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[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Sparked by a familiar controversy rearing its head on The Lex's LJ, I thought maybe a poll would help us get further into this question. (Let's not go all ILM here, please.)

[Poll #663010]

The underlying question maybe:"Is it important for your consumption of music to reflect your social and political beliefs?" (another old ILM favourite). When the choice to be made is a negative one, a lot of people say "yes" - someone who hates homophobia may well boycott records by an act they see as homophobic. But my guess is people who believe in racial equality don't make 'positive' choices to support that in their music consumption (for instance). And why should they, if they don't like the music? But I think it's an interesting area.

Comments

[plumsbitch.livejournal.com]

(I had on idea, being only an occasional ILM lurker, that this was the 'standard qu'. I may to have investigate ILM more thoroughly)

Roughly what Alex/Zenith said.

Aesthetic taste doesn't exist in a vacuum from society and therefore I think it's useful to critique one's own aesthetic choices and keep an eye out for inadvertent/unthinking bigotry/assumption being playedo ut in that field.

Also I am aware that I don't buy/download that many records made by people who share my 'ethinicity'/ethnic identity. That's partly because my music taste has generally been more inclined to popular Anglo/Americaon rooted stuff, and there's not much British Asian presence there.

(Different case with the 'classical' stuff I listen to, there's a pretty much 50/50 split there bewteen Western and Non-western, for want of a less crude division)

I also know that I got wildly excited during the two short periods in my music fan lifetime when British Asian visibility in some music scenes briefly happenened : the bleed from riot grrrl/queercore with people like the Voodoo Queens/Cornershp, and the (spit)New Asian Kool thing, with Nitin et al.

Which is a neat eg of where aesthetic taste isn't distinct from the society in which it grows up, as for me music is an environment, like a fair few others, where I don't expect to see my ethnicity to be reflected unless I go looking for it, where I'm generally the only BA in the village.

The gender this is connected but different. Will have a think about that.

[plumsbitch.livejournal.com]

there is also the complicated question of subcultural relationships/the 'crabs in the barrel' situ.

Like, I used to go to a small queer dancehall night in London called Batty Boy. Which always struck me as a weird/great/fascinating reclaming thing. (Fucking great night as well!) But was I/were the people involved just extending stereotypes rather than undermining them?