An Angry Punk Named Kate Nash?

A few words to describe the new Kate Nash: angry, emo, punk, screechy, and a bit disappointing. When I saw her come onstage I was overjoyed and immediately noticed her darker garb, thinking, "Ooh, look who's the latest hottie." In general I was quite thrilled to see Kate with a good friend; we danced gladly as Ms. Nash performed barely 1 hour's worth of songs, occasionally passionately.

Her ankle was injured, so she couldn't have been in the best mood, but she maintained a very "eff-you" attitude throughout the concert. She only sang maybe 1 or 2 of her older songs from the album "Made of Bricks", including the fabulous "Foundations". I'm pretty sure that album was the reason most of us were there to see Kate. However, she was quite high-maintenance, insisting that the entire crowd be silent while she sang the mellow, pouty "I Hate Seagulls", from her new album "My Best Friend Is You". I didn't really have that much of a problem with that insistence, except that she was very pouty for the duration of the time she was onstage.

My friend and I simultaneously realized after several songs, "She hates a lot of things." Overall at this concert Kate was simply very negative, always complaining, never really very empowering. Fairly unfortunate. It seemed in a way she was trying to be sort of feminist, through a strange spoken word piece called "Mansion Song" in which she says "I wanna be fucked and then rolled over because I'm an independent woman of the 21st century." This shows an understanding of feminism as equated primarily with 'sexual liberation' i.e. "I'm empowered because I go and sleep around a lot. I emphasize my physical self to an extreme degree. I get pushed around sexually sometimes, but it's my choice, and therefore I'm free." You are still caught in that social system, Kate! You can never fully escape and have complete independence of these forces! So Kate's is not my version of feminism, but I would love to have a conversation with her about the subject.

Side note: The opening band "Supercute" = exceptionally annoying, and not unique. I thought 8th grade was over, please. Apparently not. My friend and I were irked that they did a synchronized, uncreative dance behind Kate while she sang an upbeat song. Said we, "Get off the stage because you have boring and sheep-like dance moves." My friend and I longed to be up there dancing, not only because we enjoy creativity but also because Kate said it pleased her when she saw people dancing in the audience. There were only a few of us.

Ironically, it was an all ages show, so there were a lot of middle-aged mothers and their preteen/early teen daughters. I can't imagine they had a very good time, but in a very German schadenfreude way I found that slightly funny. Nonetheless I was of course discontent overall, but it did only cost $5. Still...Kate Nash, really? I don't mean to sound bitter but these are my honest ponderings.

The only really nice thing Kate said to the crowd was "I like it when they have the lights on you. You can see how beautiful you are."

The One and Only Magical Sia

Just got to see this fantastically quirky woman in concert this past weekend. Absolutely and totally in love, I am...she covered all the microphones and sound system in adorable crocheted blankets, while the stage was covered in rainbow colors and other arts-and-craftsy materials.

At the end of the concert, Sia returned for an encore wearing bright pink wings which spun and blew soapy bubbles at the audience. I was only 10 feet away from her and she gave many opportunities for heckling (in a sweet way). During the bubble period, I yelled "Playground!" as a request for said song. "Oh, you're nice. But no, sorry," she smiled in her charming Australian accent.

**Sigh!!** Enjoy this crazy colorful video from a song on her new album, to be released within the month.

"I Don't Need a Man"...PCD?

I really don't need a man. ;) Thus when the Pussycat Dolls' "I Don't Need a Man" came up on my iTunes shuffle (currently playing), my reaction was "Yesss! Just what I'm in the mood for! Female (queer?) empowerment, woot woot!" Granted, I did once own the album PCD; I have seen their music videos and listened to their other songs and very much understand that they aren't exactly the most feminist group. Therefore, my faith in them was far too idealistic. Nonetheless, I thought, "Ooh, maybe there's a video for this song! Surely it'll be slightly more female-friendly than they usually are."



I couldn't be more disappointed. Actions speak more loudly than words, even if it is a damn catchy song. The video in fact reasserts the popularly asserted need for a male gaze, as the women seductively sneak sexy glances at the camera. While trying really hard to turn you on, they take a shower, blow dry their hair, and go to the hair salon (why do your hair twice in one day?!). Not only that, but the viewers also see their naked silhouettes as they change clothes, noticeably bras. In case you thought it was over, they proceed to smilingly dance around, skimpily clad like strippers. Ever see RENT? The resemblance couldn't be more obvious.



Having almost completed a course on the sociology of sexuality, I am not advocating the left-feminist censorship argument. For those of you who aren't familiar with that, my interpretation of said idea is that women's bodies should be hidden, because any demonstration of ownership of sexuality is offensive and automatically degrading to women. In my opinion, such an attitude can lead to further patriarchal (i.e., men's) control over women's bodies to extremely detrimental effect. However, I don't argue that all women should dress like the Pussycat Dolls did in this video. They're definitely dressed to please a certain audience.

I don't agree with calling the PCD offensive names. Keep in mind: Who are the producers? Who are the choreographers? What desires and expectations drive the market? Ugh. Simultaneously, the women do presumably possess a degree of freedom over their lives. Hence it is unproductive both to blame and to victimize the women. It's critical to recall that women should be able to choose how to represent themselves physically, sexually, etc. This video doesn't seem to do a great job of allowing a variety of independent self-expression in those areas. The irony of the whole video is that it ends with the PCD holding their fists in the air, a historic gesture of solidarity and empowerment. It's disheartening that such a valuable message as "I don't need a man", full of spunk and potential, is massively distorted and trivialized in this video.