Women in Music

So yesterday I was sitting on the bus listening to one of my favourite female artists - Susan Tedeschi. She's soulful and passionate and incredibly musical... and totally not what I think the majority of my friends are listening to. It got me thinking about the role women play in music. You see super-acts out there like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Christina Aguilera, etc. and, while I agree they're talented in a way, they don't hold a candle (IMHO) to some of the historical women in popular music. What do you think Janis Joplin would say to Ke$ha (or however the hell she spells her name) today?

Don't get me wrong- I love that women embrace their sexuality in music, but does it have to be so overt? The song that got me thinking was "Soul of a Man" by Susan Tedeschi. It's moving and sensual - but in a way that infinitely more sexy than "Maneater" by Nelly Furtado or "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry. I'd love to see some of the top 40 female artists start to perform in a way that owns their sensuality without making it so obvious that they have to dance around in bikinis gyrating... maybe I am getting old.

Update - So last night I was discussing this with my friend D. and he called me out - basically saying that women have been sexualizing themselves in music for a long time. He gave a couple of examples and... is right?? (Yes, D., you read that correctly.) I'm going to rephrase - people often say that "sex sells", and while I think there's a definite market for sex, I would say that "stories sell." My example was pulling from experience at the automotive company I worked at. I tried to convince our ad agency rep that we weren't marketing a car, we were marketing the lifestyle associated with the car. It's the story, not the product that's interesting.

For D., I think the point would go home a little more for green energy (his line of work). There is a very compelling financial reason to invest in green energy - especially in Ontario given the current rates and regulations - but, and it's a very big but, I doubt that the financial (read: rational) aspect of the decision is the reason why people buy solar panels/Green Frog Power/wind mills. They invest because they want to be green, the want their lifestyle to reflect their values.

As to how that relates to the sexualizing of women in music... I'm not sure. I just think that story is more important than product.