- Maria Elena Cepeda Moments of Recognition: Globalizing Latina/US-Colombian Girlhood in Bomba Estéreo’s “Soy yo”
- Roshanak Kheshti "Synthesizing the World: On the Moog Global Modular Synthesizer Project"
- Alyxandra Vesey "Songbirds in the Kitchen: Female Soul and Country Singers as Cookbook Authors and the Intersectional Politics of Comfort Food"
Moderator: Alyxandra VeseyThis panel takes up the concept of "platform" in considerations of music and gender. Thinking beyond the term's 21st century connotation as a digital streaming service, panelists consider the ways musical artists and designers have created and transformed our understandings of gender, sexuality, and feminism through and on a range of platforms—from synthesizer sounds to viral videos, from music diva cookbooks to the signature platform-heeled stylings of disco and funk. Questions explored include: In what ways does the viral video, "Soy Yo," provide a platform for expressing Latina and specifically Colombiana feminist sensibilities? What are the geo-political and gendered implications of the "patched" sonic platform of the Moog synthesizer? How does the platform of the cooking show enable pop music divas to showcase their longevity in ways that are foreclosed by the ageism and sexism of music industry? How do Labelle's silver soul sound and silver-platform stylings create an "outer" space for inhabiting racialized and queer sexualities? Collectively, these papers illuminate not just music as a platform for expressions of gender and sexuality but also the gendered possibilities and limitations of particular technological, generic, or stylistic platforms within the music industry.
