The recent discussion on gender identity, while insightful, has left me confused and with a lot of questions. It has been constructive in that I no longer know what is ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ because of a growing awareness of the constructedness of these forms. I have chosen to further explore these questions and the issue of gender as a construction and a performance through Annie Lennox, an artist I grew up listening to. I have a dynamic relationship with her and her music. My memory of her in her early career and in my youth is filled with images of her in a suit, red-lip stick and heavy eye-makeup. Because she was so admired by my mother and older sister, I chose not to entertain questions about her curious dress. My mom is a clothing designer who finds a lot of influence in mens-wear. Her admiration of Lennox (along with my inability as a youth to grasp the message of her music, vocal style, and dress) made her simply stylish and cool in my mind. Now of course I can admire her for much more. But I value having grown up admiring  a female musician who wasn’t a sex symbol and who was constantly changing her identity. In her early work as a one of two members of the Eurhythmics as the lead singer and focal point in performace with a male backup performer is the less talked about but still blatant subversion of stereotypical gender roles in pop music.

Though Lennox is often described as simply ‘androgynous’, I would argue that it is more the assumption of characters, both male and female, that are central to her performance. In other words, she is more effective in her challenge to the construction of gender by constantly changing her identity, via performances, music videos, album covers, and award show appearances,  rather than employing a gender-neutral look. In entering the pop world as a member of the Eurhythmics, Lennox was concious of and uncomfortable with being  pigeon-holed into a sexualised female. Early on in her career she presented a number of characters that were based on gender stereotypes. Always present is the tension between sexual freedom and repression.

In the video for ‘Love is a Stranger’ which comments on obsession with love and loss of self-control, she transforms from a woman to a man. She starts out as call-girl, forms in  and a dominatrix (each transition ending with a de-wigging), into the man who buys their services, and finally into a puppet being controlled by Stewart. She gives life to each character, while the transformation reveals the absurdity of their constructedness, while simultaneously under-mining them.

In the video for “Sweet Dreams”, Lennox and band-mate Dave Stewart donned matching suits, and Lennox revealed her short orange hair. In the 1980’s it was fairly common for men to dress in a drag convincingly. Her red lip stick and eye make up make you question whether she is a man in female drag or a female in male drag. Her movements are what would be read as masculine. While the suit hides any indication of a female body, I read this for so long as heightening her femeninity based on residual sentiments about her as a fashionista in my youth. I think you could still argue that while she is blurring gender lines, she may or may not be seen as taking on a different sort of sexuality in her performance.

Lennox employs vocal and musical styles that  do not fall into neat female pop star slots. In “Sweet Dreams”  her voice is recognizable as a female, but the majority of the sung lyrics are in a lower, chestier voice with a narrow range and backed by an even, steady and heavy synthesized beat. This is juxtaposed by more sweeping, higher pitches in the background that are still quite powerful sounding but more ‘female’ in their higher range and melodic meandering. The broadening of her vocal range is further testimony to her identity range.

In her later career she moved away from overt masculinity (after generating several male character such as Earl, an Elvis look-alike), as she could no longer rely on the shock that she was not what she appeared to be. She continues to avoid becoming a sex-symbol by employing camp, performing and parodying stereotyped identities humourously and with exaggeration, yet seriously and artfully. She has performed a number of female stereotypes without sticking with one for too long, from butch women and drag-queens to Minnie Mouse, refuting the possibility of a fixed identity and displaying the constructedness and performance of gender.

Lastly,  I think it’s important to point out that Lennox’s female characters are equally as costumed as her male characters-making neither one “natural”. She is powerful nonetheless, without adhering that quality to men or women exclusively. She remains in my mind stylish and cool, all the more so, having grown to appreciate the importance of the elements that made her appear that way to me.