Gender, Sexuality and Tokio Hotel
As much as the MTV EMA’s filled me with disillusion (see previous article here), my first glimpse at the German rock-pop band Tokio Hotel provided me with some mindful stimulation.
I had only recently heard of this band through an acquaintance as we discussed the merits (and faults) of Germany’s music scene one night at an art opening in Dusseldorf. His description left me curious but nonetheless uninspired. I left the conversation with the feeling that another teenie pop-rock band was enjoying some success in an mostly prosaic music world. And truly, subsequent listenings of the band’s music has not convinced me of any profound ability. Nevertheless, what I do find profound is the ability of the band’s lead singer, Bill Kaulitz, to bend gender so fabulously.
Sexuality and rock music have a symbiotic relationship hinged by the performance of gender. In the history of rock and roll, sexuality surfaces as a major component in its appeal, longevity and controversy. In direct relation, the capability of an artist to display both normative and non-normative gender performance provides the foundation for this sexuality. Thus, rock music has been a sort of acceptable playground for gender and sexuality. From Ziggy Stardust to Grace Jones to Dead or Alive to Annie Lennox to Boy George to Madonna to the Cure to the Rocky Horror Picture Show to…well, the list goes on and on, popular rock has allowed flexibility in the performance of gender. Which, to say the least, is interesting given our continual inflexibility as we move through a normal day. Many questions arise from this dynamic situation in relation to how we determine whether gender is a performance or an innate component to our identity.
Given the popular acceptance of gender bending on-stage, gender seems to be established in the minds of the population as separate from identity; a performance one ‘puts on’ and ‘takes off’ like make-up and not completely fused to our bodies (which, as has been argued by many queer theorists and feminists is gender). Such a case could be made for many of the artists mentioned above. However, this is what makes the lead singer of Tokio Hotel so interesting. In watching him on stage at the EMA’s, it would be difficult to say his gender play is not a part of his identity. It ‘feels’ like him. It is ‘him’ without the presence of irony or show or fantastic display. I was captivated by the entire scene as well as the group’s huge fan base of teenage girls. What does this say about the continual negotiation we have with our gender identity and our sexuality in the modern world? And, what does this say about how gender and sexuality is emerging within the next generation? As we continue to watch these performances play out and ebb and flow with the tides of trends, we shall find out.
Tags: Tokio Hotel, EMA’s, Gender, Sexuality, Rock, Music
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