The image is one of a young woman representing the heterosexual man's ideal woman or Dream Date. She is pretty, she is all made-up, and she is dressed for a lovely dinner, a night of dancing, or a romantic movie. Sex is always a part of the image, although this theme has been used in different degrees throughout the genre's history. The Dream Date is multiplied in the image of her sister singers, and so, together, the group appears as a harem of sorts, ready to entertain and please the man lucky enough to choose (or be chosen by) the women.
Musically, the girl group sound is meant to complement this narrow but highly identifiable physical image of youthful, desirable women. To emphasize the notion of youth, all members generally have young-sounding voices: thin, high alto to soprano range, sometimes nasal in tone. The thinness of each woman's voice allows for easy blending and a uniformity of tone. A voice that is low—say, tenor range—or too full or distinctive is uncommon in the genre, as such voices are considered too mature to convey qualities of youth or too individual to blend invisibly into the sound of the other members' voices.
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