This Woman's Work: Essays on Music

This Woman's Work: Essays on Music is a collection of essays that challenge the historic narrative of music and music writing being written by men, for men. It features contributions from Anne Enright, Fatima Bhutto, Jenn Pelly, Rachel Kushner, Juliana Huxtable, Leslie Jamison, Liz Pelly, Maggie Nelson, Margo Jefferson, Megan Jasper, Ottessa Moshfegh, Simone White, Yiyun Li, and Zakia Sewell. The book seeks to confront the male dominance and sexism that have been hard-coded in the canons of music, literature, and film and has forced women to fight pigeon-holing or being side-lined by carving out their own space.

Format: Hardback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 07 April 2022
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co

This Woman's Work: Essays on Music is a groundbreaking collection of essays edited by Kim Gordon and Sinéad Gleeson, featuring a diverse range of contributors including Anne Enright, Fatima Bhutto, Jenn Pelly, Rachel Kushner, Juliana Huxtable, Leslie Jamison, Liz Pelly, Maggie Nelson, Margo Jefferson, Megan Jasper, Ottessa Moshfegh, Simone White, Yiyun Li, and Zakia Sewell. The book aims to challenge the traditional narrative of music and music writing being exclusively authored by men, for men, and to address the male dominance and sexism that have long been embedded in the canons of music, literature, and film. This Woman's Work seeks to provide a platform for women to reclaim their voices and tell their own stories, highlighting the contributions of auteurs and ground-breakers who have carved out their own spaces in the male-dominated industry.

The collection includes essays on a wide range of topics, covering experimentalists, women who blend music and activism, genre-breakers, vocal auteurs, stories of lost homelands and friendships, propaganda and dictatorships, women in folk and country music, racialized tropes in jazz, the music of Trap and Carriacou, mixtapes, and violin lessons. Each essay offers a unique perspective on the role of women in music, exploring the challenges and opportunities they have faced throughout history.

One of the key themes of This Woman's Work is the need for women to speak up and shout louder to tell their stories. The contributors to the book argue that women have been forced to fight pigeon-holing or being side-lined by the male-dominated industry, and that it is essential for them to carve out their own space and assert their presence. The essays showcase the incredible talent and creativity of women in music, highlighting their contributions to various genres and styles.

The book also features writing on the experimentalists, women who blended music and activism, and the genre-breakers who challenged traditional musical conventions. The essays explore the ways in which women have used music as a tool for social change, activism, and resistance, highlighting the importance of female voices in shaping the cultural landscape.

Another theme of the collection is the exploration of lost homelands and friendships. The contributors share personal stories of their experiences of displacement, migration, and cultural identity, reflecting on the ways in which music has played a role in maintaining connections to their roots and heritage. The essays also explore the role of music in preserving cultural traditions and practices, particularly in the context of diasporic communities.

Propaganda and dictatorships are also explored in the collection, with essays examining the ways in which music has been used as a tool of control and oppression by governments and authoritarian regimes. The essays highlight the ways in which women have been targeted and marginalized by these regimes, and the ways in which music has been used to resist and challenge them.

The women of folk and country music, racialized tropes in jazz, the music of Trap and Carriacou, mixtapes, and violin lessons are also explored in the collection. The essays highlight the contributions of women in these genres and the ways in which they have challenged traditional gender roles and stereotypes.

In conclusion, This Woman's Work: Essays on Music is a groundbreaking collection of essays that challenges the traditional narrative of music and music writing being exclusively authored by men, for men. The book provides a platform for women to reclaim their voices and tell their own stories, highlighting the contributions of auteurs and ground-breakers who have carved out their own spaces in the male-dominated industry. The collection offers a diverse range of perspectives on the role of women in music, exploring the challenges and opportunities they have faced throughout history. Through their essays, the contributors to this book demonstrate the incredible talent and creativity of women in music, and their essential role in shaping the cultural landscape.

Weight: 470g
Dimension: 162 x 243 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781474621472