{"id":665,"date":"2013-06-28T10:07:48","date_gmt":"2013-06-28T08:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/?p=665"},"modified":"2013-06-28T10:07:48","modified_gmt":"2013-06-28T08:07:48","slug":"665","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/2013\/06\/28\/665\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

MASCULINITY EMBODIED (AND THOSE MANLY VOICES!)
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Today I need to say something about men\u2019s voices.<\/p>\n

A few years ago I got contacted by an American man with a warm, husky voice, Dave Muldoon, who asked me to help him develop a PhD dissertation on men\u2019s voices \u2013he is himself the voice of Tom Waits in an Italian tribute band (here\u2019s Dave singing live, enjoy!!: http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=j6ySDaqmAjM<\/a> ). I said no to him, worried that the topic was too abstract for the conceptual and theoretical tools we use in Masculinities Studies. I still think this is the case, with much regret. <\/p>\n

We agreed instead to work on a dissertation about the representation of masculinity in a series of biopics about iconic pop and rock male singers. He\u2019s hard at work on it and, funnily, we\u2019ve come full circle as it might well be that the final element he needs to tie up all the diverse films is the fundamental presence of the male singer\u2019s voice. Since the chosen ones are Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Ian Curtis and Johnny Cash there is surely a case to be made about how Dave is, after all, dealing primarily with how male voices articulate a certain image of manliness (I don\u2019t know what to make of the fifth one, Bob Dylan, not a voice I listen to with pleasure).<\/p>\n

I have already mentioned here Joy Division\u2019s suicidal lead singer, Ian Curtis, as a key figure for those of us who were young and wanted to be alternative in the early 1980s. What I didn\u2019t mention is that the contrast between his baby face and his deep, baritone voice was what got all fans hooked. Since he died I have been looking for a replacement (found him!: Paul Banks from Interpol), and paying attention to men\u2019s voices and how they signify masculinity. I\u2019ll acknowledge that I\u2019m rethinking all these matters not only because of Dave\u2019s dissertation but also, oh my!, because of chef Jordi Cruz\u2019s of MasterChef<\/em> fame. There is another angelic, babyish face with an unexpectedly manly, velvety voice.<\/p>\n

Logically, when it comes to male voices I tend to pay attention to performers, whether actors or singers. In Spain we have recently lost Constantino Romero, the most important dubbing actor of recent years. Romero, the kind of chubby, moustachioed man you\u2019d call sweet, dubbed most famously Clint Eastwood, Schwarzenegger\u2019s Terminator, Blade Runner<\/em>\u2019s replicant Roy and Darth Vader. For us \u2018Luke, yo soy tu padre\u2019 comes in his voice \u2013it seems young people used to stop Romero in the street and begged him to say that. Ram\u00f3n Langa is also dubbing male icons like Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis, which of course is annoying because this means that in Spanish most Americans actors you\u2019d identify with action movies and a certain kind of ultra-manly manliness share their voices. I hate dubbing!!<\/p>\n

So, belive me, the reason why I want to see Fast and Furious 6<\/em> in the original version is Vin Diesel\u2019s beautifully manly voice (see the animated film The Iron Giant<\/em> in which he dubs the robot). If you want another example of attractive manly voices, and this one is unusual, believe me, see any episode of the BBC\u2019s Sherlock<\/em> and see what odd-looking Bennedict Cumberbatch brings to the role with what I can only call a voice that makes intelligence sound sexy. More examples? Yes, the perfect father of To Kill a Mockinbird<\/em> (the amazing 1960 classic film) has Gregory Peck\u2019s lovely, serene voice. You want scary? Um, Ralph Fiennes both as Heathcliff and as Voldemort. A feast for your ears… By the way, Clooney\u2019s appealing voice is the reason why the Nespresso adds are not dubbed.<\/p>\n

Recent scholarship in Masculinities Studies by big names such as Jeff Hearn and Victor Seidler insists that we need to understand how masculinity is embodied (as you can see, I myself am more interested in how \u2018manliness\u2019 is embodied \u2013see my essay on Zack Snider\u2019s Spartan film 300<\/em> in my web, section articles in books). Actually, Cultural Studies have been taking a close look at men\u2019s bodies for quite a long time now in books as diverse as Richard Dyer\u2019s White<\/em> or Susan Bordo\u2019s obvious The Male Body<\/em>. The voice is missing, though, possibly because it is very difficult indeed to find the adequate vocabulary for description and analysis (um, as you can see here).<\/p>\n

Long time ago I was at a Tindersticks concert and I heard a girl say \u2018I don\u2019t care if he doesn\u2019t sing, I\u2019d give anything for Stuart [Staples] to whisper sexy words to my ear\u2019. Maybe we need a new definition of oral sex (or sexiness?), I don\u2019t know… Now, seriously, ehem, listen to men and tell me what you hear (and Dave, thanks!!)<\/p>\n

Comments are very welcome! (Thanks!) Just remember that I check them first for spam; it might take a few days for yours to be available. If you like my blog, you can subscribe using the RSS feed (right-hand column, below Blogroll.) You\u2019ll get an email message for every new post. VISIT MY WEB: http:\/\/gent.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/<\/a>
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MASCULINITY EMBODIED (AND THOSE MANLY VOICES!) Today I need to say something about men\u2019s voices. A few years ago I got contacted by an American man with a warm, husky voice, Dave Muldoon, who asked me to help him develop a PhD dissertation on men\u2019s voices \u2013he is himself the voice of Tom Waits in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,26],"tags":[212,408],"class_list":["post-665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cultural-studies","category-post-graduate","tag-gender-studies","tag-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}