A few months ago, I discovered Tumblr and, on there, I've had the privilege of meeting some wonderful people. People who've expanded my horizons and who I've been able to learn from. A couple of weeks ago, I asked the lovely Serena to answer a few questions. Here's what she had to say:
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Hi! Thank you so much for
stopping by! Firstly, please introduce yourself and tell us a little
about you.
My name is Serena. I’ve been a feminist for about two years, now
- although I’ve dabbled in feminism a bit longer. I really like
hard rock and heavy metal, and I also like pink and pastel-coloured
stuff. And, no, it’s not contradictory to like the two. I’m also
into psychedelic art.
You run a couple of awesome feminist
blogs. For those not entirely in the know, what is and isn’t
feminism?
Thank you!
Feminism is about advocating gender equality. We have, indeed,
gone a long ways towards achieving gender equality since, say, the
fifties. However, we still have further yet to go. Rape culture is
still a major issue that affects women today, along with slut
shaming. There is still a double standard that men can sleep with
multiple women, and be considered a “stud” - whilst women who do
the same are regarded as “sluts”. Then there is the whole
reinforcement of gender roles through advertisements and marketing -
which of sort of my, uh, pet feminist issue.
Feminism is
not about hating men, or following a bunch of
rules of shoulds and should-nots. Especially since we already get
enough of that shit from the patriarchy. If women want to shave,
cool. If women don’t want to shave, that’s also cool. The one
thing to take into consideration, though - is that women who choose
to shave should probably examine why they choose to do so. Are they
doing it because, uh, they really like the feel of smooth hairless
skin - or is it simply because they were taught that it’s what
women “are supposed to do”?
There seems to be a lot of anti-pink and anti-feminine thought
patterns within feminism. Why do you think this is?
Oh, yeah, this is a good question. In fact, this is one of the
reasons why I was initially leery of associating myself with the
feminist movement. Certainly, I’ve always agreed with the
dictionary definition of feminism - which is that women should have
the same rights as men do. However, I didn’t see why that meant I
couldn’t like pink - or other things coded “feminine”.
I think a lot of the anti-pink and anti-femininity attitudes that
permeate certain factions of the feminist movement is due to the
resentment that there is the social expectation that women are
supposed to like pink and other things coded “feminine”. That is,
of course, very understandable. In fact, I sort of feel that way
about pop music. I resent that pop music is heavily marketed to girls
and men, while rock and metal are often seen as “dude music”. So,
certainly, I understand rebelling against something that is forced on
you.
However, the problem comes from when they start having the
attitude of this: “I don’t like pink - and other women shouldn’t
like pink, either.” Some women like pink. Some women don’t. Both
are fine. Also, very few women are 100% “girly-girl” or 100%
“tomboy”. In fact, I’d say that most women are some combination
of the two.
Then there is also the fact that gender roles also hurt boys and
men. Boys who happen to like pink are often discouraged from acting
upon it, lest they get teased for it. Some portions of the feminists,
I believe, are so focused on for girls and women are affected by
gender roles - they often fail to consider the other side of the
issue.
I wouldn’t say that this is “sexism against men”, really.
This is more a case of “femmephobia”, a devaluing of things
considered “women”. There is a large subset of men, often
referred to as “dudebros”, who are all about being “manly”.
To them, the “alpha male” is the ideal. As such, they recoil at
the idea of anything considered “feminine”. This is the other
issue I have with faction of feminists that also decry anything
considered “feminine”. Granted, they’re coming at it from a
different angle from that of the dudebros - but the end result is the
same, and that is problematic.
As feminists, we must be mindful not to advocate replacing a
system that favours men with a system that favours masculinity.
One of your blogs looks at sexism within rock music, something
which is particularly close to my heart. Why do you think there are
these attitudes towards women? And why, in the 21st century, do these
attitudes still prevail? What do you think can be done to change the
mindsets of some of those within the music industry?
A think a lot of it has to do with the fact that rock music is
often seen as being aggressive, a trait that is commonly associated
with men. When rock and roll first got its start in the 50s, it was
popular with both boys and girls. It wasn’t until sometime during
the ’60s that there was a move towards rock music being “music
for men”. The term “cock rock” is often used to refer to the
early hardish rock that was marketed towards men. The Rolling Stones,
I believe, are the progenitors of “cock rock”.
I’m not sure why those attitudes continue to persist into the
21st Century. I believe that there are more women than one might
suspect that do like rock music. But maybe the main reason why there
aren’t too many that listen to rock radio is because a lot of rock
radio stations that cater strictly towards men. As a result, the disc
jockeys and other people who work in the radio business feel that
they have a licence to make sexist and misogynistic jokes. A lot of
times, when they have contests, they are geared towards heterosexual
men.
Maybe it’s a chicken-and-egg scenario. A lot of women are turned
off of rock music due to the sexism and misogyny permeating it, or
else they’ve just been conditioned to believe that rock music is
not for women. So, in turn, the music industry believes that women
simply aren’t interested in rock music - and, therefore, they see
no reason to remove the sexist and misogynistic elements from rock
music.
As for how we can change it, that’s kind of a tough question to
answer. Maybe, if we can get enough interested women to band
together, we can show those people that there are women who like rock
music. Maybe what we need is something similar to riot grrrl, but not
just for punk rock. For pretty much every subgenre of rock and metal.
I would love for there to be a female version of Disturbed, or a
female version of Avenged Sevenfold.
Despite the negative attitudes towards women featured in rock
music, scores of women still support these people and find them
attractive. Why do you think that is?
Well, I think because they just happen to like the style of music.
Also, there is the other side of it that our patriarchal society has
the attitude that rock music is “not for women”. Indeed, this is
a bit of a paradoxical situation. This is what I’ve referred to, a
few times, as the “feminist dilemma”. As such, a lot of women who
happen to really like rock music will still listen to it - despite
the sexism and misogyny - because, dammit, women can like rock music
too!
Do you think it’s still possible to support these bands despite
their attitudes?
Oh, certainly! In fact, if we gave up everything that is
problematic, then there’d be next to nothing left to enjoy. We can
still enjoy the music, but not excuse the bands when engage in
problematic behaviour. Of course, if other people choose not to
listen to certain bands due to their sexism and misogyny - we should
respect that. But it’s not our place to police what other people
should or should not listen to.
One of the things which comes up a lot is that women have to
look good to get anywhere in life. Are there any female fronted/all
female bands which you recommend? And what can women do to empower
themselves within the entertainment industries?
Right now, Halestorm is quite successful on active rock radio
stations. Kitty is a great band, too - and then there’s Cherri
Bomb. I probably don’t listen to female-fronted or all-female bands
as much as I should - partly because I am sort of addicted to the
radio. I think it’d be nice to have a radio station, even if
exclusive to the internet or satellite that mixes the stuff that you
hear on active rock stations with a bunch of female-fronted and
all-female bands. There are some online stations that are focused
exclusively on female rock bands - but what if you don’t want to
give up on the male rock bands that you like, as well?
If you could change one thing about the world, what would it
be?
I would remove everything having to do with power imbalance, as
well as useless social norms.
Which of your blogs do you recommend?
Definitely
Rock Radio
Sexism. Initially, I started the blog with the intent to discuss
the issues of sexism and misogyny regarding rock radio. But, even if
you don’t listen to the radio, I’d still recommend it. We have
since broadened the focus to include the rock/metal scene as a
whole.
Thank you so much for taking the time to pass by and talk with us.
It’s really appreciated!
You’re very welcome. It’s my pleasure.
