Sex Roles and Gender Identity in the Music of Bruce Springsteen

<Tab/>Popular musicians often turn out to have a great deal of insight into complex social issues that one might not expect given the way that a lot of them carry themselves. The white establishment constantly rails against rap music, while young African-Americans claim that a lot of it speaks directly to their hopes, fears and concerns. Woody Guthrie, the composer of "This Land is Your Land," could at points in …

…She found that somehow, in much the same way that his anthemic, catchy pop sounds keeps him from being labeled a rabble rouser despite writing songs like The Ghost of Tom Joad and playing War on the first night of the Iraq conflict, his leather jacket and stubble have kept Springsteen's image of the macho male rock star viable for decades, despite the actual content of the songs that make him famous to begin with.