“Sexism is a disgusting undercurrent in our society and it needs to be fought and challenged.” - David Combs (Spoonboy) on sexism, etc. (TRIGGER WARNING FOR ACCOUNT OF ATTEMPTED SEXUAL ASSAULT)

(Andy’s note: This piece was originally posted by our friends over at PunkNews.org. David was keen that it be posted here also, and the PunkNews staff were fine with that. I had intended to pop it up months ago, but it got lost in the shuffle. Sorry!)

(TRIGGER WARNING FOR DISCUSSION OF RAPE/SEXUAL ASSAULT)


(Photo by Unknown - let us know if you know!)

Let’s get right into it. 

When I was 19 I was walking to the bus station in a part of town I wasn’t familiar with when an older man pulled me into an alley and attempted to rape me at knife point. I can only thank fortune that I got away unharmed. If we’re talking about sexism, I can only think to start there. Most people don’t think sexism matters. Here’s why I think it matters. What I experienced for months after that encounter was a visceral fear of men. If I was walking alone, I crossed the street if I saw a man coming down the sidewalk. My heart palpitated if a man pulled me aside at a show. Eventually the fear subsided. 

But I’m lucky. Not only because I got away, but because I was born in a male body. And because I’m comfortable in my male body. It was statistically unlikely that an attempted assault like that would ever happen to me. It’s statistically unlikely that it will happen again. It helped me get over my fear to know that. It wouldn’t be the case if I was a woman. Almost every woman I have been close with has had an experience of being sexually assaulted or having had someone make an attempt. The statistics say 1 in 3 women is sexually assaulted, and that’s only the people who report it. I have a hard time believing it’s not a higher percentage. I have a hard time believing that some element of the experience I came close to having hasn’t been a reality for the majority of the women I know, women who may not necessarily have been assaulted by strangers, but maybe worse, assaulted by people they trusted. 

I keep this in mind when I hear women’s experiences. I keep in mind that most women have to live with the knowledge that at any time they could be the subject of an assault, that they are constantly targets, just for being women. I keep in mind that most women live with a minimal level of distrust for men, and that even the most courageous women have to watch their backs when they walk alone at night. And I keep this in mind when people talk about living in a “post-feminist society,” or about how sexism is a thing of the past. Those ideas are wholly unconvincing. As long as rape is a crime that’s being committed in extremely disproportionate numbers by men against women, I will not be convinced that everything’s ok. Sexism is a disgusting undercurrent in our society and it needs to be fought and challenged. And rape is only one of the many, (albeit probably the ugliest) ways that it rears its head. 

So the question has been brought up: is there sexism in the punk scene? It’s not the first time the question’s been asked. Twenty years ago, Riot Grrl made it an extremely visible issue. But now as those Bikini Kill records have been historicized as relics isolated in the past, a quick reading of the latest book on Riot Grrl will show that all of the same problems women were fighting against then still exist today. Is there sexism in the punk scene? Of course. Punk is not an impenetrable bubble whereupon entrance we shed all the socialized attitudes we grew up with. As long as we live in a sexist patriarchal culture that teaches its children sexist patriarchal attitudes, those attitudes will reappear within punk culture. And it manifests in all sorts of ways: There’s the “I wanna kill my ex-girlfriend” songs. There’s male band members telling rape jokes. There’s women in bands being degraded and objectified, or not being taken seriously as musicians. There’s girls at shows being treated like coat hangers. And there’s the sad truth that punks rape and are raped. 

But if you really need evidence that there’s sexism in punk, look around at the next show you’re at. Unless you participate in an unusually egalitarian scene (and that’s great if you do), the chances are the majority of the audience will be male, but more importantly, chances are 100% of the performers will be male. The all-male-show is so normalized in punk, and it sends a clear message about whose voice is being heard, who’s experience is central. The all-woman-show is far far rarer, and when it does happen, often men in the scene will act defensive and complain they are being excluded, as if they’re oblivious to the fact that women are excluded in punk on an almost constant basis. Until the centerpiece of punk culture - the punk show - is occupied by people of all genders, in an egalitarian way, I won’t be convinced that there’s not sexism in punk. 

So what does this have to do with rape? Try this: in the mind of a rapist, a woman is less than human. Her feelings and experiences are not worth consideration. She’s considered a sexual object. She’s not taken seriously. Most men aren’t rapists, but most men do subscribe to greater or lesser variations of those attitudes. Subtle and less subtle ideas about male superiority are ubiquitous, and that base level of disrespect that men harbor towards women is what makes it possible to live in a world where the majority of women experience sexual assault and harassment, and no one bats an eye. This is called “rape culture.” The logic is that women are inferior and thus the pain inflicted by sexist crimes is not given weight. So if women’s experiences are not valued in the punk scene, if they are systematically excluded, and women laughed at when they voice their complaints, the punk scene is basically giving a thumbs up to a culture that doesn’t value women’s experiences. It may not be an active endorsement of rape culture, but it’s acceptance through passivity. 

Now, I’d hope it’d be obvious that I’m not equating an all male punk show with rape. I do want to emphasize the emotional gravity that even subtler sexist attitudes hold. But the fact that I’d need to qualify my statement speaks to the overwhelming phenomenon of male defensiveness. When men are told that we’re in part responsible for contributing to a sexist culture, we tend to lash out - as if we are being accused of being at fault for our biological make-up. Men tend to bond together and try to tear down whoever is bringing up those criticisms, as if we are each personally under attack. What’s important to understand is that culture is built out of a multitude of influences and interactions. A condemnation of a sexist culture is not the same thing as a condemnation of the individuals that participate in it. Recognizing that you were raised in a sexist culture and probably hold sexist attitudes does not make you an asshole, but refusing to acknowledge it does. 

And recognizing that our male dominated culture is fucked up doesn’t make you a self-hating man, either. When I first heard Bikini Kill, it was fucking thrilling. Hearing someone lash out against dominant sexist attitudes wasn’t exciting in some sort of “oh good for women, they’re standing up for themselves,” type of way. It was liberating to hear someone take on those traditional expressions of masculinity, because I hated the ways I was expected to act as a man. I hated the toughness and numbness that was expected from men, because I wanted to be able to express my emotions without fear of ridicule. I hated the predatory way that men acted towards women, because I wanted to be free to have meaningful relationships with women. Likewise, I hated the homophobia, because I wanted to have meaningful relationships with the men in my life. I see men around me all the time who refuse to show any signs of vulnerability for fear of appearing feminine, and they tend to cut themselves off emotionally from the world. It’s fucking sad. I see men all the time who only view their relationships in terms of conquest, and I can’t think of one of them who has a healthy emotional life. Breaking down ideas around male superiority and masculinity is absolutely in mens’ best interests. In a punk context, I can say with certainty that the scenes I’ve visited that were the most gender inclusive have always been the most exciting and thriving music communities. There’s nothing to be gained for men in maintaining the boy’s club. 

I want to address one common anti-feminist argument: It’s the “men have always been sexist, and that’s just how things are” argument. There are plenty of examples of non-patriarchal societies that have existed, so for one thing, it’s historically inaccurate, but even putting that aside, arguing that doing something for a long time makes it right is a nonsensical way to approach ethics. It’s like saying “there’s always been murder, so we might as well accept murder as a good and natural part of our lives.” I’m sure the same arguments were made to protect slavery. It’s also biological essentialism to say that men will always act a certain way based on their gender. So much of our behavior is socialized and the expected traits of masculinity are no exception. There have been cultures where humans have acted in all sort of ways that would seem completely unnatural to us, but those cultures functioned fine on their own terms. If people have lived without concepts that seem essential to our lives, like number systems for example, I think we can do alright without something as banal as patriarchy. 

It’s also historically short sighted that so many people hold such defeatist attitudes when it comes to our ability to change the way things are. In the last century and a half we’ve shed the cultural acceptance of slavery, we’ve stopped discriminatory voting practices based on race or gender, and we’ve shed all kinds of official policies that allowed discrimination in the workplace and other public spheres. These are things that we’ve all, even the most privileged among us, come to tout as hallmarks of progress. There’s no reason we shouldn’t continue to shed any acceptance of sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. that exists now, just because it might seem less obvious. 

So boys: if you’ve read this far and you’ve bought my argument that yes, sexism exists, and yes, it matters, and yes, it even exists in the punk scene, where do you go with it? I can offer some suggestions, but first consider this point from Aaron Scott (of Attica Attica)’s essay on I Live Sweat, “If you need suggestions for how to make women feel welcome, then I suggest you ask the females in your local scene. They probably have some pretty specific ideas.” That first and most important thing that men can do to combat sexism is to take women seriously when they voice their concerns. We are socialized not to, so it’s crucial that we do. And don’t try to dictate whether someone else’s experience qualifies as oppression. To quote Jen Twigg (of the Ambulars)’s essay from that same website, experiences of sexism are like “a thousand tiny paper cuts… - you wouldn’t make a big deal about one on its own, but a thousand of them together are a gaping wound.” 

My next strongest suggestion is to not be so afraid of self-criticism. You’ll probably find examples of sexism in your day to day behavior. I’ve found them in mine. I’ve looked back at things that I’ve done and realized how they were hurtful or inconsiderate and I’ve had to suck it up and apologize and change the way I act. Look at yourself and the actions of the men around you. Do you disproportionately talk over, or interrupt women? Are you more likely to make eye contact with men than women in group scenarios? These are the small symptoms that add up. Here’s a few more: Do you stop and notice that the way your dancing has all the women in the room backing away from the band? Do you try to prove your coolness or masculinity by one upping other men? Do you notice the women in your scene becoming disinterested when conversation drifts into dick measuring territory, when you’re comparing your record collections or gear knowledge? Do you use demeaning sexist language without thinking about it? Do you sexualize women and comment on their appearances or bodies, without thinking about how that makes them feel? I’m going to assume a lot of people reading this probably do. Like I said before, it doesn’t make you a bad person. But it does make you a lazy selfish person if you’re not willing to recognize and try to change those things. 

Finally, we can do a lot more to encourage women to participate and play music. Supporting women-centered events like CLITfest and Ladyfest are great ways to do this, as well as the various Girl’s Rock Summer Camps that happen all over the country. That doesn’t mean we should be trying to dictate or organize these events, but be we should be allies, by offering the women who organize them our support and access to resources. Also, those of us who organize shows or play in bands can do a lot more in thinking about who we choose to book or play music with to keep the all-male-show from happening over and over again. 

I want to finish by recommending a book and two essays that I think should be required reading. I’ve been distributing pieces of this literature in my records and on tour, because there’s only so far someone can go to change people’s attitudes by playing songs or writing an essay for a website. We need to be willing to educate ourselves and understand sexism and patriarchy if we’re going to fight against it. So here are my recommendations for starters: 

The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love by Bell Hooks 

Homophobia as Masculinity by Michael Kimmel 

I Want a Twenty-Four Hour Truce During Which There Is No Rape by Andrea Dworkin 

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions, thoughts, or arguments at spoobnob@gmail.com. I know some people will undoubtedly feel that the conversation is being beaten into the ground, but it’s a testament to the gravity of the issue that the argument bears repeating.

David Combs is a punk kid from Washington, DC. He plays guitar in the Max Levine Ensemble, and solo as Spoonboy. You can download his most recent record, ‘The Papas’, which was written around themes of patriarchal socialization, at his bandcamp page.

Source: punknews.org

“If someone’s down, help them up.” Dianna Settles of The Wild on building an open and inclusive underground.


(Photo by Stephen Yang)

“SHOW YOUR TITS! SHOW YOUR TITS!”

This is the refrain I heard at my first ‘punk’ show. I was 13 and it was the first time that my parents agreed to let me go to a show with my best friend Ian and his mom driving us. I heard this whenever a girl would crowd surf or try to dance. I didn’t understand why people would yell this or why the girls who did lift up their shirts looked so embarrassed or guilty afterwards, if it was something they wanted to do. Let’s start out by clarifying that I don’t consider this a real punk show now. Sum 41 was the headliner. 

That isn’t the same scene that I call home today. I feel grateful every time I walk into a show space and find zines about immigrants’ rights, ableism, and feminism. It’s really amazing that through this sort of do-it-yourself/do-it-together ethic we’ve managed to loosely knit together a family for a lot of folks who didn’t feel welcome in other crowds. Sometimes though, there are circumstances where a zine library or a “safe space” sign isn’t enough. We have to be ready to create dialogue and really challenge the actions that oppress us, or be willing to listen and try to educate ourselves and one another even if we aren’t the ones who are feeling oppressed. It’s daunting sometimes to speak up about a situation that makes me feel inferior or alienated, because I don’t like to be thought of as someone who complains, or isn’t strong enough to roll with the punches. Especially if I know that my band mates, or male friends, won’t be able to relate to me. I think this is all part of the problem. If there isn’t discussion on all sides, there can never be any resolution. 

We can’t just say that we’re past sexism. Or racism, homophobia, or classism for that matter.  As long as these injustices exist in the dominant ideology we will have to fight to disarm them. Through the mainstream, small occurrences of hatred are slipped into everyday life, phrases, and terms. This language is enough to alienate certain groups of people and is casual enough to go by unnoticed. I notice sexism when I see fliers with hyper-sexualized women used for advertising, and when I hear a guy from one of the bands say, “I wanted to fuck that girl, but she’s a bitch.” I don’t feel included when we get to a venue and I’m the only one asked if I’m really in the band, or when a man comes up to me to ask where else I’m tattooed. And it’s hard not to notice when we play a show and someone comes up to everyone except me afterwards to say “good job.” I know that these occurrences are well outnumbered by amazing experiences, but it isn’t any less unnerving to watch the guy who just came up to me asking about what we sound like walk over to one of my male friends and laugh saying, “Just trying to get some pussy.” 

This isn’t a call for a separatist punk scene. Quite the contrary. I think that it’s extremely important to have men involved in creating a women-friendly punk scene. Guys can relate to other guys on another level. It’s crucial to have a unified front when it comes to building safe spaces and show spaces. We’ve created such an inspiring community, and there’s so much more potential. There isn’t any reason that we have to accept anything because it’s “just the way it’s always been”. The DIY scene bloomed out of this same realization. Our community is able to grow because of the folks who don’t hesitate when they’re told that something is going to be hard work. It might not be any overnight resolution, but if we can be honest enough to say what we want, and when we feel threatened, and can be brave enough to speak up, we can make it known that there isn’t any room for sexism here. The reason that we are able to maintain such a brilliant community is because of our ability to communicate and support one another. You can see it in every basement that sweats and swells with people singing together to a band, or in the tiny kitchen shows, where the handful of folks sit quietly and captivated. You can hear it in the conversations afterwards, the clumsy introductions and the friendships that follow. 

In order to overcome any sort of oppression, we have to understand that if we do nothing to challenge it, we’re providing the grounds for it to grow. Sexism and patriarchy are things that people participate in. While it’s intimidating to be called out, being proactive and trying to understand how you’ve wronged someone (intentionally or accidentally), will take us farther than being defensive, or dismissive. I once read “what each of us needs to do about what we don’t know is look for it.” It’s simple, but if it could be applied to this arms race for the last word in, there would be more room for discussion, and less time wasted making women feel like their personal experiences are invalid. Something I’ve noticed, since the inception of the series on sexism in punk, is that a lot of the folks arguing against what the contributors have to say use sexism and moshing at shows interchangeably.  While sexism and detrimental ideas of masculinity can exist in the pit, it isn’t the isolated occurrence. I love it when I can see people dancing and screaming and singing along, but I’ve reminded them to look out for each other, and make sure that no one’s getting hurt. If someone’s down, help them up. We’re all in this together. 

I believe that the punk scene cries out for more ladies to be involved. Women and female-bodied persons are inherently valuable to our community, just as men are. There is strength in our diversity. If we all wanted to participate in the conventional, monotonous everyday, full of hypocrisy and bigotry, we wouldn’t have built our way out of it. We wouldn’t have the scars and the dirt under our fingernails to say, “I worked for this”. We built this ourselves, and we’ve threaded our way out of the institutions and the calamity that excluded us, and sought a place to call home. That’s why it feels unsafe when that same racist, sexist, heteronormative, classist, ableist, ageist bullshit we’ve struggled so hard to escape makes its way into our community. We are different. Our experiences are valid. Everyone’s are. Our dialogue and the decisions we make affect more than ourselves.  We can challenge negative behavior. We can influence one another in positive ways. We can eradicate bigotry from our scene. And once we’ve accomplished a truly safe space in the punk scene, we can have more shows, more friends, better turn outs, more bands, and more grrls.

Dianna Settles is an artist, vegan food enthusiast, and volunteer coordinator for a bicycle co-op in Atlanta. For more information about The Wild you can visit www.thewildatl.com and facebook.com/thewildatl for tour dates and more. She has a food/travel blog that she’s sort of bad at updating littleroadhome.tumblr.com. You can write to her at thewild@riseup.net. 

Budweiser Killed the Radio Star: Vance Puchalski on women’s increased visibility in mainstream rock in the 1990s, and the corporate retaliation that pushed them back.

Ever the astute prognosticators, Time magazine has a history marked by brazen promises. The magazine’s November 8th, 2010 issue featured a cover story titled “Party Crashers”, which accurately predicted Congressional gains by the Republican Party in last year’s midterm elections (Von Drehle). While this promise of G.O.P. victory had but one week to come to fruition once the issue hit newsstands, other predictions made by the magazine have faced longer shelf-lives. A look back in Time, 44 years to be precise, reveals a 1966 essay which conceptualized the ways in which everyday life would evolve near the turn of the twenty-first century. “THE FUTURISTS: Looking Toward A.D. 2000” accurately described a future of decentralized cities, instant communication, and a population of more than six-billion people roaming the earth. As is the case with “Party Crashers,” though, these predictions are conservative. “Hovercraft that ride on air”, “ballistic rocket” travel and a retirement age of fifty are more radical examples of conjecture that did not quite pan out. Thankfully, neither did the essay’s underlying misogyny.  

Time later proved itself wrong when an article published in 1994 demonstrated that on the heels of the new millennium, women actually spent time outside of the kitchen. Moreover, this freedom from household chores did not come as a result of the subservient, household robots that they were promised in 1966.  In “Rock Goes Coed”, the magazine called attention to the increasing number of women in the 1990s, who had suddenly entered the male-dominated world of rock and roll.  Legendary rock critic and frequent VH-1 countdown panelist Ann Powers later remarked on the importance of this revolution by asserting that, “The story of ’90s women in rock was as compelling as globalization is nowadays” (Schroeder). 

With Generation-X coming of age, gender ideology shifted like a prevailing wind within the social climate of the early 1990s as women battled for equal opportunities in many facets of society. 1992 became the “Year of the Woman” in politics, as a record-breaking four women were elected to the United States Senate (Wasinewski 556). Hollywood showed signs progress as “Thelma & Louise made film history with a female screenwriter, two female leads, and a controversial, female-empowered storyline” (Fournier). Conversely, John Gray’s bestselling book Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus: a Practical Guide for Improving Communication and Getting What You Want in Your Relationships, published in 1992, aimed to illustrate the fundamental differences that exist between the sexes. Despite the fact that Gray’s book attempted to distance men and women by entire light years, the nineties proved that musicians of both sexes were willing to eschew their traditional gender roles, in order to find commonality within a single celestial body.

“Women serve on aircraft carriers and on the Supreme Court, so it’s striking, given rock’s putative social progressiveness, that it is only now [in 1994] becoming routine for women and men to play together in rock groups as partners” (McLaughlin & Farley).

Aspiring journalist Amy Schroeder took note of this social progressiveness from her dorm room at Michigan State University. There, Schroeder gave birth to Venus Zine, a now nationally circulated periodical devoted to women in music, film, literature, and fashion. “The ’90s were great for women in alternative rock,” she later exclaimed. Venus Zine worked in tandem with the burgeoning alternative music movement to level the playing field with respect to gender. As Schroeder explained, “We provide a space that focuses on women in the arts, and we give cred to the dudes too”.  Three of these “dudes”, who called themselves Nirvana, became the “biggest band in the word” by 1992 (Cross 223), as front-man and father of alternative music, Kurt Cobain, proclaimed that “The future of rock belongs to women” (Raphael xvi). Time noted that “The rise of alternative rock also fueled the boom in coed bands”. Cobain’s wife, Courtney Love, served as lead singer and guitarist for Hole, a pioneering coed band in the alterna-rock scene who successfully combined “primal guitar riffs” with “high IQ lyrics” (McLaughlin & Farley). Other nineties groups consisting of both sexes, including Smashing Pumpkins, The Cranberries (McLaughlin & Farley), Veruca Salt, Garbage, L7 and The Breeders soon found their way onto the charts (Billboard.com). In 1994, Time welcomed this sudden paradigm shift by noting that, “Coed bands are creating some of the most interesting music around”. In response to the perceived beginnings of gender equality within rock and roll, the magazine made yet another prediction that, unfortunately, would go the way of subterranean superhighways and independent wealth for everyone in the United States. In 1994, they promised that, “Someday coed bands could become the rule” (McLaughlin & Farley). Time, the publication, may have held optimism with respect to gender equality in music, but sixteen-years of actual-time proves that women’s involvement in mainstream rock and roll had greatly diminished by the start of the new millennium. In 2010 “the rule” of bands existing in coed form was but a rare exception as men once again dominated the arena of rock and roll music. In hindsight, the alternative music movement of the 1990s serves as an example of how women and men successfully fought from the underground-up to achieve gender equality in rock music, only to find their social progress destroyed by the revenue-hungry alcohol distributors of North America.

To understand why the presence of women in rock and roll music during the nineties was so monumental, one must take a look back at the preceding decades in which music was scarred by arrant misogyny and featured a disproportionate number of male performers. In an article published by scholarly journal, Gender & Society, sociologist Mary Ann Clawson examines the ways in which women’s roles in music had shifted dramatically from rock music’s inception in the 1950s. Before the nineties, “Few rock bands included women”. Clawson uses the technique of secondary data analysis to quantify just how scarce women were in mainstream rock before the 1990s.  Women constituted less than one-fourth of musicians who were popular during the period of 1967-1987, with fewer than six percent of these women serving as instrumentalists (Clawson 195).  This lack of female instrumentalists, she argues, disenfranchised women as these duties within a band are “strongly linked to notions of rock creativity”. She attributes the eventual presence of women in alternative rock to the punk movement of the late 1970s. Seminal punk rock bands including The Germs, and Joan Jett’s group, The Runaways were among the first to feature women players as the ideological views within this genre “beckoned anyone and everyone to pick up a guitar” (Clawson 195). The trend of women in punk rock echoed into the following decade as eighties punk rock stalwarts Black Flag also featured a woman on instrumental duties. Bassist Kira Roessler proved that women could handle the arduous lifestyle ascribed to rock and roll, both on and off the stage, as the intensity of Black Flag’s sound appeared to be matched only by Roessler’s devotion to her craft. In 1994, Black Flag’s singer, Henry Rollins, published Get in the Van, a nitty-gritty memoir which detailed the nightmarish conditions that he and his band members were often subject to on tour. Detriments such as hunger, extreme temperatures, and exhaustion were commonplace, and many of the band’s shows were plagued by violence from unruly crowds (Rollins). Rollins recounts one such example of egregious brutality lodged at Roessler in 1985.

“Kira went into the bathroom and this big old woman beat her up and smashed her hand into one of the stalls. Kira’s hand was all fucked up, but she played the show anyway. She’s tough” (Rollins).

Roessler, along with eighties post-punk compatriots Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth and Kim Deal of The Pixies, inspired a new generation of women to pick up instruments. By 1990, a feminist punk movement had taken shape in the Pacific Northwest. “The riot grrrl movement was based on a feminist and [Do-It–Yourself] philosophy that women can empower themselves by taking action politically and artistically” (Schroeder). In the wake of eighties hair metal, in which women served as subjects “about whom misogynistic lyrics could be written” (McLaughlin & Farley), the nineties were ripe for change. Bands like Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney lead the charge and by 1991, prominent male musicians such as those in Pearl Jam and Rage Against the Machine embraced the riot grrrl movement and got on board with pro-feminist politics (Schroeder).

“Judging by radio and MTV airplay, when women were at the forefront of the rock industry in the 1990s, the mainstream welcomed and applauded artists with pro-feminist politics” (Schroeder).

In 1994, Time made the declaration that women had officially become “full, chord-crunching, songwriting partners with men in real rock groups”.

As feminist ideology virtually co-opted the music industry of the nineties, the alcohol distributors of North America, were quick to follow suit. In 1995, Seagram, the world’s largest producer and distributor of distilled spirits took stake in the music business when they purchased MCA Records (Seagram, Ltd.). Within three years the company swallowed both PolyGram and Universal Recordings (Universal Music Group).  Seagram then formed the Universal Music Group in 1998 where they officially controlled one-fifth of the entire recording industry (Universal Music Group). Molson, another prominent distributor of alcoholic beverages opted for a stake in the industry of live music. By the late 1990’s Molson Breweries owned “50 percent of Canada’s only national concert promoter, Universal Concerts” (Klein 48). A report sponsored by Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America warned parents that these acquisitions could lead to unintentional marketing, with regard to young, impressionable minds (Alcohol Advertising). Naomi Klein, author and corporate watchdog, examined this phenomenon of corporate sponsored events in her guide to anti-globalization, No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies.

“The brand is the event’s infrastructure; the artists are its filler, a reversal in the power dynamic that makes any discussion of the need to protect unmarketed artistic space appear hopelessly naïve” (Klein 48).

By the late 1990’s, corporations such as Seagram and Molson held significant control over the music industry, and obtained the power to spread virtually any message that they wished.

With the record companies and touring musicians at the mercy of alcohol distributors by the late nineties, radio was the final frontier in a complete takeover of the music industry. As Clear Channel Communications held a virtual “monopoly” over radio, stations could not be purchased directly (Boehlert). Companies such as Seagram, Molson, and Anheuser-Busch, distributor of Budweiser, could however, control how they spent their massive advertising dollars at these stations (Shafer). Broadcasters relied on this revenue as “alcohol advertising on television and radio totaled more than $787 million in 1998 alone” (Alcohol Advertising). Patterns demonstrate that rock radio is a tried-and-true forum for marketing to young adults. “On radio, alcohol advertising often airs on youth-oriented rock and roll or album-oriented rock formats that target 18-to 24-year-olds” (Alcohol Advertising). Furthermore, studies in alcohol consumption demonstrate that “heavy use is more common…among males” (Bonnie & O’Connell). A problem then manifested as the alcohol distributors had consistently relied on advertising which promoted sexism and misogyny in order to sell their products (Elliott; Nasaw). This message of objectifying women did not gibe with the third-wave feminist ideology which dominated the airwaves in the 1990’s when “Coed bands usually avoid[ed] cartoonish, bombastic sexuality except to ridicule it” (McLaughlin & Farley). In an attempt to secure future advertising revenue from alcohol distributors, radio programmers scrambled to appeal to the coveted 18-24 male demographic (Brass). As a result, a return to a heavier, more metal-infused sound was implemented (D’Angelo & Perry). “A key element of metal,” author Keith Kahn-Harris explains in his book, Extreme Metal: music and culture on the edge, “is the misogynist fantasy.” As such, Extreme Metal… explains that coed bands have no place within the genre. “The practices of making music within the [metal] scene also reinforce the exclusion of women”. By signing misogynist metal bands to their labels, placing them on tour and strong-arming radio programmers to play their songs, the alcohol distributors ensured that in the days of the waning twentieth century, rock radio was once again a segregated medium. Bud Light further drove this point home as they unveiled the long-running “Real Men of Genius” series of radio ads.  

The messages delivered via rock radio had shifted dramatically by the start of the new decade. The days where Garbage’s Shirley Manson compared herself to a modern day Joan of Arc (Garbage) and Courtney Love sympathized with “The girl you know / [who] can’t look you in the eye”, (Love & Erlandson) had all but disappeared so that Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit could declare that he “Did it all for the nookie” (Durst). Limp Bizkit built on their success by releasing ‘Break Stuff’, an abrasive song which featured the refrain, “It’s all about the he says she says bullshit”, and threatened that the “First one to complain / Leaves with a blood stain” (Durst). In her 2007 essay, aptly titled ‘What happened to revolution girl style now?’ Schroder commented on the state of male-dominated music by bands like Limp Bizkit. “The popular trend is derivative male bands” (Schroeder). On modern day feminism, she asserted, “A decade ago, it was safe for me to assume that the majority of our [Venus Zine] readers considered themselves feminist. These days, however, I don’t always make that assumption…And I can’t help but wonder if it has something to do with mainstream culture’s exclusion of feminist attitudes” (Schroeder). The title ‘Break Stuff’ was, perhaps, symbolic as companies such as Budweiser enabled Limp Bizkit and a new crop of misogynist metal bands to seemingly obliterate the social progress that pioneers like Schroeder had worked so hard to achieve.  

Another decade has passed and social change is once again possible as the music industry struggles to adopt a new business model. “Changes in technology have hung a giant question mark over the entire industry”, as the manner in which consumers acquire music has shifted quite drastically (McCall). In April of 2008, Apple’s digital download store, iTunes, made history as it surpassed Wal-Mart to become the number one retailer of music in the world (Hempel). CNet, an online source dedicated to the world of technology, reflected on how this change would affect the industry.

“The old system (the labels, record stores, and radio stations) were a set of filtersthat limited the number of bands that, at any given moment, were heard on the radio.  The filters preselected what they thought was the most likely to break through.” (Guttenberg).

Alcohol distributors like Seagram, Molson and Anheuser-Busch not only relied on, but in many cases, manipulated these filters in order to market their products to key demographics and increase their overall profit margins. The music consumer has gained significant control as the elimination of “preselected filters” better facilitates proactive decisions when searching for new music. Another “reversal in the power dynamic” is taking place.

As the ways in which people obtain music are changing, music artists are starting to bypass the traditional methods of distribution and are searching for new ways to reach fans. Metric, a modern day co-ed band within the alternative rock scene is a prime example of one such band. Formed in Toronto in 1998, the group endured “struggles” as they released three albums on indie labels and built a modest following by touring. When it came time to record their 2009 album, ‘Fantasies’, the band received “several offers from the big record companies”, which they adamantly declined (Stone). As the role of a record label is essentially to provide the artist with a high-interest loan by fronting recording costs and assuming control over the finished product (Howard & Feist), Metric was able circumvent this process of loansharking by procuring a grant from the Canadian Government (Stone). With no filters to sift through, the band then began selling ‘Fantasies’ “directly to fans on services like iTunes” (Stone). As a result, ‘Fantasies’ became the first album to reach the Billboard Top-20, without a label (McCall). Front woman Emily Haines commented on the band’s motivation to forgo the conventional means to success in music.

“It was more a question of how we were going to self-actualize, instead of waiting around for somebody else to give us permission to be who we are” (McCall).

With corporations like Seagram, Molson and Anheuser-Busch having less pull over the strings of the music industry, artists and fans are afforded the opportunity to “be who they are”, regardless of gender.       

Time once predicted that by the year 2000, “men will have flown past Venus and landed on Mars” (THE FUTURISTS).  In the case of the music industry, and pro-feminist ideology, this prediction, unfortunately, has come true.  Despite the eventual victory of alcohol distributors over third-wave feminism, the nineties alternative rock movement, albeit brief, exists as a concrete example of how with dedication, social change can become a reality.


(Photo by Cherly Sugar)

Vance hammers six-strings, and provides the sonorous screak of swollen stylopharyngus in the co-ed, punk-rock, packofbadgers that is Utility Monster.  Utility Monster can be found here:

Bandcamp 

Facebook

Bibliography:

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Billboard.com. Music News, Reviews, Articles, Information, News Online & Free Music Billboard.com. 2010. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. http://www.billboard.com.

Boehlert, Eric. “Salon: Clear Channel.” Salon.com - Salon.com. Salon Media Group, 8 Aug. 2001. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. http://www.salon.com/ent/clear_channel/.

Bonnie, Richard J., and Mary Ellen O’Connell. “Alcohol Advertising and Promotion.” Reducing Underage Drinking: a Collective Responsibility. Washington, DC: National Academies, 2004. Print.

Brass, Kevin. “Radio Dial: New New Rock Alternative Alternatives? Austin News - AustinChronicle.com.” The Austin Chronicle. Austin News, Events, Restaurants, Music - AustinChronicle.com. Austin Chronicle Corp., 30 Sept. 2005. Web. 24 Nov. 2010. http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:294029.

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D’Angelo, Joe, and Heather Parry. “MTV.com: Nu Metal Meltdown.” New Music Videos, Reality TV Shows, Celebrity News, Top Stories | MTV. MTV Networks, 2007. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/metal_meltdown/news_feature_030124/index.jhtml.

Durst, Fred. Nookie, Break Stuff. Limp Bizkit. Rec. 1998. Fred Durst, 1998. MP3.

Elliott, Stuart. “Super Bowl Ad Watch: Blogging the Commercials - NYTimes.com.” The New York Times - Media Decoder. The New York Times Company, 07 Feb. 2010. Web. 24 Nov. 2010. http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/super-bowl-ad-watch-a-look-at-the-other-side-of-tonights-game/?scp=1&sq=Super%20Bowl%20Ad%20Watch:%20Blogging%20the%20Commercials&st=cse> Fournier, Gina. Thelma & Louise and Women in Hollywood. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2007. Print.

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Howard, George, and Jonathan Feist. Getting Signed!: an Insider’s Guide to the Record Industry. Boston, MA: Berklee, 2004. Print.

Kahn-Harris, Keith. Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge. Oxford: Berg, 2007. Print.

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McCall, Tris. “Metric Goes Truly Indie and Reaches the Mainstream Anyway.” New Jersey Star-Ledger. New Jersey-Online, LLC, 25 Oct. 2010. Web. 01 Dec. 2010. http://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2010/10/metric_goes_truly_indie_and_re.html

McLaughlin, Lisa, and Christopher John Farley. “MUSIC: Rock Goes Coed - TIME.” Time 08 Aug. 1994. Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. Time, Inc. Web. 24 Nov. 2010. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,981230-2,00.html.

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My Continuing Struggle Against Lad Culture: Nathan Stephens-Griffin of ONSIND on FHM, FRONT, Lemuria, and Andrej Pejic.

(Andy’s note: This piece was originally posted on Nathan’s blog, Queering Veganism. Nathan kindly gave me permission to repost it in full here on I Live Sweat. You can check out the original post here.)

I realize I’m probably one of many people writing about this, but I just read an article which made my blood boil. 

Every year FHM conducts a poll to decide the ‘worlds 100 sexiest women’. So far, so objectionable. This year, the person who appeared at number 98 was a model called Andrej Pejic, pictured below:

I’m not really into objectifying people, or judging them by narrow and oppressive beauty standards, but I happen to think that Andrej is very attractive, and I understand why even readers of a lads mag like FHM would agree. What the people who own and edit FHM didn’t realise when they published Andrej’s picture in their magazine poll, is that Andrej is a male bodied person. A self-identifying ‘man’ if my research is to be believed (although feel free to correct me). When they found out about this they posted a very hateful online retraction, in which they described Andrej as a ‘thing’ and said that the idea of Andrej potentially becoming a Victoria’s Secret model has had them reaching for the ‘sick bucket’ (you can read the full text in all its pathetic glory at Alicia Swann’s blog). 

What a bunch of insecure, childish homophobes. And I use the term ‘homophobes’ not because Andrej is gay (this may or may not be the case, but Andrej’s sexual preferences are largely irrelevant here); I say it because these pricks are clearly so disgusted by the idea that they themselves were sexually attracted to a non-female bodied person that they have overreacted massively and responded by insulting this entirely innocent human being. Perpetrators of violence against trans folks have often been said to have been taking out their own frustrations and sexual confusion on the victim. Creating hatred and violence out of something potentially beautiful (sexual attraction). This could have been a watershed moment of progress for FHM and society in general, instead they’ve swept it under the carpet like an embarrassing ‘mistake’. Imagine these heteronormative fuck-wits watching porn. If a man’s face or body part appears on screen at the moment of ejaculation they probably feel dirty for weeks. 

FHM has been criticised for it’s transphobic response (e.g. here and here, and presumably many more places), and it has since retracted the initial statement. But it hasn’t been criticised for its seemingly insatiable desire to rank, categorise and sexually objectify women based on arbitrary indicators of value. Isn’t this just two sides of the same ugly, oppressive coin? In describing Andrej as a ‘thing’, FHM highlighted its own desire to dehumanize; but this is what the magazine does on a monthly basis anyway. FHM promotes the idea that women are here for men to ogle at and fantasize about fucking, and nothing more. I appreciate and support the concern over the apparent transphobia, but my concerns extend a lot further. In my utopia, there would be no such thing as a ‘lads mag’.

Last week, I sent an email to the power-pop/indie/punk band Lemuria. I have met Alex and Sheena from Lemuria a couple of times (onsind had the pleasure of supporting them a couple of years ago), and I guess you could say they are mutual acquaintances of mine (in that they are pretty good friends with one or two of my pretty good friends). My email alerted them to the fact that the stage they are playing at an upcoming alternative music festival in Kent this summer is sponsored by FRONT magazine. FRONT is a self-styled ‘alternative’ to lads mags, it is kind of like a cross between Kerrang and Suicide Girls. I consider myself to be very sex-positive, I also think that nudity is a wonderful thing. But I will reject magazines like FHM and FRONT to the hilt.

FRONT magazine, like FHM, is fundamentally sexist. It profits from treating women as (sex) objects. It promotes narrow and oppressive ideas about (female) beauty. It is made (primarily) by men, for men. FRONT is no different to FHM. Yes the women on display in FRONT have tattoos/piercings, but they are also more often than not body-hairlessly infantilised, skinny, large breasted and air-brushed out of reality, just like they are in any other lads-mag. Tellingly, Andrej’s apparent flat-chestedness was brought up in FHMs retraction; you can imagine them privately cursing themselves for letting a flat-chest slip through the cracks onto the pages of their magazine.

I realize that I could be alienating friends here. Me bashing FHM is one thing: it’s what lager lads read after all. But FRONT has been embraced by some members of the punk scene. So, to preempt the usual kneejerk male defensiveness, I want to stress that I do not think that my rejection of lads mags/mainstream porn makes me ‘better’ than anyone else. I have friends who buy, read, have worked for and have appeared in FRONT magazine (both as models and as bands- no points for guessing which gender was appearing in which capacity). As a 15 year old, I read those kinds of magazines uncritically (including FRONT, before it restyled itself as an ‘alternative’ magazine). At that age, I saw no harm. At 25, I see it all too clearly. 

As the lead singer/guitarist in a ‘punk-eque’ band, Sheena from Lemuria has often had to deal with (overt and subtle) sexism (this article is a great reference point). In a recent interview with punknews.org, Sheena (pictured below) said:

“I think women [in bands] should be viewed as musicians more than their gender should have anything to do with it.”


Having met Alex and Sheena, it struck me that them playing in front of a banner which promotes the exact opposite view of women, would be somewhat contradictory and self-defeating. FRONT promotes the idea that women should be valued solely for their appearance and their (hetero)sexuality, not for what they have to say or for their creativity or talent. I hope that Lemuria consider pulling out of the festival, or at least offering the organizers some kind of ultimatum regarding the festival’s sponsors. I can’t see it happening. I love the band, but they have gotten to the point where they are so popular that my email will probably never get read. They don’t handle their own booking, and I can see them just turning up, playing and leaving without really noticing or understanding what the fest was sponsored by. Or maybe Lemuria think magazines like FRONT are a good thing to be associated with… I sincerely doubt it. 

I guess the main point I’m making is that flash-in-the-pan out cries about these magazines often can’t see the wood for the trees. I remember a furore a year or so ago when guest columnist Danny Dyer advised a heartbroken ZOO magazine reader to ‘cut’ his ex-girlfriends face up, so that ‘no one else will want her’. The media fuss was overwhelming, so Zoo sacked him, and the next week published an article about domestic violence. The sad fact is that Dyer’s ugly, hateful words are implicit in every page of ZOO magazine regardless.

(Andy’s note: The Danny Dyer incident outlined above caused my mate Liam, with a bit of help from my hungover husk, come up with this Just Giving campaign. If you’ve got a spare couple of quid, it’s still open.)

Until these magazines begin to value women for more than just their appearance (or at the very least embrace a more inclusive version of beauty); until they embrace the idea that men finding male/trans bodies attractive is not something to be ashamed or hysterically defensive about; until they stop treating women like sex objects, they will still be perpetuating the same fundamental value system which makes domestic violence, rape and misogyny such a sickeningly prevalent aspect of our society.

Apparently, Andrej wants to do a Playboy shoot. I guess that’s one potential reformist route to trans liberation.

Me? I just want to shoot Playboy.

Nathan is one half of One Night Stand In North Dakota, my favourite UK band. He’s interested in comics and queer theory, which makes him double-rad to the power of zombie dinosaurs. His contact details are on his Tumblr, which you can find here. I Live Sweat interviews ONSIND last year too. Go and read!

“…we fall woefully short in practice.” - Aaron Attica!, aka. Attica! Attica!, on punk, sexism, and how men can help.

(Andy’s note: Plenty of readers have been asking after a male perspective on the sexism issue. Here’s one. For my money, Aaron’s done us proud here. Enjoy.)


Photo by Joe Zwielich

I am a straight male who loves punk music. By pure chance of my sexuality and gender, I am a person of immense privilege. I am also a member of the demographic that comprises the majority of the punk scene. I’m writing this in the hope that fellow members of our demographic will take a deeper consideration of our role in sexism within the scene. While we supposedly value ideals of inclusiveness and egalitarianism, we fall woefully short in practice. And we, as males who love punk music, can and should take an active part in dismantling sexist norms and coming closer to realizing those ideals.

As you are undoubtedly aware, a significant majority of the songwriters and performers in punk are male. The male voice and experience is exaggerated by the heavy disproportion of male lyricists and singers. This is similar to most other male-dominated spaces in our society where males create, frame, and bolster the normative views of the scene at large. Because of this, a male can comfortably express misogynist viewpoints (whether in song, in conversation, or in action) because he knows he’ll be insulated from reprisal. I experienced this firsthand when I began writing songs as a teenager. Ignorant lyrics that I wrote expressing hostility towards females received only one kind of feedback from the boys around me: praise. When surrounded by dominant male culture, a valid emotion such as “I’m sad that she broke up with me” can easily be turned into lyrics that both demean her and fantasize about violence against her without controversy. These lyrics are paired with punk music, recorded and replayed, performed repeatedly, and memorized and passionately regurgitated at shows to the point that they become part of our common vernacular. Considering this environment, a female must be truly audacious to contribute her voice to the scene.

I don’t want to accuse the punk scene of being more sexist than any other male-dominated sector of American culture. But I do want to hold it accountable for being pathetically average in its sexism. I was attracted to punk not just because the music kicked ass, but also because the culture provided an alternative to all the bullshit of the mainstream. That alternative included a proactive interest in being inclusive and minimizing oppressive behavior. I think the punk scene excels at that inclusiveness in some ways, and yet it still feels like a bunch of straight white males who could give a damn about whether anyone else really feels welcome. We’ve had decades to build upon the energy of punk’s emergence and create a culture that is more just, fair, and respectful than the patriarchal institutions that we escaped. But what I see in punk is a replication of many mainstream male-dominant attitudes and behaviors that are protected under the false banner of a post-sexist haven for all.

We, as the dominant gender, have some serious work to do to make the punk scene a place where females feel empowered to operate with the same agency as males. How do I know this? Because the women I know in the scene tell me so. A few women have already said as much on this blog, and the resulting denigration and dismissal of their ideas and experiences has been a classic exercise in male entitlement: Even after hearing direct testimonials from women who were brave enough to say what was on their minds, we insisted that they must be wrong. Whether our egos would be too bruised to acknowledge the validity of their statements, or we’re just too stubborn to be convinced, either way we’re more interested in maintaining the foundations of our privilege than relinquishing the slightest amount of power to the women around us.

Most males I’ve met in the scene over the years certainly have no problem with women playing punk music or coming to shows to enjoy it. But this passive and unsophisticated sense of egalitarianism retains sexist elements. Most of us have made no effort whatsoever to foster an environment that encourages female participation. This apathy towards creating an inclusive environment is what I find most disconcerting (read: most fucked up) about the present state of the scene. We don’t care who is playing, as long as they rock. We don’t care whether the women feel safe at the show; we’re fine with the fact that they are simply allowed to be there. And when someone asks us to be more considerate with our language, to remove certain types of jokes from our socializing, and to expand our understanding of women beyond the beer commercial dichotomy of fantasy-sex-objects/emasculating-girlfriends, we shrug our shoulders and say, “Why should I?” Or we point to those females in the scene who don’t seem to think it’s such a big deal and say, “They don’t have a problem with it, so I guess I’ll keep doing what I’m doing.”

We can be so much better than that. We don’t have to cling to the self-involved, insecure, ready-to-fight masculinity of old. We don’t have to talk the most, listen the least, and insist on rating each woman we encounter by her attractiveness. I know we don’t have to be like this because I see a new kind of masculinity in the men I admire in this scene. These men actively work to build friendships with women. They write songs that reveal their sensitivity and they are considerate with their words. They explore topics beyond beer, breakups, and videogames. They dance the way their bodies want to move, without fear of judgment from other males who only honor moshing and spinkicks. They ask questions and they listen to the answers. They are brave enough to defy the longstanding unwritten codes of male behavior, even if it means challenging another male’s oppressive behavior. They are thoughtful enough to consider the welfare of other people within the scene and seek to be allies with those who endure this oppression. And they are strong enough to acknowledge that it’s unjust to leave the work of dismantling sexism to women. We’ve created an environment where it is uncomfortable for females to express themselves, and if we demand that only females speak up about it, we’ve successfully orchestrated a catch-22 that only the most courageous of females will violate. Because we had the power to create such impossible circumstances for females, we also have the power to undo it. More significantly, it is our responsibility to undo it.

I don’t intend to make this sound like a burden. In fact, it’s an opportunity for us all to have a more rich and diverse experience within the scene. I can testify that the tours I’ve been on with women have been some of the best. This mixed gender experience was completely different (and actually far more pleasant and interesting) than tours with an all-male echo chamber. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being in bands with women, and found that our difference of perspectives was fertile ground for building understanding and writing better music and lyrics. And I’ve become a more reflective and aware person as a result of talking with women who love punk as much as I do but who have experienced it differently.

If you need suggestions for how to make women feel welcome, then I suggest you ask the females in your local scene. They probably have some pretty specific ideas. To that end, I agree with what Katie from P.S. Elliot said in her essay: we’re trying to start a dialogue. And even though I’m saying this on the internet, I believe that truly courageous and effective discussions don’t happen online. That’s why they need to take place in our local scenes, and we males need to make it clear that we are open to the conversation by either starting it or continuing it.

Additionally, it is incumbent upon us to use our influence to increase the visibility and support for females in our scene. We need to book more bands that have female members, invite more females to start bands with us, and make sure females know about shows and feel truly invited. We need to sign more bands and artists that espouse the female perspective, and we need to try harder to check out new bands that don’t echo the textbook male perspective. We need to interview more females in bands, and expand the focus of the interviews beyond female-specific matters. We need to solicit more record reviews, essays, and stories from females, and not just when the subject at hand is a female band. When we write lyrics from our perspective, we need to make a greater effort to mine our creativity and thoughtfulness to express our emotions in ways that don’t implicitly or explicitly perpetuate hostile attitudes towards women. And we need to make flyers, album art, and advertisements that depict women in more diverse and respectful ways than exclusively as a means to sell a product.

If you’re reading this and my suggestions sound like too much work, or you think this isn’t important enough to put effort into, then you are experiencing the lavish pleasure of privilege. Unfortunately, the females in our scene don’t get to choose whether they have to deal with this shit. And therefore, neither should we. It’s time to get to work, start some conversations, and take some real action.

Postscript: I’m aware that many of the elements of privilege and oppression that I speak to in this essay are present and equally troubling when it comes to matters of race, sexual identity, ability, and so on.  These issues have parallels to each other, but I think they are complex enough on their own respective terms that they warrant their own discussion.

Aaron Attica! is a musician from Portland, OR.  He plays folk punk under the name Attica! Attica!.  You can submit stories to his blog about house shows here: Please Don’t Hang Out In Front of the House.  

“We owe it to ourselves to grow and learn together…” Jen Twigg on her experiences of sexism in the punk scene

(Andy’s note: Thanks for all the support so far. The guest writers and myself are all extremely grateful and humbled by it. Without further ado, here’s Jen.)

Photo by Rosie Richeson

“A thousand tiny paper cuts.” That’s what my friend calls it when so many little injustices happen — you wouldn’t make a big deal about one on its own, but a thousand of them together are a gaping wound. Add them up: some bro cheerfully telling a rape joke to a room full of laughing people, women-hating graffiti on the wall of the bathroom in the bar you’re about to play, the door guy not believing you when you say you’re in the band, any man in any situation talking over you to the guys in your band. That intangible, sinking, isolated, feeling of trying to be accomodating while retreating a little bit further into yourself for protection every time. 


I came to punk through east coast hardcore, and everyone I knew was into it, so those were the shows I almost always went to at first. I remember standing in the back of a large room once and still getting punched hard in the face by a beefy dude. Afterward, I was talking with my ex-partner, just beginning to realize how much I was not into these displays of performative machismo, and he kept saying “this is just how it is, how it’s always been. it’s not going to change.” I’ve written about violence at hardcore shows before so I won’t rehash it all again, but I’ll repeat this: privileging the antiquated notion that men will be men and need to blow off steam violently is not progressive, it’s just mirroring mainstream values of entitlement and privilege. Allowing the posturing that happens in these cases to continue undermines any other progressive politics you might be supporting (commonly veganism and straight edge). There are ways to get stoked and go buck wild without being violent and creating an oppressive space; I’ve seen them at a million other shows.

Although I don’t think we can ever talk too much about these things that happen to us since it never seems to sink in with those who need to hear it the most, and I have my fair share of stories, I want to address another side of it right now. If you think you don’t do the things that we call out in pieces like these about gender (and race, and sexuality, etc. etc.) in punk, then prove it by being a good ally. The simple fact that you don’t think you condescend to female musicians and don’t tell rape jokes isn’t enough; you need to be actively helping us have this conversation with folks who don’t get it. 

How can you be a good male ally to women (and everyone) in punk? It’s really not that hard, I promise! All you have to do is listen to women and believe what they tell you about their own experiences. When someone comes to you with sexual assault allegations, don’t pull the “he’s always been cool to me” or “where’s the proof?” cards (The only time punks love cops and believe the justice system works is when their friend has assaulted a lady in the scene.). When someone tells you they feel alienated, don’t tell them they are taking it too seriously, or they should suck it up just because you have never felt alienated yourself, and don’t think “Oh, well i know a woman who says she doesn’t feel alienated, so that must mean you are wrong about how you feel!”. Don’t set up a system of competition where you privilege women who can hack it with the dudes, and look down on those who don’t want to get in the pit. When you’re standing around shooting the shit with a group of men and someone tells an off-color joke, speak up and let them know it’s not okay, even if there are no women around. Will it be uncomfortable? Probably. Welcome to our world.

Don’t condescend to women, even if you have more experience with gear and writing music than they do, because you may have been more supported in the past than they were. If they ask for your help, teach without judgment and value their input. At the same time, never assume that someone doesn’t know lots about gear or writing music just because they are a woman! Educate yourself about consent. Most of all, don’t expect to get patted on the back and heaped with praise every time you do something decent as an ally. Acting this way should be the norm, not the exception.

Punk is fiercely emotional for a lot of us, because we are tied so deeply to the community, and it can be hard not to take it personally and be defensive when something about it isn’t perfect. We owe it to ourselves not to be defensive, though. We owe it to ourselves to grow and learn together in this community, to listen to each other, to actually be as progressive as we said we’d be when we left the mainstream to come here.

Jen Twigg is a writer, zine fest organizer, and enthusiastic girls rock camp volunteer living in Chicago. She will never give up on the Baltimore Orioles and has a guest column in this month’s MRR. You can find out more about her band The Ambulars on facebook or ye olde myspace at http://www.myspace.com/theambulars and her personal blog is at http://jtwigg365.tumblr.com.

Superfluous Stronghold: We’re Punk But We Ain’t Perfect - P.S. Eliot’s Katie Crutchfield offers her views on sexism in punk


Photo by Rich Guttierrez

(Andy’s note: This piece is the third in a loose series on sexism in punk and hardcore. You can check out the first and second pieces here and here.)

It all started this weekend in Mccarren Park. The Two Funerals were in town from Richmond and we were wandering and daydreaming of margaritas in Styrofoam cups and dismally overdue heart-to-hearts. My pal and now fellow I Live Sweat contributor Lauren Denitzio met up with us and with the help of well tequila and a picnic blanket, we made all our daydreams come true. The conversation shifted into a discussion about our most recent experiences with sexism in the punk community; these conversations sort of always do. I consider all of us components of a decreasingly rare species of ladies/lady-bodied humans in the DIY punk world. We are certainly radical, but calling us “radical feminists” is too loose. It’s vague. What we are is complicated. We’re victims of idiocy. We are culprits of judgment without support. But we are not guilty by association.

It was then that I decided to write to Andy who runs this lovely web blog and see if he’d be so kind to let me use his medium and my minuscule notoriety as a soapbox to talk about something that is creating quite a division in our already martyred scene. We’re small and we’re specifically weird and the fact that the simple idea of treating all people with equal respect is warranting a shitstorm of hyper-masculine cold-shouldering and hate-typing is fucking ludicrous as far as I’m concerned. Acknowledging a giant zit on the chin of our tiny punk rock commonality does not have to be a witch-hunt. It doesn’t have to be a big blame game or an excuse for some ex-JV benchwarmer with an X watch to make me, Lauren, the Two Funerals or anyone else the butt of some defensive, awkward and outlandishly counter-productive joke. It doesn’t have to be a war, a battle or even an argument. It just has to be a conversation.

So what’s the big problem? You might find yourself pondering that right about now. I’m going to refer back to a little bit of internet drama you may have heard about/participated in sometime last year. The abomination that is the B9 message board popped into my P.S. Eliot Google alert one day and I knew for sure that there was a storm a-brewin’. After deciphering the editorialized asininity of 15-year-old cavemen I began to notice something profound. You know when you’re young and your mom tries to tell you not to bother an antpile because “they’re more afraid of you then you are of them”? My intelligence, physical appearance, emotional stability and creative output were all being called in to question because of that inane thread or whatever you call it and the only rhyme or reason I can propose is that these impotent messageboard cyborgs are scared shitless that there are women out there who are more productive, talented and capable than themselves. Now that sounds mighty detrimental, right? I’ll refer back to our park conversation by saying that some people are never going change their fucking stupid and bigoted opinions. You can’t agree with everyone about everything no matter how right you are. Some people are just going to throw themselves to the wind as a lost cause and usually it’s best to just let them sail.

So to those of you who I haven’t lost by denouncing hardcore gab-session forums and all their creepy inhabitants: do you want to know what makes me feel unsafe? Being written off as a songwriter and a musician because there is a male-bodied individual in my band. Having my most personally valuable compositions and output reduced to some stupid one-paragraph blog-post I made about all the fucked up stuff people were saying about my band regarding my gender. The notion that people still write me off because they “dislike female vocals”. The fact that if I take my shirt off at a show, I immediately become a spectacle. It’s just as hot for me at shows in the summer as it is for anyone else.  While in the scene I am directly involved and with the company I choose to keep this eerie irreverence is almost never present, I have seen and felt so much alienation in my 7 years of touring and playing all ages punk shows. All of my negative experiences mirror the negative experiences of so many other ladies involved in this music scene equitably. It’s as unnecessary as it is disheartening. This issue is mocked as often as it is brushed off and it is truly inexplicable to me. The counter-culture we’re a part of has evolved so much since it’s outset but the consistent ideology is rebellion against an assumed oppressive normalcy. Defiance. Refusal to conform to whatever bullshit the rest of the world is being spoon-fed. What’s normal today? Are women objectified? Yes. Are queer/trans-identified people struggling for parity? Yes. Is it difficult to be taken seriously if you don’t adhere to certain physical standards i.e. hair color, weight, clothing, etc.? Yes. So what really gets my goat here is that there are seemingly people within the punk community who think this way too. The way “society wants us to think”. That is when I feel uneasy. The thought that I could go to a show and feel the same way I did in the hallway at my highschool. Chest bumps, ass grabs, lewd comments, debauchery.

I don’t think we all need to have identical convictions. It isn’t a cult. But these fundamental differences and gaps make me feel pretty fucking unsafe. It isn’t punk. It isn’t what punk is about. It is both antagonizing and depressing that shining a light on this big flaw in our community warrants the response it gets. We, as punks, as anarchists, as free-thinking, coffee-drinking, Black Flag-loving, well-read, well-articulated, over-stimulated punks, are supposed to be the progressive ones. We’re the people who call out the bigots. We’re the people who embrace the differences in each other. We’re the weirdo loner geeks who endlessly support the other weirdo loner geeks. Gender, race, age, sexual identity and any other trivial or biological property should draw no lines between us. So when the doorman at my show thinks that I’m someone’s girlfriend and won’t believe that I’m playing in a band, well, that makes me feel unsafe. When I’m patronized by my male peers in conversations about Nirvana and Hagstroms and obscure guitar tunings, that makes me feel unsafe too. The predominant, mainstream consumer-motivated world at large is a creepy place to be. We should be united in our hostility and we shouldn’t be partitioned by an inability to empathize.

Though while sitting there in the park, I felt myself inadvertently cursing off jock hardcore, Punknews and testosterone, my attitude toward the subject remains hopeful. I don’t think “calling people out” is a conclusive method of making this scene a safer and better place. I think that sensitivity, compassion and opening up a dialogue with one another is really all that it takes.

Katie Crutchfield is a writer, musician, and college dropout living in Brooklyn, NY. She writes, plays and tours in P.S. Eliot, Bad Banana and Waxahatchee and has a knack for drunken blogposts and covering Sam Cooke songs. You can find information about P.S. Eliot at pseliot.blogspot.com and Katie’s personal blog at libranhusband.blogspot.com.


“I think it’s something that’s hard to recognize if you don’t experience it yourself” Mariel Loveland of Candy Hearts on her experiences of sexism in the punk scene

Mariel Loveland Candy Hearts

Photo by Stephen Yang

(Andy’s note: What follows is the second in a series of guest posts about sex and gender discrimination, and how these issues relate to the wider punk scene. If you missed it, you can find the first part here.)

Let me start this by saying that sitting down to write this was not easy for me because not only does it make me upset to think about, but I know that when people talk about this topic, it’s mostly taken with a grain of salt. I don’t like people rolling their eyes at me; I don’t like being preachy; and I hate sounding like I’m some sort of victim—all which I think is part of the problem. I shouldn’t ever feel like I have to apologize for wanting to be treated like one of the guys or even wanting to be treated like I’m different because girls are different.

The difference wasn’t always clear to me. Before I was completely immersed in any music scene, let alone the DIY punk community I now call home, I’m ashamed to admit I was the first person to roll my eyes when the stereotypical Bikini Kill-obsessed, cut-off-shorts-clad punk girl complainedabout the way men treated her at shows. I just didn’t believe it was true, and I think it’s something that’s hard to recognize if you don’t experience it yourself, which is why I’d never fault anyone for thinking that the punk scene is immune to sexism—especially because it’s empowering and supportive in so many ways.

My slow realization started when I was about thirteen years old.  My father warned me not to crowd surf because “that’s how girls get molested,” and like any 13-year-old, I wrote it off.  Two years later the idea surfaced again when I attended Warped Tour with my sister.  This is obviously something that’s so far removed from the actual DIY punk scene, but again, it was my first experience.  I’ve always been someone to hold my own and kick any malicious boy who tried to mess with me in the pit, but that festival was the first time I didn’t feel safe.

I stood on the outskirts of the crowd for the entire show knowing I wanted absolutely nothing to do the mass of 15 to 20-year-old boys pushing each other around, but the minute the closing band struck its first chord, I was shoved right into the middle. I immediately tried to look for a way out but was completely surrounded, and no matter how much I pushed, I couldn’t move.  I was getting punched, kicked, and pummeled until I eventually fell down, and all I could see was a wave of dust and sneakers kicking and stepping on me. I couldn’t get up, and I couldn’t breathe. I choked on dirt and started sobbing until one man, probably someone’s dad, heard me screaming for help. He reached underneath the crowd and threw me over his shoulder.  As he was pulling me away, I heard one voice cut through the music: “That’s why you don’t bring your little girl to shows.” I was 15.

From then on, the difference became clear. It’s the male band members who don’t take you seriously, and when you get upset with how you’re treated, ask you if you’re menstruating. It’s the promoters and planners who screw you, then call you a diva when you assert yourself.  It’s the kids who don’t talk to you after your set, but talk to your male bandmates because they assume you’re only there for show.  It’s the people who think you’re sleeping with the guitarist, the people who assume you’re queer,  or the journalists who mention your weight in reviews.  It’s every single time a producer has told me I can’t play guitar on my own record because “sweetie, you’re not a studio musician” or “sing it again, but naked.”

Most importantly, it’s the baggage I have to carry that my male bandmates don’t. I have to worry about walking to the car alone to grab my guitar; I have to worry about where we are staying and if the strangers who own the floor I’m sleeping on will assault me in the middle of the night, even though it’s unlikely. I can’t tell you how many nights I’ve clung to the side of my male bandmates when we’re sleeping, just to feel safe. I can’t drink too much or take a drink from a stranger at an after-party wherever we are staying, because I can’t be out of control.

Let’s face it: I’m a 22-year-old, straight, petite, overtly-feminine female who weighs just over 100lbs.  I am different than the typical male in even the smallest of ways. I can’t even carry my own amp out of the van because I’m not strong enough. Still there is one thing many feminists will disagree with me on—the power women have over men because we are different, and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention it in relation to the punk scene.  Anyone who thinks that being successful in music is purely based on talent is naive.  While good songs are at the forefront, there’s a whole range of things that make bands successful, and a lot of it has to do with who the members are individually—their personalities, the way they carry themselves, and yes, sometimes their attractiveness both inside and outside.  I’ve fallen completely in love with a band because I was enamored by their singer, and you’d be lying if you didn’t admit the same. Our bodies and our choice to have or not have sex are pretty powerful. It’s something that is ours—something that every guy who’s ever wanted to sleep with the girl in the band doesn’t have—and we can do with it whatever we want.


Mariel Loveland is a writer, blogger, and editor who lives in New Jersey.  She sings and plays guitar in the band Candy Hearts, dabbles in graphic design and photography, and watches way too much reality TV. You can check out her band on http://candyheartsband.tumblr.com or some of her writing on her personal blog http://www.writing-the-ship.blogspot.com/.