I think there's something very special and important about the gender fluidity of narrators for a lot of these songs. People choose to sing songs with words and perspectives they empathize with. When I hear an old recording of a guy (I'm lame, I can't remember who or what) singing "I wish I was a single girl again" I imagine that this man is able to empathize with a woman's grievances. I like to think this is a part of changing the social order and all that. This is the way I prefer to interpret it but i can understand that in certain circumstances people would feel it was appropriative to assume the voice of a group of people who are historically and currently oppressed.

Does anyone else get slightly pissed about those workshops with themes like "Strong Women in Ballads" where they only put women on the panel? Let men sing about strong women too. We don't need to be singing about them, we already know and love that we're strong.

thanks for reading
Julia