I have strong feelings about Tanya Tagaq. The avant-garde Inuit throat singer tends to have that affect on most of her audience. I've seen her perform twice now and she has left me breathless, usually with mouth open and body vibrating from the sonic waves emanating from the stage. I don't mean to glorify her in an idyllic way - just to say that the performances are legit. They strike me as more of spiritual experiences and I find myself as much listening and watching her show as going on my own spiritual journey of awareness. Maybe due of the nature of the medium of throat singing but the sounds, echoes and cries perforate beyond the conception of 'music' or maybe it's the 'Western' idea of music - in any case, the sounds, her movements and facial expressions all emanate a power that she is capable of wielding.
The way I see this is that Tanya Tagaq's performances are incredible, absolutely feminist. What she channels when she alternates between a sweet feminine coo and a violent reverberating growl is the multiplicity of femininity, and one that is often denied. Women sacrifice parts of themselves in order to fit into certain models as if their qualities are mutually exclusive. We often do this so that others may feel comfortable with our presence, and feel confident in their grasp of our identities. What frequently happens is when a woman displays behaviour outside of the perceived range of comfort that people have placed her in, she is assumed to be negatively affected in some way. This disruption of 'order' is linked to lack of emotional control, lunacy or aggression. Women who are assertive and authoritative get categorized as aggressive or bossy. There have been many recent articles and works dealing with the insidious nature of the term 'bossy,' and its implications on the perceived role of a woman so I won't go into that in depth. What I will say is that Tagaq's performances and music are unapologetically powerful. The kind of power that denies being boxed into categories or genres and that makes listeners squirm uncomfortably in their seats, listeners who are unaccustomed to the open embrace of female power and identity whichever way it presents itself.
The most feminist and incredible aspect of Tanya Tagaq's performances is the embodiment of multiple characteristics of being. She is not one or another, she contains the possibility of being anything at any time and this is her power.
The way I see this is that Tanya Tagaq's performances are incredible, absolutely feminist. What she channels when she alternates between a sweet feminine coo and a violent reverberating growl is the multiplicity of femininity, and one that is often denied. Women sacrifice parts of themselves in order to fit into certain models as if their qualities are mutually exclusive. We often do this so that others may feel comfortable with our presence, and feel confident in their grasp of our identities. What frequently happens is when a woman displays behaviour outside of the perceived range of comfort that people have placed her in, she is assumed to be negatively affected in some way. This disruption of 'order' is linked to lack of emotional control, lunacy or aggression. Women who are assertive and authoritative get categorized as aggressive or bossy. There have been many recent articles and works dealing with the insidious nature of the term 'bossy,' and its implications on the perceived role of a woman so I won't go into that in depth. What I will say is that Tagaq's performances and music are unapologetically powerful. The kind of power that denies being boxed into categories or genres and that makes listeners squirm uncomfortably in their seats, listeners who are unaccustomed to the open embrace of female power and identity whichever way it presents itself.
The most feminist and incredible aspect of Tanya Tagaq's performances is the embodiment of multiple characteristics of being. She is not one or another, she contains the possibility of being anything at any time and this is her power.
