Read the passage given below and then answer the questions given below the…
2024
Read the passage given below and then answer the questions given below the passage. Some words may be highlighted for your attention. Pay careful attention.
Although the twentieth century saw the rise of women as professional musicians, the majority of composers and performers were, and still are, men. The music industry in the U.S. and Britain overwhelmingly reflects the values of a patriarchal society; the success or failure of a female artist is based largely on her physical appearance and gendered performance style. Blues, rock, and pop began as genres dominated by men, and thus included styles of dress, lyrics, and sound born of a male perspective. The history of these genres, then, is also a history of women seeking to locate their space within a predominately masculine musical environment.
Women are always judged, in part, on their image, and it is through the manipulation of this image that some women artists have been able to push the boundaries of gender identity. Women have been able to enter popular genres of music either by playing with the aesthetics of masculinity, or by playing into a male expectation of femininity. Sexuality, therefore, is a tool women continue to use to shape and reshape their place within popular music.
Pushing boundaries is a balancing act, however, and a contradictory process. In order to gain access to the world of popular music, a female artist must at once be pleasing her audience, and, at the same time, remain true to herself as a woman. A desire to be too much “one of the guys” can lead to identity problems and ultimately to self-destruction. An artist's use of irony or parody may run the risk of being mistaken for genuineness, causing her to be objectified. Working within the limits of popular music has proven difficult and dangerous for women. But due to the professionalism and inventiveness of many female performers, the space for women in popular music is being expanded and redefined.
What is helping women redefine their space in popular music industry?
- A.
Their submissiveness to the male artistes
- B.
Their willingness to be one of the guys
- C.
Their professionalism & inventiveness
- D.
Their desperate attempts to please the audiences
Attempted by 3 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept: For a direct-support reading-comprehension question, the correct answer is the fact or reason EXPLICITLY stated in the passage, not something merely plausible or partially related; the reader must locate the exact supporting sentence rather than infer beyond what is written.
Application: The passage's closing sentence states: "But due to the professionalism and inventiveness of many female performers, the space for women in popular music is being expanded and redefined." This sentence directly names professionalism and inventiveness as the cause of the redefinition the question asks about.
Cross-check: None of the other described behaviours in the passage are credited with this effect — submissiveness is never mentioned, trying too hard to be “one of the guys” is described as risking identity problems (a negative outcome, not a redefining strength), and pleasing the audience is framed as one side of a difficult balancing act, not as the reason the space is being redefined.