I'd like to write about lots of things but the focus will be on being a girl starting out in music in the 70's and other threads around my life story and women in music in general. I also want to do an astrology thread but on a different newsletter.
This happens in many areas where Women are proving to be entertaining and skilful. It happens in sport. Where the back stop from a few Men is that women are not as s strong as men and will always lose in a team or one to one with men. Well talk about missing the point. Entertainment and skill is not always who can hit the strongest hardest serve or hit the ball further or harder.
In music it becomes harder to make out that Men are better. My favourite bands right now. In fact my top four, two are all female bands and the other two have female lead vocalists. It is always sad that some people have to try and make some sort of point to boost their failing ego.
I love tennis and football and cricket and love the female versions. I love music rock, pop, classical and love the female bands and singers and players. Now then all those men who have a problem. Get back to the pub and enjoy the loneliness. Without female participation in rock music. The World would be a much sadder place.
Hey Russell, with you on that, for sure. I can probably guess some of those bands in your top four 😁. At this point, even qualifying them as "female" isn't necessary. A lot of serious musicians are calling Band-Maid, Lovebites and The Warning the best bands in the world in their categories, without qualifying for gender. The discouraging thing to me is not the occasional dude who is an idiot, but the lack of interest by women in these bands. Women justifiably complain that the media don't cover strong female role models, but then ignore the real thing.
I wonder if it's because many/most women are not exposed to heavy metal (and even hard rock and punk) or are steered away from it. I came to it very late, in my 60s, and only because I stumbled onto it. I'm the one who introduced it to my brother and he was shocked. It has a rep for being satanic and misogynistic. So maybe cultural stereotypes are at play. Also, I'm too old to care if I get a bad reputation and my income does not depend on coming across in a certain way, so that also makes a difference. I really think the 'good girl' archetype despite feminism is alive and well, and shaping women's behavior towards convention and 'femininity.' (I could tell you stories!)
Oh, so many directions to go with this! My observation is that it's not just metal or hard rock. Did you know that Karen Carpenter was one of the best rock drummers of her era? A lot of men I talk to know that. Even the ones who have no use for pop music. If you knew that, you would be the first women I've ever asked who did. My women friends who loved the Carpenters just shrug when told Karen was a great drummer.
You make a great point about the "good girl" archetype and stereotypes of femininity. Those things must play a role. There are artists deliberately pushing those stereotypes to the breaking point. Is this band "feminine"? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHrWRT0Jeac
I did know that Karen Carpenter was a rock drummer, having read about her a while back for a post, but not how great she was. And that she was reluctant to be the lead singer upfront.
Lovebites strikes me as very feminine. I think there are different barriers being pushed against with each generation and my generation had to become 'pseudo men' to gain acceptance into the boys club -- if you remember the masculine suits and big shoulder pads of the 80s. Or female rock stars who were even tougher than the guys.
Perversely, it can be in the west where things appear to be more 'open' that the resistance against change is actually stronger but more disguised and covert.
This is a really key point! It is interesting that the U.S. is the most loudly and overtly "woke" country, yet deep down is still much more conservative than most Western countries. And as you have mentioned, the rise of all the all-women metal bands in a nominally patriarchal society like Japan seems like a paradox. Re. Lovebites: their visual appearance is calculated to be feminine but their music is generally coded as masculine. Does either signify something core? This issue comes up all the time in gender studies--why do some gay and trans people adopt stereotypically gender-coded behaviours and others don't? Another topic I'm wrestling with!
I was in that other girl band that toured America.
Wow, I would love to know more!
I'll be posting my first writing at the end of January!
Looking forward to it. Will your focus be music or something else? Or lots of things?
I'd like to write about lots of things but the focus will be on being a girl starting out in music in the 70's and other threads around my life story and women in music in general. I also want to do an astrology thread but on a different newsletter.
This is exciting! I've been told there are very few people writing about women in music here, and even fewer are actually women!
I'm surprised but have lots to say, and great there's people who may be interested!
This happens in many areas where Women are proving to be entertaining and skilful. It happens in sport. Where the back stop from a few Men is that women are not as s strong as men and will always lose in a team or one to one with men. Well talk about missing the point. Entertainment and skill is not always who can hit the strongest hardest serve or hit the ball further or harder.
In music it becomes harder to make out that Men are better. My favourite bands right now. In fact my top four, two are all female bands and the other two have female lead vocalists. It is always sad that some people have to try and make some sort of point to boost their failing ego.
I love tennis and football and cricket and love the female versions. I love music rock, pop, classical and love the female bands and singers and players. Now then all those men who have a problem. Get back to the pub and enjoy the loneliness. Without female participation in rock music. The World would be a much sadder place.
Hey Russell, with you on that, for sure. I can probably guess some of those bands in your top four 😁. At this point, even qualifying them as "female" isn't necessary. A lot of serious musicians are calling Band-Maid, Lovebites and The Warning the best bands in the world in their categories, without qualifying for gender. The discouraging thing to me is not the occasional dude who is an idiot, but the lack of interest by women in these bands. Women justifiably complain that the media don't cover strong female role models, but then ignore the real thing.
I wonder if it's because many/most women are not exposed to heavy metal (and even hard rock and punk) or are steered away from it. I came to it very late, in my 60s, and only because I stumbled onto it. I'm the one who introduced it to my brother and he was shocked. It has a rep for being satanic and misogynistic. So maybe cultural stereotypes are at play. Also, I'm too old to care if I get a bad reputation and my income does not depend on coming across in a certain way, so that also makes a difference. I really think the 'good girl' archetype despite feminism is alive and well, and shaping women's behavior towards convention and 'femininity.' (I could tell you stories!)
Oh, so many directions to go with this! My observation is that it's not just metal or hard rock. Did you know that Karen Carpenter was one of the best rock drummers of her era? A lot of men I talk to know that. Even the ones who have no use for pop music. If you knew that, you would be the first women I've ever asked who did. My women friends who loved the Carpenters just shrug when told Karen was a great drummer.
You make a great point about the "good girl" archetype and stereotypes of femininity. Those things must play a role. There are artists deliberately pushing those stereotypes to the breaking point. Is this band "feminine"? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHrWRT0Jeac
I did know that Karen Carpenter was a rock drummer, having read about her a while back for a post, but not how great she was. And that she was reluctant to be the lead singer upfront.
Lovebites strikes me as very feminine. I think there are different barriers being pushed against with each generation and my generation had to become 'pseudo men' to gain acceptance into the boys club -- if you remember the masculine suits and big shoulder pads of the 80s. Or female rock stars who were even tougher than the guys.
Perversely, it can be in the west where things appear to be more 'open' that the resistance against change is actually stronger but more disguised and covert.
This is a really key point! It is interesting that the U.S. is the most loudly and overtly "woke" country, yet deep down is still much more conservative than most Western countries. And as you have mentioned, the rise of all the all-women metal bands in a nominally patriarchal society like Japan seems like a paradox. Re. Lovebites: their visual appearance is calculated to be feminine but their music is generally coded as masculine. Does either signify something core? This issue comes up all the time in gender studies--why do some gay and trans people adopt stereotypically gender-coded behaviours and others don't? Another topic I'm wrestling with!