Gendered Sound by Marie Thompson

Thompson brings to the afore, the often overlooked topic regarding sound and gender, specifically human or autonomous sound that is not attached to a body or form. The essay is broken into three sections being Gendered-sound discourses, Gendered-sound production/reception and Policing gendered-sound.

Key points taken away from the opening section dissect the Eurocentric notion of a ‘neutral’ voice; ‘satnavs are often associated in the popular imagination with that is understood as neutral (i.e white, middle class) feminine voice.

MY POINTS/EXPANDING

1. Gendered sound is not just restricted to sound itself, we can also expand this notion to the equipment used in studios i.e male and female wires. Also certain websites such as GearSlutz being an example of the male dominance within sound practice and enterprise.
2. Following on from the above-Traditionally, in the west the playing of music or producing of sound (for an audience) on a macro scale was reserved for children and young women. Reciting famous classical pieces to guests almost autonomously, the division between art and business is traditionally structured around gender stereotypes. Unsurprisingly, the creation of the work remained with the aristocratic, white male composer, yet the amateur reproduction was for the women. It seems that even when examining ‘the creation of sound’, traditionally we cannot escape from personifying heterosexual reproduction. Thompson touches on this idea from the start; ‘The instructive voice of the GPS systems, or ‘sat nav’ has become an audible presence in many people’s everyday lives. These navigation devices offer a range of ‘male’ and ‘female’ automated voices…If gender is something that pertains to bodily difference and body-world relations, then it might seem problematic to describe the disembodied, automated voice, such as that of the sat nav, as ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’. ————> Abstract Analysis and comment:

While travelling on the Piccadilly line heading to Covent Garden, this line being one of the deepest subways underground in London, a crackled automated female voice announces the upcoming destination. In response to Thompsons essays and my own thinking, by restricting the gendered autonomous voice from a body or form, the manufactures are instead enclosing the voice within something. Essentially trapping the female voice within an object or code. Now, some may claim that dissecting certain aspects of modern society from a literary perspective (in my case personification) is far-fetched and borderline conspiracy. Yet, since studying sound arts, my ears have been opened up to the calculating methods of harnessing sound for control, and, the way governments, police forces and the wealthy secretly impose these auditory barricades onto its consumers, clients and public.

Ocular and Auditory Control

The general public (on the whole) is aware of control through sight/vision–24 hour news reels, elections, the internet and CCTV are all forms of ocular-sensory control. Though many may not realise the biased opinions and views written into tv dramas, soaps and documentaries and branding, the CCTV camera is the overarching (known) symbol of ocular-sensory control. And we accept this in return for our safety.

However if we examine the other end of the spectrum, Auditory-Sensory Control-tools such as Muzak, Sound Bombs, Noise-Cancelling Headphones, Sonic Deterrents etc. The known practice and implications of the above tools are widely unspoken about, and in most cases unknown to the general public. Therefore, the use of a female voice in certain objects and envorments such as a Sat Nav or in the underground are all forms of oppressive, control and subjugation. Think about the hundreds of young children that travel on the underground during the school holidays, exposed to the voices of robotic females underground. What sort of longterm association of a specific sound does this ensue on a young, growing mind?

It is important to note that most modern personal tech such as phones, tablets and SAT Nav’s now afford the user the ability to change the voice, therefore the auditory-sensory control methods used to marginalise gender come in the form of public announcements and tech.