di·va
ˈdēvə/
noun
a famous female opera singer."your average opera isn't over till the diva trills her high notes" *a famous female singer of popular music. "a pop diva" *a woman regarded as temperamental or haughty. "she's such a diva that she won't enter a restaurant until they change the pictures on the walls to her liking"
As the BBC documentary above shows, the rise of the contemporary pop diva accompanied the rise of second-wave feminism in the United States. With the publication of her highly influential feminist manifesto The Feminine Mystique (1963) and the formation of National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966, Betty Friedan paved the way for First World women to embrace professional identities and free themselves from the confining box of 'the housewife'. With the passing of the Equal Pay Act in 1964, and the establishment of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 1964, Western women established effect means of countering gender discrimination, and began to see themselves as being fully equal to their male counterparts.
As if to signal to evolution of an individualized, singular female personality in the social consciousness, a distinct set of pop divas made themselves heard across the globe. With their larger-than-life vocal abilities, they each delivered powerful and instantly recognizable anthems (which rocketed to the top of the music charts) that displayed vulnerability and strength: Aretha Franklin's "Respect" (1967); Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" (1978); Whitney Houston's cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" (1992); Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" (1997). The era of female pop superstardom had arrived, with a wide range of female musical powerhouses that commanded global recognition with their first name alone: Madonna, Cher, Britney, Xtina, Shakira, Sade, Enya, Beyoncé, Adele, Rihanna, Gaga.
And yet, as Charli XCX's recent documentary and Ke$ha's recent Dr Luke scandal indicates, the music industry (and corporate world at large) is still a men's club. As Grimes and industry insiders note, the formula of a female vocalist/performer + male producer/writer has been an industry stalwart:
“It’s a mostly male perspective – you’re mostly hearing male voices run through female performers. I think some really good art comes of it, but half the population is not really being heard.”
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In 2016, Grimes reveals that there are male producers who demand sexual favors before finishing a song - while Lana Del Rey sings about sleeping with male industry insiders to get a record deal. Women like Rihanna, Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson may rule the airwaves, but their success hinges upon their ability to work with - and for - the men who run the music industry. Men like Phil Spector, Max Martin, Dr Luke, Stargate and Pharell Williams - and the other less famous men seeking to follow their money-making footsteps.
In 2016, double standards still exist. Even female stars of Rihanna's and Adele's statuses are second-guessed about their artistic directions:
"I wanted to ask her about being a young black woman with power in America but it seemed somehow wrong to speak of this; maybe she was postracial now. So I directed my question to a younger Rihanna, and asked if she had suddenly felt aware of race in a different way when she moved to New York.She hesitated, and when I nervously began to apologize, she interrupted.‘‘You know, when I started to experience the difference — or even have my race be highlighted — it was mostly when I would do business deals.’’ Business deals. Meaning that everyone’s cool with a young black woman singing, dancing, partying and looking hot, but that when it comes time to negotiate, to broker a deal, she is suddenly made aware of her blackness. ‘‘And, you know, that never ends, by the way. It’s still a thing. And it’s the thing that makes me want to prove people wrong. It almost excites me; I know what they’re expecting and I can’t wait to show them that I’m here to exceed those expectations.’’ She sounded like a young black professional trying to make it in the corporate world, and I guessed she was — just on a very different scale."
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Enter Grimes - the stage name for Canadian Claire Boucher, who started her music career in Montreal's indie music scene and gained international acclaim with the release of Visions (2012). Oblivion - a song about Boucher's experience of being a sexual assault victim - was listed by Pitchfork as the track of the decade: "what “Oblivion” ultimately offers is victory. It’s the sound of one woman turning personal devastation into not just a career-making single, but a lasting anthem of transformation". "Kill v. Maim", a track from her recent album Art Angels (2015) explores her personal challenges in navigating a male-dominated music industry.
As her extensive profile on The New Yorker notes, Grimes has accomplished a remarkably rare feat. She's managed to retain artistic control over her own pop brand, earning critical and commercial acclaim without having to 'sell herself' to corporate demands - and while articulating a voice that's distinctive for its eclectic genre-blending influences and social commentary on modern sexism:
"Exposure to the corporate music industry has only underscored her skepticism about the way it operates; she declines offers to collaborate with established producers and songwriters, which she sees as backhanded compliments, of a sort rarely paid to similarly accomplished male musicians. “That makes me feel really weird,” Boucher says. She produces and writes all Grimes songs herself, and engineers them, too; she recently taught herself how to insure that a drum machine she likes will sound equally good coming through night-club speakers and earbuds. “I can’t use an outside engineer,” she says. “Because, if I use an engineer, then people start being, like, ‘Oh! That guy just did it all.’ ” Beneath the surface of Boucher’s love of pop lies a political critique."
In 2016, the image of 'diva' behavior as being a self-made woman is as important as ever. Men have always had access to the myth of rugged independence - while women have constantly been reinforced with the importance of an interdependent, communal identity. Grimes may not have the vocal chops of the pop divas that preceded her, but she is nevertheless the contemporary embodiment of the dream that Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem envisioned - an individualistic woman who could take on society on her own terms. Women like Grimes - who are more concerned about the gender wage gap, glass ceilings and cultural sexism than whether they have a thigh gap or not - are the feminists and divas that our generation needs.
“It’s of interest that we never hear anything where no men were involved. But we hear things where no women were involved. [My album] was mixed and mastered by a man. There’s one mastering engineer who is a female, Emily Lazar. I don’t know any female mixers. The whole record was produced, engineered, written, performed by a woman, which is pretty rare. I don’t know if I ever heard a record like that, fully, with vocals on and stuff.”
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