"Charlie Brown"
beabadoobee
from Fake It Flowers
2020
Something I didn't need to talk about during my Breakfast at Tiffany's write-up was the idea of the "male glance." The term refers to the idea that we generally take art created by females less seriously simply due to gender, whether intentionally or unintentionally. AVClub, in their own discussion about Breakfast at Tiffany's, referred to the term when discussing Holly Golightly, and America's misconception that the character is put-together and worthy of adoration from thousands of college women hanging the poster in their dorm room. That's not the Holly Golightly portrayed in the film!
In any case, the term "male glance" interested me more so than its application in AVClub's argument. It had no place in my own analysis, since I thought about Holly Golightly A LOT after watching the film, not less, as the term would imply. But I was curious if I accidentally applied this mindset to other things I enjoyed, especially music.
I didn't see any evidence, scrolling through my iPod, looking at different female artists I usually listen to. I'd like to think that I enjoy good music regardless of the gender of the artist making it. But that doesn't mean that this phenomenon isn't prevalent on the internet.
beabadoobee is a good example for the purposes of this short blog post. I've seen so many equivocal opinions of her on the internet message boards. I get that pop-wearing-the-cloak-of-'90s-grunge-revivalism isn't everyone's speed, but I see charges thrown around like "she is an industry plant" and "her music is inauthentic" and shit like that. You never see that bullshit when it's a male artist making music of a similar nature.
I dunno, man. The internet is a toxic fucking place. Let's try to judge music based on merit and not the sex of the person who made it, eh? Is that too much to ask?
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