Analysis of discourses on gender relations in popular music

Abstract

Music is very present in our society. It’s privileged cultural expression and it reflects social dynamics. Also, it’s a constituent element of identification of groups and a way of socialization. This article explores the role of changing gender relations in popular music lyrics from 1966 to 2017. This research analyzed 1307 songs of “Los 40”. “Los 40” is the most listened to music radio station in Spain. We have used a quealitative method, critical analysis of discourse (Fairclough y Wodak, 1997; Van Dijk, 2000; Meyer, 2003). We use this method because we want to describe the reality and demystify the statements. Our results show that there are three interpretative repertoires: (1) Romantic love, that explain a long-term relationships, heartbreak and infidelity; (2) Hedonistic love, that its discursive strategies are short-term relationships and parties; (3) Harmful love. The discussion suggests that nowadays hedonistic love is most repesented in song. There are many feminine stereotypes in song. The construction of Harmful love has not changed over the years.