A little commotion for the sexytet ]

All-girl A cappella group?

Pitch Perfect eat your heart out.

When you think about six-person a cappella groups who perform at The Capping Show – progressive and inclusive might not be the first words that come to mind, nor songs about menstruation and the male gaze.

That’s where the Sexytet comes in.

Convenor Mary Holden, a fourth year Law student, explains that while most capping show aficionados will have heard of the Sextet, its female counterpart, the Sexytet, is far less well known, despite being around since 2001.

“We haven’t been around for anywhere near as long! The Sextet first performed in 1912, when women were a tiny minority of students at the University.

“I suppose the notion of any of those female students singing at a risqué comedy performance was just a bit too much,” says Mary.

A 1966 article written by Ali Clarke describes a performance at that year’s capping show by a sixpart all-female acapella group which appears to have been the first iteration of today’s Sexytet.

The 1966 group were called the ‘Sextette’, but it seems society wasn’t ready - reviews in the ODT were poor, and it proved to be a one-off.

This year’s Sexytet members are Mary, Samantha Elliott, Isa de Vries, Sarah Grondona, Oli Morphew and Bethany Cook, and they’re a combination of undergraduates, postgraduate students and graduates from the University.

Co-convenor Samantha, who graduated with a MusB and a BCom in December, explain that they love to make our audience laugh, by addressing topics which are just as shocking as the Sextet, but with an alternative perspective.

“In recent years we have worked to be more progressive and inclusive, and while our songs are pretty rude, they’re not all about sex and drugs.”

Singing teacher and Otago graduate Beth, in her second year performing with the Sexytet, outlines some of the themes of their songs.

“This year we have songs about the menstrual cycle, constipation, being called crazy, the male gaze and pick-me girls.”

Second year PPE tauira Oli thinks there can be a kind of ‘pink tax’ applied to women in music.

“It feels like we have to work harder to toe the line between funny and overtly explicit, and that as women we are judged far more for our singing, our arrangements, our outfits and the topics we cover than the boys are.

“That’s why it’s so good to have them on our side. We don’t want to be girls vs boys, and we don’t want to be ‘the girl version’ of the sextet, we want to be our own thing.

“The Sextet are great, it’s the patriarchy that is the problem.”

Sextet convenor Finn Shaw, a second-year law student, was the person who made sure that the Sexytet were interviewed this year.

“We work very closely with the girls, and they’re thrilled to have this opportunity as well. Due to the Sexytet’s shorter lifespan when compared with Sextet, they can often be overlooked, and that is a real shame.

“Because the boy’s group has such a long history –they’ve been around forever – they get a lot more publicity, they perform at reunions, and they’re interviewed a lot.

“The Sexytet are working really hard to earn the same level of recognition, and they really deserve it.”