| dc.description.abstract | Glam rock, though considered by many music critics chiefly as a historical movement, is a sensibility which is appropriated frequently in the present moment. Its original icons were overwhelmingly male—pattern being subverted in both contemporary iterations of glam and the music industry as a whole. Fluid portrayals of gender, performative sexuality, camp, and vibrant, eye-catching visuals are among the most identifiable traits which signify the glam style, though science fiction also serves as a common thread between many glam stars, both past and present. The superficial linkages between artists like David Bowie, Prince, Janelle Monae, and St. Vincent provide a useful framework for analyzing the evolution of glam as not only a musical tendency but also an agent of social change. Though the original '70s glam movement championed fluidity and non-traditional identification on predominantly visual terms, its female-fueled rebirth has embraced politics along with performativity. Its representative capacity has improved, which is likely a symptom of the changing political climate; difference is accepted and portrayed more broadly across the global stage—progressivity bolstered by most modern appropriations of glam. | |
