Reddit reviews Hot Stuff

There are feminist cultural critics who suggest that the gendering of rock as male and pop as female is a result of the gendering of space, public is male, domestic is female. This results in the live performance space being one that is a space that favors men, and can become inhospitable to women and lgbtq folks (how many times have I heard some dude yell at a female performer on stage and demand that she show them her tits). Therefore, the creation of music by these groups was not centered on live performance and the studio was the safest space to create music. So this has resulted in rock music generally favoring "authentic" sounds that mimic live performance, while pop sounds "synthetic" and often uses electronic instruments and many effects.

I would argue that Disco, House, Techno, Hip Hop, etc... all were created under similar conditions.

My general understanding and working hypothesis is that rock represents something that was unnecessary to the lgbtq community. There are sociologists who show tends in pop music where in depressed economies tempos shift upwards and keys become major. We could argue that when times are hard people turn to music to give them hope and joy. Disco, in all of it's joy and frivolity, was favored by those who had to navigate oppressive systems that sidelined lgbtq people, ethnic and racial minorities, and women. Perhaps, then, there was a turn towards hopeful and fun music to counter daily struggle. Contrast this with trends in rock music beginning in the 70's that turned toward nihilism and depression as a sign of authenticity.

It should be noted that "rock" is many things and there has ALWAYS been a queerness in rock music. Punk began with a lot of lgbtq folks involved, the glam rock of the 70's definitely had gay trends, the 80's and new wave played with gender, "grunge" and Riot Grrrl definitely had some gayness, and the emo scene of the 2000's was clearly playing with sexuality. So I wouldn't say the lgbtq community dislikes rock.

The anti-disco movement was clearly, if subconsciously, influenced by homophobia and racism, and the need to place the white working class male fan of rock music as the norm and all others as flawed.

One book to look into is Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture

Hello! My post was going to be about focusing on disco and its origins in both white and POC gay subcultures in the seventies. The history of gay music is a massive topic, so I think that both I and /u/spookyjhostwitch could be able to do posts on the same subject if we do it focusing on different eras of pop music or different genres. I would be happy to collab if you'd like to do something together, though. I've only written a few paragraphs so far but I'm really enjoying all of the articles and books I've been reading of the subject of gay music in relation to the disco scene. I've been reading this fabulous book called Disco and the Remaking of American Culture which is all about how disco played a significant role in women's, gay and black liberation back then.