Gender and Power: The Creative World of Three Female Western Singer-Songwriters

Abstract

This study examines such issues as gender roles and power relationships as raised by three female singer-songwriters (Tammy Wynette, Helen Reddy, Meredith Brooks) in the popular music genres such as country, and rock. Using three basic feminist viewpoints as an analytical framework, this analysis explores various female images presented in songs composed and performed by these female singers. The result of the study suggests that these female writers/performers use their songs as an arena in which to celebrate, support, criticize, or protest various types of feminine consciousness in terms of identity and ideology.