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Glam Semiotics Essay

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Glam Semiotics Essay
Glam emerged from psychedelic and art rock scenes of late 60s early 70s.
Semiotics in this context is how musicians/artists use image and other forms of communication to convey the meaning of their art.
According to Fabbri’s theory, the glam semiotics are as follows:
-Challenging gender typing
-Escapist image/persona
-Achieving image through heavy use of cosmetics and fashion
Glams image was very shocking to the audience and one of the reasons why it could be so impactful was because the glam rock generation was one of the first to be socialised/televised.
The most notable thing about glams image is the challenging of gender stereotypes. Glam rockers such as Marc Bolan (T-rex) and David Bowie would confuse audience regarding their gender.
…show more content…
Like many form of music, glam seems to be a rebellious form of music. The rebellion is mainly against confirmative sexuality. The feminine image captures everything these artists are trying to say. Franco Fabbri’s definition of the behavioural rule is “Many of these studies are aimed at the psychology of musicians, in particular concert performers, orchestral musicians or session men, whose reactions when faced with an audience or an unknown score were analysed. However, the audience also has psychological and behavioural reactions codified from genre to genre.”
Kings of Glam (2006) highlighted that acts such as T-Rex and David Bowie showed that “men and boys could really dress up and still attract women”
Therefore they didn’t have to worry about people judging them, as it was part of the culture at the time. The performers dressed in an effeminate manner wore make-up and were seen as outrageous by many people. Glam Rock sought to defy the emphasis of authenticity placed on rock music ‘Glam not only rejected the hippie rock strategies for authenticity but also rejected the authenticity of the pop star which was based in a fantastic realism legitimated by the desire for the ideologically based ideal.’
(Stratton,J.

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