Rock n Roll and pigeon holes.....

Hello there again....  today's post was triggered off by a good friend of mine taking a peek at the list of albums I currently have stored on my new phone. While scrolling through the somewhat large list with, all the appropriate nods and mutters of approval she suddenly exclaimed........

Well I hardly think that's your kind of music!!...........

Rock chock huh!!




Well people that know me in real life will know that I do absolutely love rock music, loud guitars, drums, black eyeliner, all things Gothic and have many gorgeous tattoo's and (currently red) very bright hair, so it could be fair to say I am a bit of a rock/goth/hippy chic... Now in that description on its own I have identified 3 separate stereotypes, each of which I'm sure you could some up a mental picture of If you tried. Now there is nothing wrong with the use of stereotypes as such, being a student of psychology ( another hobby) I have found out that the mind needs stereotypes to quickly process information about a person in order to determine how to behave towards that person ( if you had no stereotype for what a policeman was, how would you know who to look for if you needed help??) .... the problem with stereotypes is when they develop into prejudices. Instead of being a set of indicators to give a person a rough idea about what a person may be like, stereotypes are developed into a set of ridged inflexible rules about what a person is and how they must behave. this prejudice leads to individuals being pigeon holed.

What is a chaemo??

The prejudice that develops from stereotyping is evident in all warps of life, but as this blog began about music, i will restrict myself to talking solely about that.... So what exactly is a chaemo and how does it relate to pigeon holing in music??  well this is a definition my two teenage boys have come up with to describe their music tastes as they (like their mother) refuse to conform to traditional musical stereotypes ( the need to classify themselves at all is quite sad though i feel) and reflects their love of hardcore Drum and Bass (chave music) alongside their love of a certain style of rock music known as Emo (emotive rock).  this new classification of music style they have invented allows them to express their tastes in music as well as the style of dress they wear (black clothes adorned with chav bling and the all important baseball cap!!) However should they at some point in the future find themselves listening appreciatively to the likes of Beyonce or The Saturdays, well they are going to run the risk of  being derided by their fellow 'chaemos'.

I  myself have never  believed I should be defined either in the way I dress, act or the music I listen to by a particular stereotype, and have always loved a wide variety of music from the likes of Adele and The Scissor Sisters, to Green Day and Foo Fighters, although it is obvious that others still try to put me in specific pigeon holes.  And to anyone who says that the particular selection of bands I listen to have nothing in common I say this, "they are all bands I like, that is what they have ( and all they need to have) in common".

 And just in case you were wondering, the offending album that sparked this blog was the delightful and incredibly talented Mika...) 

Sooo..... that's my blog for today, do you feel that you are stereotyped or pigeon holed by the styles of music you like, or would I find your music collection even more eclectic than my own....Please add a comment and let me know what you think......

See you all soon,  Tracey XX