Of Singing and “Suffocation:” Performances of Power and Powerlessness among Female Vocalists in Exile

This paper investigates exiled female vocalists working in the musiqi-ye pap genre and their relation to power and powerlessness in their discourse, self-presentation, and performances. Since the early days of the revolution, when women’s public performances were subject to myriad restrictions, many female vocalists have chosen to leave Iran for westward destinations. Migration to Los Angeles, the home of a large Iranian population and a highly developed exile culture industry, has provided some women with professional opportunities and outlets for self-expression that are not currently accessible in Iran. The losanjelesi music industry’s international scope also affords these performers a transnational audience, allowing women to move from a condition of “suffocation,” to use one singer’s words, to having their voices (potentially) heard around the world. Through analyses of interviews, songs, and music videos, I show how visibility and audibility become female vocalists’ literal and metaphorical means for asserting their power, while their gendered self-presentation points to a negotiation of past models and future possibilities. I also examine how these women’s acute awareness of their large transnational audience, especially within Iran, leads them to understand their works and performances as avenues for engaging contemporary and historical gender norms and current Iranian policies. The paper examines the possibilities and limits of these claims of vocal agency while also contrasting the strategies of female singers within Iran.