"One Long Ladies' Night": Disco Divas in the 1970s
Cracks in the U.S. consensus in the late 1960s and early 1970s led to the disillusionment and carelessness of the mid- and late-
1970s. Among other things, the decline of postwar economic boom, animosity over the Vietnam War and distrust of the government due to
Watergate all led to the formation of an overall feeling of detachment in 1970s America. There was a growing desire for a sense of
belonging- a yearning to find one’s self. Many young Americans fulfilled this desire by looking beyond their nuclear families and seeking
status in social groups. This contributed, at least in part, to the appeal of disco. In The Seventies, Bruce Schulman states that “both
sociologically and musically, disco offered an outlet for disenfranchised groups…disco signaled more than the revival of dancing; like
Woodstock, it fostered the gathering of a community” (73). He goes on to quote sociologist Jefferson Morley, saying “’the sense of
belonging only increased as disco dancing grew more group-oriented…The shared ceremony of the dance formed a communal affirmation
outside the church, the family, and other institutions’” (73).
In addition to this sense of community, discotheques provided people with a means of sexual expression, especially women and gay men. Feminists in the 1960s paved the way for sexual politics to be considered a valid societal issue. Sexuality, to an extent, has always been used to help define women, but “it was not until the women’s liberation movement that sex was analyzed politically and openly as an aspect of the power relations between men and women” (Wandersee 62). Other important precursors to the legitimacy of women’s sexual freedom in the 1970s were the introduction of effective means of birth control in the early 1960s and the research from Masters and Johnson in 1966. That research claimed that women “possessed as much sexual energy as men, if not more, and could enjoy a variety of sexual responses, including multiple orgasms” (Carroll 24). This new found source of empowerment spilled over into the 1970s, giving women the freedom to be more sexually aggressive. Books like The Joy of Sex (1972) and Fear of Flying (1973) kept the discussion alive in the mainstream, while wife-swapping parties and suburban swinging infiltrated the suburbs (Shapiro 59). There was a candid spirit of unabashed sexuality in the mid-1970s, and it was the perfect foundation for the invasion of disco.
The music itself was conducive to physicality, with every song containing steady upbeats and catchy hooks. One of disco’s most memorable songs, “Love to Love You Baby”, featured “little more than Donna Summer simulating an orgasm or twenty over a background of blaxploitation cymbals, wah-wah guitars, a funky-butt clavinet riff…[the song] was the aural parallel of the newly respectable porn industry” (Shapiro 100). To be a successful female disco singer, one needed to have a sexy and conventionally attractive image. In Disco Divas: Women and Popular Culture in the 1970s, Judy Kutulas notes:
In a venue where artists were verging on the invisible, success often depended on creating an image consistent with the disco lifestyle, on looking the part and seeming to love the lifestyle. Disco had its own set of conventions for both male and female performers. (Inness 187)
The women disco singers were considered to be commodities, a brand promoted by white male record producers. The women sang
about their sexuality in the way that a man would. They were assertive about sex, which could be viewed as a positive and liberating
thing. However, since these women were singing at the mercy of their labels, many feminists didnt view it that way. Kutulas feels that:
Disco divas made women’s sexuality at once liberated and problematic. They sang about assertive women, but said little about the social or individual consequences of that assertiveness. Their songs rarely talked about love, romance, or any of the other traditional touchstones of women’s music. (Inness 188)
Singer-songwriters of the time, like Carole King and Carly Simon, might as well have been on different musical planets. Those women sang about raw emotions, love and the search for true intimacy- topics in music that tend to be remembered with a little more respect than those presented in disco songs. For example, in the song “Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer, she talks about how many men she has called in an attempt to find one that will come over and have sex with her. Not contributing to her defense are two of her other most popular songs- both about prostitutes ("She Works Hard for the Money" and "Bad Girls").
While the women of disco didn’t do very much for the advancement of the feminist agenda, I don’t believe that there is sufficient evidence to prove that they hurt the cause, either. Schulman states that “the sexual revolution involved at least equal parts exploitation and liberation, and feminists remained ever on uneasy terms with it” (174). Meanwhile, disco singers like Donna Summer and Andrea True were capitalizing off their feminine sexuality through their records. As a compromise, I would argue that female disco singers simply encapsulate the mainstreaming of cultural feminism into society. While the ladies themselves weren’t making much of a political statement, their songs were essentially promoting women’s sexual freedom and self-awareness- exercising their sexual equality. If Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones could sing about sex- why couldn’t these women? What’s more progressive than that? Yet, the artists never received the kudos that those artists of other genres seemed to. Disco singers relied heavily on image, yet little was known about the artists themselves. Part of the reasoning for this was that “the listeners were more important than the performers” (Inness 187). So, as long as their music made for a sleek and fun atmosphere in the clubs, they got to make more records. These artists were talented, but as Gerri Hirshey says in her book We Gotta Get Out of This Place, “even the strongest voices can get lost in the whirlwind of a dance craze- particularly if it has strong corporate backing. And disco did huge business” (102). Once again, the women of disco appear to be sold as sexual commodities. Judy Kutulas remembers the legacy of disco divas as “the equivalent of aspiring actresses who get stuck in porn movies” (Inness 190). It was nearly impossible for the artists in this genre to be taken seriously when the genre itself was not taken seriously- and so they are remembered as simply the glamorous veneer on the superficial shell that was “disco”.
- Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Sister Sledge, etc.; females dominated
- Although they were the leaders, they still relied heavily on male producers and their labels
- "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" by Gerri Hirshey
- Disco was interesting b/c it was based on moving bodies and image, rather than lyrics and innovation
- It was big business- led into the musical environment we are currently in
A Sexual Icon Emerges: Madonna in the 1980s
Madonna's Message:
"Express yourself, don't repress yourself"
When you think of sexual icons in the 1980s, Madonna is probably somewhere near the top of the list. Throughout the eighties and nineties,
no one exemplified female sexuality and boldness the way that she did.
- Why is she so enduring? How should she be viewed- feminist? Opportunist? Slut? Was she good or bad for women's progress? Explain how this conundrum reflects the history of women's struggles with representations of their own sexuality
- Women and Popular Music by Sheila Whiteley
"Girl-a-palooza" and Pop Tarts: Lilith Fair, Riot Grrrls and Female Pop Stars in the 1990s
The stark contrast between independent rockers and pop stars
Riot Grrrl Retrospective
- Have we evolved? Or do the same struggles exist?
- The importance of image remains
Works Cited
Douglas, Susan. Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media. New York: Random House, 1994.
Gaar, Gillian. She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock and Roll (Expanded 2nd Ed.). Seal Press, 2002.
Gottlieb, Joanne and Gayle Wald. "Smells Like Teen Spirit: Riot Grrrls, Revolution and Women In Independent Rock." Bennett, Andy, Barry Shank and Jason Toynbee. The Popular Music Studies Reader. New York: Routledge, 2006. 355-361.
Hirshey, Gerri. We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The True, Tough Story of Women in Rock. Grove Press, 2002.
Reynolds, Simon. The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock 'n' Roll. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996.
Schulman, Bruce. The Seventies: Th Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics. Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 2002.
Whiteley, Sheila (ed.). Gender, Sexing the Groove: Popular Music and Gender. New York: Routledge, 1997.
Whiteley, Sheila. Women and Popular Music: Sexuality, Identity and Subjectivity. New York: Routledge, 2000.
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