Liv Quist Christensen, Jennifer Branlat

“You should be more cute, you know”: cuteness and negotiations of power in Japanese vocal jazz

Introduction

“you should be more cute, you know”: cuteness and negotiations of power in japanese vocal jazz. Analyze cuteness and power in Japanese vocal jazz. This study investigates gender, identity, and social meaning-making among musicians in a male-dominated field, revealing social dynamics.

Abstract

Jazz has for a long time been a male dominated field and is to a great extend produced as a hegemonic masculine project still today. In this study, our focus is on the social context of music performance in Japan, rather than on an analysis of jazz music itself. We attempt to understand musicians’ meaning making processes: the ways in which they talk about their music, manage identity-related tensions, and ultimately how musicians make sense of their experiences on and off stage. Studying the social context around music therefore provides insight into social history itself, into different constellations of gender organization available at any given moment, whether these are hegemonic or resistant.

Review

This paper proposes a highly engaging and timely exploration at the intersection of gender studies, ethnomusicology, and cultural studies. The title itself is captivating, immediately signalling a qualitative approach and a focus on specific, potentially nuanced power dynamics within Japanese vocal jazz, a context often overlooked in broader jazz scholarship. The abstract clearly articulates a commendable shift away from purely musical analysis to a much-needed investigation into the social context of performance, aiming to unpack musicians' meaning-making processes and identity negotiations. This approach promises to shed light on how globalized genres like jazz are reinterpreted and performed within specific cultural matrices, particularly through the critical lens of gender and power. The stated focus on "musicians’ meaning making processes: the ways in which they talk about their music, manage identity-related tensions, and ultimately how musicians make sense of their experiences on and off stage" provides a strong conceptual foundation. It effectively positions the study as a critical inquiry into "gender organization available at any given moment, whether these are hegemonic or resistant." While the abstract clearly states the focus is *not* on music analysis, a brief articulation in the full paper of how "cuteness" as an aesthetic is perceived by musicians and audiences, and how it is deployed as a strategy or imposed as an expectation, could significantly strengthen the analysis of power without diverging from the social focus. Further clarification on the specific qualitative methodologies employed (e.g., ethnographic observation, in-depth interviews, discourse analysis) would also enhance the abstract's methodological clarity. This study holds significant potential to contribute to several academic fields. It moves beyond conventional examinations of jazz to address how gendered expectations and culturally specific aesthetics, such as "cuteness," are negotiated within professional performance ecologies. By focusing on Japan, it offers crucial insights into non-Western interpretations of a Western-originated genre, enriching our understanding of transcultural music practices and gendered labor. Ultimately, the research promises to illuminate broader socio-historical patterns of gender organization, making a valuable contribution to scholarship on popular music, cultural studies, and the sociology of gender, with implications for understanding agency and constraint within creative industries.

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