Hi, my music lovers, as we all know March is also Women’s History month and to celebrate this month I am about to tell you about the importance of Black female artists during the Harlem Renaissance. I will then focus on Bessie Smith her music and the analysis of the movie St. Louis Blues, one of the most influential, controversial pieces of art that offered the audience one of the most memorable, groundbreaking and timeless performances by the music icon Bessie Smith.
“The “other side” has not been represented by one who “lives there”. And not many can more sensibly realize and more accurately tell the weight and the fret of the “long dull pain” than the open-eyed but hitherto voiceless black woman of America.”
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural, artistic, musical, a literary movement that took place after World War I in the USA. Starting from the 1920s the United States went through a cultural, political, social and intellectual transformation. New technologies, the expansion of democracy and jazz music came to mark the beginning of this new era. In this historical background the African American artistic, musical and literary movement, the Harlem Renaissance occurred. With the blossoming of arts, black people explored the challenges of being black in an anti-black society.
During this period, women had a huge impact that went beyond the home sphere, being indeed the fulcrum of the black community. Therefore, they found new opportunities to work outside the home, taking on roles that were previously held by men and lastly challenging racism and discrimination. That is to say that females in the Harlem Renaissance did not limit themselves to one aspect of transformation but they challenged and redefined many aspects of society. Moreover, the culture of jazz was defined in the development of a homosocial network that enabled musicians to acquire knowledge, develop skills and refine their musical voices. Hence, the jam sessions were mainly a masculine space where women were rarely venturing unaccompanied and found only a range of limited opportunities. I will begin this paper by explaining briefly how females positioned themselves in the history of the Harlem Renaissance and the perception African American women had of themselves. In the next paragraph, I will attempt to describe the issues addressed in African American blues lyrics then trying to engage critically with the articles discussed. In the next paragraph, I will address the issue of hyper masculinity in jazz clubs. Lastly, I will propose the short movie St. Louis Blues as a case study. The movie featured the artist Bessie Smith as the main character. I will attempt to analyze the film and the role and impact Bessie Smith has played in it, stereotypes reinforced in the movie, the reception of the film by the critiques.
Women in the History of the Harlem Renaissance
During the Harlem Renaissance black women were underrepresented and thus the majority of the recognized artistic contributors to this period were black males. However, African American women also played a key role during the Renaissance. During the Renaissance, women expanded their roles to include leadership, administrative and political involvement. With access to the vote, black women intensified their efforts to address the negative factors they were facing such as the violent, segregated and hypocritical American legal and social system. As the century progressed, black females continued to claim their own inclusion regarding women’s suffrage, challenge industry and unions regarding equal pay and employment and take on more leadership roles in religious and community organizations. By 1919 black women made huge progress in industry and economic ventures and many of them found employment in venues other than domestic workers. Even though black women were still bound by racism and defined and limited by oversexualized gender stereotypes and perceived limited intellectual abilities, they managed to maintain their roles as activists and advocates encouraging a feminist perspective and the idea of self-respect and self-dependence. During the Harlem Renaissance era, black women broke racist and sexist barriers and stereotypes of the past and came together in the struggle and fight for equal rights and justice. Moreover, artistic expression covered by African American women covered the gamut of creativity which went from painting to sculpting to theater, music, and dance through which they were facing the barriers in every aspect of American society and changing how they were perceived as citizens and partners.
The perception of African American females in the Harlem Renaissance
According to various publications by A. Philip Randolph on The Messenger under a write-in section in 1927, during the Harlem renaissance African American women’s primary desires were to remain home and be mothers and wives. However, on the other hand, in the same pages of The Messenger, black women juxtaposed their desires of being wives and mothers to their needs for education, leadership, recognition, self-actualization, self-determination, opportunity and equality. Moreover, while male writers constructed literature that envisioned an idealized and stereotypical image of black women as maternal, exotic and nurturing others, their female counterparts through their arts presented the opposite opinion, self-definitions, and outrage against the projected identity constructions. That is to say, that unlike the identity pre-constructed by males and society, African American women saw themselves and wished other people could see them in the scope of gender nonconformism moving away from gender expectations and advancing their careers and preferring to work. Thus, black women redefined their core and conduct, starting with their own need to rebel and redefining the act of silencing. Indeed, women, especially black females, have always been expected to suffer in silence at the hands of patriarchy. That was why women used their arts, to make the dominant majority to listen to them. Moreover, arts and music, in particular, were used to give voice to their outrage over racial injustices and forced gender expectations. Last but not least, arts and music were used by African American women as a means to define themselves in contrast to how society has always constructed them.
Blues seen from African American women’s point of view
As stated in the previous paragraph, African- American women used music as a means to give voice to their outrage over racial injustices, abuse, and poverty. The themes in Black female artists’ songs were generally the same as those of men’s. Indeed, the issues addressed were poverty, injustice, infidelity, abuse, and love. Moreover, some blues were a response to the hard times black people were experiencing. For instance, in Bessie Smith’s music, one of the central themes treated was poverty as it can be seen in the eloquent song “Poor man Blues”. In the song, the artist makes some statements about the cruel irony of poverty in the land of riches. Another artist who addressed the issue of poverty was Ida Cox with the song “Hard Times Blues”, where the artist described the struggles endured from losing the two jobs that eventually led her to poverty. Furthermore, the topics of infidelity and lost love and abuse were recurring in blues lyrics such as in Victoria Spivey’s song’s Blood Hound Blues. Indeed, through the lyrics the artist dealt with the conflict of torn love and pain, describing how she poisoned her man who abused her. The topic of vindication was also very common in blues songs and the image of vengeful women who acted out their violence was often cast in a prison setting. Additionally, songs such as Court House Blues by Clara Smith, Jail House Blues by Bessie Smith and Worried Jailhouse Blues by Bertha “Chippie” Hill, recounted the horrid conditions of prison life and the huge effect it had on women’s physical and mental well-being. According to the academic Angela Y. Davis, Bessie Smith through her music allowed us to make the case for female enunciators of a historical consciousness that elevated women’s lives to a position of equal importance as men. Therefore, for African American people Bessie Smith became the shaper of their identity and consciousness, especially for black women. The artist by drawing from her personal life gave a reality-oriented allusion of the social and cultural issues black people were experiencing. Moreover, not only were African-American blues singers perceived as a recording artist, but most importantly they achieved their fame and cultural influence through their spectacular live performances, their charismatic personalities, their financial independence, and their prominent public figures, and last but not least, their reputation of being exquisite artists and performers.
The rise of jazz clubs and the Hyper-Masculinity
After the end of World War began a huge proliferation of illegal clubs, taverns and “speakeasies”, where alcohol could be consumed in defiance of the U.S law. Jazz and blues were, therefore, the perfect complement to this rebellious spirit. Two of the biggest nightclubs were the Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom. The two clubs had different approaches in addressing the issue of race. The Cotton Club soon became one of the most glamourous and notorious clubs and was owned by the prohibitionist Owen Madden. The club also boasted the appearances of some of the era’s greatest entertainers such as Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and Fletcher Henderson. However, the manager established a strict whites policy, as a matter of fact, the only black people allowed into the club were waiters, cooks, and entertainers. Even though the Cotton Club was one of the most popular, according to Cab Calloway, it had an atmosphere that reeked racism. Eventually, after many riots, the Cotton Club closed forever. On the other hand, the Savoy Ballroom was treasured by the people of Harlem. The club became extremely popular among the African American people, especially for its policy. Indeed, the ballroom was open to people of all colors and classes and this contributed hugely to make it extremely appreciated and popular. Unlike the Cotton Club in the Savoy Ballroom performed some of the most famous female artists such as Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. During the Harlem Renaissance women went through some major issues such as racism, hypersexualization, and sexism. Not only did they experience such a dreadful situation at home but also at work especially in Jazz clubs. Indeed, the culture of jazz was defined in the development of homosocial networks and therefore the development of the male musician. Thus, the jam session between jazz musicians was mostly a masculine space that male artists often inhabited to create their own character and to act self-actualization and acquisition of knowledge. The jam sessions allowed artists to interact socially however they only benefitted male artists. Moreover, according to the jazz trumpeter Clora Bryant, women rarely ventured into jazz clubs unaccompanied. Furthermore, despite their broad musical education and knowledge, female instrumentalists “steered clear of the jam sessions”. Additionally, those female artists who ventured into the performing arenas, found only limited opportunities to succeed. Hence, the jam sessions became the center of knowledge acquisition. Indeed, the act of knowing became hugely important for black female musicians for the development of personal consciousness and the skills necessary to traverse male spaces, for instance, the jam session and bandstand. Furthermore, another of the major issues that black women artists experienced in jazz clubs were racism and the hypersexualization and objectification of their bodies. The race was indeed one of the salient factors in jazz clubs. Indeed, female artists had a difficult time in being allowed into the club, as the membership was restricted only to light-skinned African American women who were allegedly more attractive to the white clientele. Moreover, artists such as Bessie Smith and Big Mama Thornton became popular as they were attributed to the common cultural stereotypes of Mammies, Aunt-Jemima’s and Jezebels which were linked to the hyper-sexualization of African American females bodies. Moreover, artists such as Ella Fitzgerlad began her career as a canary girl-next-door with a lovely voice who served mainly as a decorative function who was also seen as the epitome of feminine image. As a matter of fact, women instrumentalists had to consciously and carefully display femininity while constantly proving their instrumental talent, which was something only female artists, especially black female artists, had to endure and thus one of the major issues.
Case study on Bessie Smith and St. Louis Blues
The short movie is a perfect example that represents how women were represented during the renaissance and the stereotypes they were subjected to. The film starts with Bessie finding out her lover Jimmy Mordecai, cheating on her with another woman. Despite Bessie’s begging him to stay, he chose not to. In the rest of the short movie the artist carries her grief to the jazz club where she starts singing acapella and then followed by the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra playing on stage. Eventually, after Bessie stops singing, the band picks up the tempo and everyone starts dancing. When Jimmy enters the saloon, he tricks Bessie into dancing with him just to steal her money and then threw her back to the bar, leaving her to continue singing alone on her barstool. The 15 minutes movie premiered in New York in 1929 and it starred an all-black-actors cast. Bessie Smith was the main character of the movie and she was handpicked personally by the composer W.C Handy to sing his song “St. Louis Blues”. At its release the movie received mixed critics. Indeed, for instance, the film was considered one of the finest African American movies up to that time. Contrary to the positive critiques, Donald Bogle criticized the movie as “marred by its white director’s overstatement”. Additionally, Angela Davis in 1989, criticized the movie for incorporating an overabundance of racist stereotypes and furthermore for disregarding the spirit of women’s blues by leaving the victimized woman with no recourse. I find the movie extremely relevant, as it raised awareness and consciousness on the social conditions of class exploitation, racism and male dominance which are seen through the eyes of the main character of the film, Bessie Smith. Moreover, the performance of Bessie Smith makes clear that the song is addressing the habit of females being exploited by men. Furthermore, the movie was used as a means to articulate racial instability in the characterization of women who were viewed as a problem in terms of their morality and sexuality. In addition to that, in the movie, it is displayed a recognition of two female archetypes: the abandoned woman, who in this case was Bessie Smith and the sexual temptress. The two stereotypes are seldom competing with each other for the attention of a male. Moreover, another stereotype displayed in the movie was Bessie Smith teetering on the edge of alcoholic decline. This stereotype might also be connected to the historical period the artists were living, as prohibitionist laws were still effective in the USA during the 1920s. Therefore, African-American people were subjected to this stereotype. Furthermore, another of the stereotypes reinforced in the movie, is that the man’s interests are seldom overlooked and in an in-group struggle the “yaller gal” is most likely to be the victor of the fight.
Conclusions
With this paper, I attempted to explore the role played by African American women in the Harlem Renaissance. Beginning from the historical background which was used to contextualize the topic discussed. I attempted to explain the perception African American women had of themselves which was in contrast with the perception of their counterparts connecting then the paragraph to the main reasons why women created arts, specifically music. Connected to the previous paragraph, the next one is centered on the comparison of three articles. The first two were focused on the analysis and the description of some blues lyrics which addressed some important issues African American women were experiencing. The third article was focused on the analysis of the previous two, addressing the issue of some important missing information. In the next paragraph, I attempted to address the issue of hypermasculinity in jazz clubs. Eventually, the last paragraph is a case study of the movie St. Louis Blues. With this paper, it has been seen that African- American women were seldom subjected to stereotypes, abuse, and poverty, and these issues were addressed in female artist’s songs and for some aspects in the movie analyzed. Despite the situation of abuse, racism, and segregation female artists were experiencing, it has been seen that African American female musicians were not just seen as simple recording artists, but they achieved influence through their strong and charismatic personalities, their financial independence, and their prominent public figures, and last but not least, their reputation of being exquisite artists and performers. Last but not least, the movie analyzed was the perfect case study that summarized and proved the central issue addressed in the paper. In fact, in the short movie, can be found the reinforcement of some stereotypes such as the battle between two females for the attention of a man, African American people turning to alcohol as a coping mechanism, men choosing the “yaller gal”, women being portrayed as sexual temptresses and therefore as an issue, and last but not least women being abandoned by their men and being left with no recourse. However, despite the nuanced critiques it received, the film allowed the public to catch a glimpse on the environment related to jazz clubs and most importantly, according to Chris Albertson, it represents the only footage that pictures the artist Bessie Smith and her live performances.
Thank you for your attention❤️ G✨
Music Addiction 