Questionable tastes: Women, love songs and gender subalternity

Abstract

This article analyses the social uses of romantic music among poor and working-class women in Argentina. The analysis is based on fieldwork with a fan club of Ricardo Arjona, a Guatemalan singer-songwriter whose songs have topped the charts across the Spanish-speaking world for two decades. In a constant reworking of the debate on "good" versus "bad" music, Arjona's musical production is the target of an aesthetic and ideological critique that defines it as poor quality music that fosters sexism. These value judgements are also applied to Arjona's fans, making the women who enjoy his music into what we will call "cultural ditzes". The article proposes to explain the connection between music and the configuration of contemporary femininities.