For someone who is constantly defending women in music, (rock/hard rock/metal in general), I sure did end up with a huge ass case of foot in mouth recently. For a while, the Butcher Babies have been a band that has chapped my hide for sometime. I think their music is absolute rubbish. I also hate their image which in my opinion is something that set female performers back. Tape over their nipples, flaunting their sexuality, and doing so with subpar metal music being played as the soundtrack just made me throw up in my mouth (and still does).
People like Maria Brink from In This Moment and Taylor Momsen from the Pretty Reckless are a couple of others that I would like to add to this list. In the past I have written articles about how I feel that women like this make it hard for other women artists who are not relying on sexuality to get their point across. If the Butcher Babies and In This Moment are claiming to empower women with sexual gimmicks, I feel that artists like Elin Larsson (Blues Pills), Jess (Jess and the Ancient Ones), and Johanna Sadonis (Lucifer) are doing so but WITHOUT the use of sexual gimmicks; they’re using their music and natural gift of talent and presence to prove themselves to be as good if not better than the boys who are doing it.
With all of this being said, it was also pointed out to me that these criticisms and observations come from a male standpoint and if I actually step back and look at what I have to say, whether I like it or not, it comes off a misogynistic, one sided, and yes, close minded. A good friend of mine (yes, she’s a women in music) saw a recent post I made talking shit about the Butcher Babies and how I hated that they used sex to sell an inferior product, she told me, “We should all just let everyone do what they want. If that’s how they want to do it, then let them. Art is subjective.”
This was definitely a slap of reality and in all honest made me realize that there are a lot of times that I serve up a sort of two faced, shitty opinion. I need to remember that it’s not my place to say whether or not something is tasteless or insulting to women because, first off, I am not a woman and second, I need to try and remember to keep my opinions based on artistic merit or the lack thereof.
Foot has been removed from mouth. I now return you to your regularly scheduled blog posts.
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