Vocal Timbre and Sexual Trauma in Women's Popular Song
Loading...
Date
2024-08-07
Authors
Milius, Emily
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
The voice holds immense power. The voice can evoke fear or exhibit submission; it can arouse or turn off; it can signal sarcasm or sincerity. More broadly, the voice can tell someone how you are feeling in a particular moment or even who you are. Due to the fact that trauma causes specific emotional reactions, survivors’ emotions are marked by their trauma and so, therefore, are their voices. In this dissertation, I first show how two specific reactions to trauma—the “freeze” and “fight” responses—have been and can be conveyed through specific vocal timbres. In my discussion of the “freeze” response, I demonstrate how breathiness and reverb, respectively (but also together) can be used to effectively convey dissociation, or feeling disconnected from one’s self and/or surroundings. In doing so, I analyze “5AM” by The Anchoress and “Sullen Girl” by Fiona Apple. Next, I examine how noisy timbres, like growl, rasp, and screams, are particularly powerful ways to portray rage and hyperarousal, consequences of the “fight” response, through analyses of “Swine” by Lady Gaga and “Liar” by Bikini Kill. I end with more in-depth, full-song analyses of “Gatekeeper” by Jessie Reyez and “Praying” by Kesha. Each of these songs use a variety of vocal timbres to convey a more nuanced narrative navigating through a night of assault and the recovery process, respectively.
Through this project, I show how sexual assault—which is rampant in the music industry (Johnson 2021; Bain 2021; Savage 2019)—exists not only behind closed doors but also in the public musical output of the industry. In doing so, my project shows how vocal sound conveys personal trauma in ways that are therapeutic for both performers and listeners. More specifically, I draw attention to the ways that sexual violence affects the music that we write, perform, and listen to.
Description
Keywords
popular, rape, timbre, trauma, voice, women