecting overarching gender differences in interpersonal violence generally.

In 2000 the Glastonbury Festival in England experienced an unprecedented invasion of gatecrashers that severely compromised public health and safety. This incident identified the need for a comprehensive review of planning and management procedures for that event. In order to undertake this review, the 2001 event was cancelled. Upon its return in 2002, the event demonstrated considerable improvements in health and safety with the main features being tighter security and a more secure perimeter fence. Advancements such as these have continued at each subsequent event, with the 2004 festival considered the safest to date. The Glastonbury Festival provides a model for successful management of health and safety issues for large public events. This success was made possible by the collaborative efforts of the event organiser and government agencies, in particular the Mendip District Council. This event demonstrates how the licensing process can be a useful tool to encourage good practice in public health and safety issues for large outdoor music festivals.

Setting the Stage for Sexual Assault: The Dynamics of Gender, Culture, Space and Sexual Violence at Live Music Events

This article considers the critique of inequality, exploitation and exclusion in contemporary UK music industries, in light of the latter’s growing internal concerns over work-based gender relations. The creative sector’s persistent inequalities are at odds with its professed liberal, egalitarian, meritocratic values and attitudes. Yet, within music’s industrial production cultures, a dismissive postfeminist sensibility has come under pressure through a reflexive critical moment of popular feminist discourse, expressed in trade press critique, between 2013 and the present moment. Drawing from a study of intermediary work in UK major record labels, the article takes a pragmatist approach to documenting and theorizing this critique – alongside institutional mechanisms, like company policies and corporate PR, that respond to it – in terms of growing industrial reflexivity. Tensions over the representation of work, the nature of inequality, intergenerational and epistemic injustice emerge as key themes, with implications for critical research on popular music industries.

Attendance at large-scale music festivals has captivated a global interest in these spectacular experiences, yet little is known about the lasting benefits and personal changes individuals incur following this event. This study aims to provide a comprehensive exploration of the lived experiences of individuals who attended a multi-day electronic dance music festival. The present study was primarily interested in the perceived beneficial changes within the individual, following their festival experience. We investigated if first-time festival attendees perceived changes differed to those of returning individuals. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were used to collect data from 12 individuals who attended the 2015 Electronic Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas. Six participants were first-time attendees while the remaining six were individuals returning to the festival. The data was analysed using Thematic Analysis. Within the data emerged the following central themes: (1) escape, (2) communitas, and (3) self-reported changes; there were 10 subthemes. These findings add to the existing body of music festival literature, further contextualizing how music festivals are both experienced, and reflected upon by individuals. Further, this study highlights the potential lasting changes individuals’ experience from attending electronic dance music festivals.

This article deploys ethnographic data to explain why some students do not label experiences as sexual assault or report those experiences. Using ideas of social risks and productive ambiguities, it argues that not labeling or reporting assault can help students (1) sustain their current identities and allow for several future ones, (2) retain their social relationships and group affiliations while maintaining the possibility of developing a wider range of future ones, or (3) avoid derailing their current or future goals within the higher educational setting, or what we call “college projects.” Conceptually, this work advances two areas of sociological research. First, it expands the framework of social risks, or culturally specific rationales for seemingly illogical behavior, by highlighting the interpersonal and institutional dimensions of such risks. Second, it urges researchers to be more attentive to contexts in which categorical ambiguity or denial is socially productive and to take categorical avoidance seriously as a subject of inquiry. Substantively, this work advances knowledge of why underreporting of campus sexual assault occurs, with implications for institutional policies to support students who have experienced unwanted nonconsensual sex regardless of how those students may label what happened.