FEATURE:
The Men I Love
PHOTO CREDIT: Trevor Leighton
Kate Bush’s Feminism, Attitude Towards Men and Positivity
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I am going to discuss this more…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush at the launch of Never for Ever in 1980/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
in an upcoming feature about when Kate Bush met Del Palmer. Their relationship. For this feature, I am reminded of how Kate Bush’s attitudes towards men and relationship with feminism is very different to so many other artists. In a modern sense, few could call Kate Bush overtly feminism. She hardly discussed the importance of women in music and name-checked other female artists who she was inspired by. In fact, the vast majority of artists Kate Bush was influenced by growing up were men. Nearly every musician and singer she worked with were men. That slightly changed by the time she got to 1989’s The Sensual World. When you think about all the people Bush has worked alongside, it is a vastly male landscape. One might think this that she is not an artist who could be considered a feminist. Perhaps not giving opportunities to women like she should. Although she has employed women for The Tour of Life and Before the Dawn, listen to her albums, and there are not many female voices – both vocally and musically. In the 1970s, when Bush was starting out, it was a post-feminist world. She rarely discussed her music and recording with her boyfriends. Whether it was as not to threaten their masculinity – that she was perhaps more successful and acclaimed – or they would be too demanding of her time. Indeed, as Graeme Thomson wrote in Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush, whilst friends around Kate Bush were getting married and settling, Bush’s steely single-minded focus on music and her career was perhaps very different to what was expected of women at the time. If the lack of women in her music collection, interview quotes and personnel suggested someone who was against her own gender and was not a feminist, the way Bush approached her career and ordered her priorities suggests a different kind of feminism. Someone who was, without knowing, inspiring other female artists. In a male-dominated scene, Bush was keen to prove herself and not be told what to do. That strength and maturity stood her own and defined her career.
Maybe a whole strand and discussion I cannot do justice to here, think of the women in music who cite Kate Bush as an influence. How they approach their careers. If you look at feminist artists of today, Bush might not compere or seem to relate. She was not vocal about other women too much or especially keen to work alongside them for the most part. It wasn’t all that unusual through the 1970s and 1980s. It was a very male-dominated environment. Most of the session musicians and producers were men. There was so much misogyny and sexism in the media. Hard for women to really be taken seriously. Maybe not instinctive or natural for female artists to work with other women unless they were in a band. Most of the successful female artists of the 1970s and 1980s worked mostly with men. In some respects, maybe things have not moved on too far. One of the reasons why I wanted to write this feature was to explore a side of Bush’s personality and music that actually make her music empowering and feminist in a way that is not shouted, accusatory, political, sloganeering or conventional. Rather, it is Bush’s approach to men. I can’t really think of a song in her catalogue where she is angry at men or slams them. Few other female artists can claim that there are no examples of anger and backlash against men. Men cannot really claim that either. Kate Bush’s approach to men has been one of admiration, curiosity and desire. Respecting their child-like quality without patronising and endorsing any kind of immaturity, nasty side or sexism coming from men. Finding the good and positive sides. I think that has made a huge impression. Not only on the listeners, but also for women coming through who were intrigued and compelled by Bush’s music. From The Man with the Child in His Eyes - recorded in 1975 - through to some of her later work, she has always had this patience and respect for men.
Can you really connect this unusually positive approach to men with feminism? Maybe some people raised eyebrows listening to her songs. The way she was quite open and forward about her desire for the male form. For their bodies and minds. Not someone who felt the need to be bashful and prudish. She argued why anything was wrong with thinking and feeling this way. Again, today, some might feel that this is not feminist. I appreciate how women feeling independent, empowered and accepted is crucial. This often means a certain autonomy and distance from men and their control. Kate Bush has never been soft, submissive or second to anyone. Her strength and sense of passion and pride means that she has always been able to balance healthy personal and professional relationships. Someone who had a lot of respect and affection for men, though never at the expense of her career and space. This is all reflected in her music. No sense of bitterness, feeling trapped and heartbroken. Even after she broke with Del Palmer, songs from around that time were sad and regretful and never angered and blame-shifting. There was this mature sense of reflection, strength and understanding. One could look at the very healthy relationship her parents had. The love and unending support she got from them. Even if she grew up in a comfortable environment, she would have known people who were in far less stables homes. Parents separating or fighting. A time when there was a lot of domestic violence and huge misogyny in society and behind closed doors. With two older brothers who were very caring and inspiring in terms of poetry, music and, to add, supportive of everything their sister did, this all moulded how she considered male companionship and relationship.
Having David Gilmour as a mentor. Another strong male role model, his passion, faith and support also affected and influenced how she viewed men. There is a lot more to discuss on this matter. Almost this unique and unflinching positivity towards men. When so many of her peers react to heartache or struggles in relationship with harsher words and sentiment – a natural reaction and mindset for any songwriter of any gender -, Kate Bush has always remained respectful and curious. More compelled to get beneath the skin and inside the mind of her male lovers, friends and inspirations. Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) was literally her asking for men and women to swap places to they could better understand one another. It remains her defining song. Is it important to think of Kate Bush as a femninist? Even if, at a very early stage of her career, she provided an unwise and naïve quote about what a feminist was (I think she thought they were butch, hairy-legged and unwomanly), that is not to say Bush is anti-feminist. Her feminism and strength comes from the way she has forged this career on her own terms. How she has influenced generations and, to this day, remains one of the most distinctly brilliant and pioneering songwriters and producers. The way she worked alongside men but was calling the shots. In relationships but not beholden to them or relying on the men she was with. At all times she was fascinated and moved by them. This wisdom and love through her lyrics that spanned decades. If that stems all the way from her childhood or a conscious decision she made early in her career to have this attitude towards men, there is no doubting how it makes her music come across. Would she be as popular and unique if her songs were similar to her female peers?! If she wrote break-up tracks or was vengeful or angered?! These types of lyrics are perfectly fine and are part of modern feminist artists’ work. There is something about Kate Bush and her approach to men that marks her out. Individually, how she was blazing a trail for other women at times when the scene was focused towards men. Where women were belittled, marginalised and seen as vastly inferior (to men). This all goes to show and highlight that Kate Bush is…
AN awe-inspiring woman.