ORIGINALLY POSTED ON lOCAL ONLY BY: NIKKI ROBERTS JUNE 6, 2018
“The widespread assumption that girls go to hardcore and punk shows to meet ‘bad boys’ or whatever is so crippling to how girls experience shows. Girls go to hardcore and punk shows because they like hardcore and punk,”
Hailey Rose
Gritty sand and dirt filled my boots and shifted under my feet as I was flung out of an Anthrax mosh pit at Hollywood Casino Amphitheater. After quickly stabilizing myself on the nearest barricade, I joined the rest of the crowd in screaming the band’s lyrics back at Anthrax vocalist Joey Belladonna.
“Can’t stand it for another day…” Belladonna sang.
“AIN’T GONNA LIVE MY LIFE THIS WAY!” I yelled in reply
The song came to an end and before I could get caught back up in the mosh, two men beside me complimented me on my knowledge of mainstream Anthrax tunes.
‘It’s so cool to see a girl interested in metal,’ the first man told me.
‘Your boyfriend must really like Anthrax, huh?’ asked the second.
I looked around for my boyfriend, but he was nowhere in sight; I had lost him in the crowd long before the set even began. Nothing about my appearance indicated that I was in a relationship, and while it is true that I’m dating a metalhead, he isn’t an Anthrax fan. My knowledge of old school thrash metal can be partially credited to my father, to my own love of heavy music and in part to “Guitar Hero 3”. However, this pair of men believed that I couldn’t be interested in metal music without the influence of a boyfriend they assumed I must have.
I brushed their comment off and continued to enjoy the show, but I realized that their remarks revealed a much larger issue in the music industry. From underground scenes to mainstream shows, sexism runs deep in the music business and discriminates against female identifying professionals, performers and fans.
For the purpose of this story, sexism can be defined as stereotyping or prejudice and discrimination against women on the basis of their sex and/or gender. It can occur in obvious ways, such as belittling women professionals or ignoring female members of a band, as well as in passive ways, such as the comments that were made to me by the fellow Anthrax fans.
Heather Ferguson, 34, has had similar experiences where she was not taken seriously by men at metal shows. Even though Ferguson has worked as the office manager at Reggies Rock Club for the past seven years, she still experiences sexism as both a music industry professional and a music fan.
“I’ve definitely gone to shows by myself in the past and have had the door guy question me, saying, ‘Do you know where you are? Are you sure you’re in the right place? Do you like this band?’ It’s kind of insulting. It’s like I have to pass a quiz before I can see a show. They never do that with guys,” said Ferguson.
In addition to not being viewed as serious music fans, sexism in music communities also functions by assuming that women only attend shows or feign interest in bands to gain the attention of men. Not only does this devalue female involvement in music scenes, but it also reduces women to sexual objects that have no genuine interests outside attracting the heterosexual male gaze.
Girls go to hardcore and punk shows because they like hardcore and punk.
“The widespread assumption that girls go to hardcore and punk shows to meet ‘bad boys’ or whatever is so crippling to how girls experience shows. Girls go to hardcore and punk shows because they like hardcore and punk,” said Hailey Rose, 19, a female-identifying heavy music fan.
Read the Full Article: Girl Power: Fighting Gender Discrimination in the Music Industry
