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Originating from the Latin for deity or goddess, our concept of what a 'diva' might be - or should be - has evolved in richness and complexity. Delving into the personas of performers from Sarah Bernhardt to Rihanna, this book looks at what it has meant to be a diva, and what unites and defines these unique artists. Opening with 19th-century opera stars and 20th-century silent-screen sirens, it then focuses on different aspects of divadom: from Hollywood icons such as Elizabeth Taylor and Bette Davis cultivating their image to the activism of artists such as Billie Holiday and Miriam Makeba; from the acumen shown by Dolly Parton and Beyonce to the development of radical new musical identities by Madonna, Missy Elliot and Lady Gaga; from new ways of performing gender and sexuality by Tina Turner, Freddie Mercury and Grace Jones to the tensions between public and private experience by the likes of Amy Winehouse and Liza Minnelli.
Why has music so often served as an accomplice to transcendent expressions of gender? Why did the query "is he musical?" become code, in the twentieth century, for "is he gay?" Why is music so inherently queer? For Sasha Geffen, the answers lie, in part, in music’s intrinsic quality of subliminal expression, which, through paradox and contradiction, allows rigid gender roles to fall away in a sensual and ambiguous exchange between performer and listener. Glitter Up the Dark traces the history of this gender fluidity in pop music from the early twentieth century to the present day. Starting with early blues and the Beatles and continuing with performers such as David Bowie, Prince, Missy Elliot, and Frank Ocean, Geffen explores how artists have used music, fashion, language, and technology to break out of the confines mandated by gender essentialism and establish the voice as the primary expression of gender transgression. From glam rock and punk to disco, techno, and hip-hop, music helped set the stage for today’s conversations about trans rights and recognition of nonbinary and third-gender identities. Glitter Up the Dark takes a long look back at the path that led here.
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