Summarize one of Hesmondhalgh’s examples (a particular artist, song, or genre) of “the ordinary pleasures of music” in the realm of sex and/or love (which could include sexual identity, gender identity, and so forth).

Chapter 3 gives a whirlwind tour of more than 70 years of popular music genres, interpreted from the point of view of issues relating to sex and love. It is a wide-ranging and dense chapter, and perhaps none of us will find ourselves in a position to keep up with it consistently from start to finish. Even so, we can reasonably aim to understand how this “tour” fits into Hesmondhalgh’s sustained effort in this book to emphasize music’s ambivalent ability to contribute to human flourishing and well-being.

Toward this end: Summarize one of Hesmondhalgh’s examples (a particular artist, song, or genre) of “the ordinary pleasures of music” in the realm of sex and/or love (which could include sexual identity, gender identity, and so forth). Also, summarize one of his examples (it could even be the same example) of how such music is complicit in repressing or oppressing people in the realm of sex and/or love.

We are also reading a seminal paper (on Madonna) by Susan McClary. Hesmondhalgh mentions McClary, including the paper on Madonna, briefly on p. 58. Reading the full McClary paper will allow us to see how one scholar’s ideas can get incorporated into the analysis and argument of another. Some of you may choose to use the Madonna example in responding the questions above, in lieu of or in addition to any of Hesmondhalgh’s examples.

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