Bitch, a feminist magazine, published the article "Horning In -- The case for feminist metal" in their fall 2008 issue. It talks about famous women in metal and why women should play metal, as well as the parts of metal that are pro-feminist.

Horning In: The Feminist Case for Metal (Download, 8mb, JPG)

I demand at least 40% of metal musicians have to be women, otherwise it is discrimination based on sex!

I'm not a sexist by any means, but why do female metal artists feel the need to draw so much attention about the fact that they're female? Like they all have something to prove, it's turned into a fucking badge despite there really not being any prejudice against women in metal.

Good music is good music, regardless of sex. I thought people would have been bored of the whole "A girl who plays metal?! How Novel!" topic by now.

Written by Doc G. on 24.09.2009 at 00:31
I'm not a sexist by any means, but why do female metal artists feel the need to draw so much attention about the fact that they're female? Like they all have something to prove, it's turned into a fucking badge despite there really not being any prejudice against women in metal.

That sounds a bit naïve. I know that a lot of guys - probably girls too - do all they can to avoid bands with a chick singing just cos they think it won't be any good.

Written by Doc G. on 24.09.2009 at 00:31
Good music is good music, regardless of sex. I thought people would have been bored of the whole "A girl who plays metal?! How Novel!" topic by now.

And that last thing will never get old - at least not until it stops being such a rarity. Just a couple hours ago I was wondering, since there are so many one-man black metal bands, are there any made by just one woman? Doubt it, but post 'em if you know 'em...

Written by Syk on 24.09.2009 at 01:03

Written by Doc G. on 24.09.2009 at 00:31
I'm not a sexist by any means, but why do female metal artists feel the need to draw so much attention about the fact that they're female? Like they all have something to prove, it's turned into a fucking badge despite there really not being any prejudice against women in metal.

That sounds a bit naïve. I know that a lot of guys - probably girls too - do all they can to avoid bands with a chick singing just cos they think it won't be any good.

Written by Doc G. on 24.09.2009 at 00:31
Good music is good music, regardless of sex. I thought people would have been bored of the whole "A girl who plays metal?! How Novel!" topic by now.

And that last thing will never get old - at least not until it stops being such a rarity. Just a couple hours ago I was wondering, since there are so many one-man black metal bands, are there any made by just one woman? Doubt it, but post 'em if you know 'em...

Its the exact opposite with me: I know tons of people that will go out of there way to get into a mediocre band just because a female is in the band.

Written by Doc G. on 24.09.2009 at 00:31

I'm not a sexist by any means, but why do female metal artists feel the need to draw so much attention about the fact that they're female? Like they all have something to prove, it's turned into a fucking badge despite there really not being any prejudice against women in metal.

exactly..

as for the article, yawn.

Written by Valentin B on 24.09.2009 at 20:19

Written by Doc G. on 24.09.2009 at 00:31

I'm not a sexist by any means, but why do female metal artists feel the need to draw so much attention about the fact that they're female? Like they all have something to prove, it's turned into a fucking badge despite there really not being any prejudice against women in metal.

exactly..

I'll third that. I don't know, but I never heard anywhere someone or something that said, "Metal is for men, not women". The fact is that maybe there are more men metalheads than women, but that's not because there is such a statement, that's for many other (personal) reasons, I don't know. If they're making all this noise and trying to call so much attention, like Dr. Rock says, it's because they themselves inflicted that sexism on them.

Also, maybe there's people that dislike bands with women, I don't, and actually don't know anyone who does (on the contrary, a lot of men like bands with women 'cause they're hot). I don't see any problem with a woman being in a metal band, not at all, and if a girl wants to form a one-women band, go ahead, it's not like someone is saying no.

Written by tulkas on 25.09.2009 at 03:11

Also, maybe there's people that dislike bands with women, I don't, and actually don't know anyone who does (on the contrary, a lot of men like bands with women 'cause they're hot). I don't see any problem with a woman being in a metal band, not at all, and if a girl wants to form a one-women band, go ahead, it's not like someone is saying no.

This would only really apply to female vocalists - but have you ever noticed men and women have different sounding voices? Would it be sexist to say you just don't like the sound of a womans voice in metal songs?

I reminded a band called "The Iron Maidens"...completely women lineup, they released a tribute cd of Iron Maiden covers...it sounds really good, i dont have any problem with it...but it is quite rare to find stuff like this

I don't like AT ALL the symphonic/power/gothic bands with female vocals and I don't like either bands with women doing growls (yeah, I'm talking to you, Arch Enemy), yet I love many non-metal bands with women/women singers. Some examples? Bjork, Joanna Newsom. Many of the bands I like a lot have female members like Boris, Koenjihyakkei, maudlin of the Well/Kayo Dot, Sweet Trip, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive. So I don't give a shit about which genre is the musician as long as it is good music to my ears.

Thumbdown for your opinion (first part of it)

Written by Doc G. on 25.09.2009 at 11:38

This would only really apply to female vocalists - but have you ever noticed men and women have different sounding voices? Would it be sexist to say you just don't like the sound of a womans voice in metal songs?

I don't think that'd be sexist at all. One thing is tastes, another different thing is sexism. Just as women can say that they don't like men singing, I don't know, opera, men can say they don't like women singing or playing metal. I think some (feminist) women confuse these two, and that's the problem. Though I don't discard the fact that there are indeed sexist people discriminating stuff like this.

All in all for me its a little disguisting when I see ppl are looking for butts of female vocalists in the shows! or the importance of their clothes for them. but there are some bands which wants to act like that like "Theatres Des Vampire" which talks about sex and blood and ... so you are free to take a sexy look at them, but I cant take when I see someone who wants to see "Sharon Den Adel" without pants !!!

The article itself is not bad although like with any form of feminist rhetoric, one needs to watch out for various forms of radicalism. With this said, the article itself is not particularly radical. Actually, I liked the article even though it didn't go quite as deep into metal's history and machismo iconography as was perhaps necessary to define what the author thinks would be good feminist metal.

Nevertheless, examining history is crucial to understanding the role and position of women in metal. Metal is a form of rock and rock very much was formed on some pretty sexist ideas back in the day... Pretty big elements of this remain to this day, with the heavy sound being metaphorical for machismo, not to mention the phallic guitars and wanking solos that metal musicians indulge in. This is why metal is considered a rather 'manly' form of music, with the women being little else than trophies for the musicians.

Metal is also a spectacle and is therefore analogous in many ways to film, where we should all be familiar with the ideas of the male gaze and narcissistic identification. These concepts apply to metal too - tits are to be looked at and lusted after, while the musicians are images that the male audience identifies with and through actions such as air-drumming imagines to be.

This is why it is so difficult for women to be treated seriously as performers in metal - the audience is confused since a man (stereotypically a heterosexual homophobe) finds it difficult to identify with a woman performer and admire masculine traits in a visual manner. A feminist band would therefore need to attack this form of experiencing metal in order to make a statement. Unfortunately, this kind of approach also does not result in good metal, merely in an inferior version of male metal.

Now, just wait a second before you call me a misogynist. Women ARE worse at playing metal just like they are worse than men at being lumberjacks and construction workers. This is simply due to the natural difference between the male and female human, allowing for men to excel at physically intensive tasks. A woman certainly can be a lumberjack but if she is also feminine while doing so, she most likely won't be as good a lumberjack as a man. Moreover, if she sacrifices her femininity - grows muscles etc. she won't be seen as a woman. See the paradox here? The same is true for metal, which, as explained above, is quite dependent on it's historical iconography of machismo.

Female metal should therefore not strive to outplay male metal by using male metal characteristics. It should look for uniquely feminine ways of being heavy, brutal, raucous, rebellious, extreme etc. It can also attempt to be more beautiful - why not? After all women traditionally are associated with beauty in our culture, a trait that is unfairly not applied to men just as often as strength is not applied to women...

Naturally, that last paragraph constituted of my own musings on what a truly feminine form of metal could be like. Honestly, I haven't really found an example of such music yet, with perhaps only The Gathering and Jarboe coming close. These bands don't seem to sexualize their femininity and instead offer some uniquely feminine traits in metal music. Either way, hopefully we will see more development in feminine and feminist metal in the future...

I found this article very interesting too.

@jupitreas - you make alot of sense! Yeah, it's so true that if a woman gets huge muscles, she will be considered a dyke no doubt. I think the only woman who does metal just as well as any man, if not better, is Jo Bench (and she still looks like a female). That article did make a good point that she never gets refered to as a female bassist but just a bassist and it's probably because she is just that damn good at what she does!

as for female vocalists in metal, 9 times out of ten, I can't stand them! I do like Arch Enemy's vocals and that's becuase imo they're brutal & they don't sound feminine. Same thing goes for the woman who growls in Sigh. She is fucking brutal! Her growls were deeper than the dude's growls (when I saw them live) I thought they were awesome too!

I'm not a huge fan of female singing in metal, no matter how talented she is...for some odd reason, I equate metal with brutality and think that it shouldn't be soft at all, therefor I usually don't like clean singing/ female vocals (in death & black metal). Sometimes, those elements are added and it fits perfectly and that's fine. It's just in general for me, I don't like it.

When it comes to power metal or traditional heavy metal or clean thrash, then obviously I don't mind the clean vocals! But I still don't want to hear a female singing in those subgenres.

haha this probably sounds wierd coming out of a girl! I never did say that I don't like female musicians or growlers though. I think it's great when bands has a talented female musician or growler among their ranks just because it is still very rare!

I honestly wouldn't mind more women to gain an interest in metal. I'm sick of going to shows and seeing misshapen men with no shirts on trying to participate in a circle pit, but to find they haven't had proper cardio training in 3-4 years, only to stink up the fucking venue.

Do you think this will improve with more women?

I'd rather be stuck in a humid sweaty room with chicks than gross metalhead guys any day lol.

I hadt rea the artice yet but now Ive read it and I can say that it was useless thats all! it wasnt Franky never for me! all in all for me feminism is a sickness!

Depends on how you understand the term...when woman has "men's job" because of her skills i find it alright...when she is trying to get this job in the name of "her rights to do it too", then it is bad

Written by Crème fraiche on 26.09.2009 at 13:08

I'd rather be stuck in a humid sweaty room with chicks than gross metalhead guys any day lol.

i drink to that, i noticed this at most gigs i recently went to, it seems that the fatter a guy is, the more drunk he'll get, the hairier he is, the sweatier he is, and the more of a moshing asshole he'll be.

but you could always take the matter into your hands and only go to Him or The 69 Eyes gigs hahaha. those guys get the finest pussy since motley crue and guns n roses

I would rather be stuck in a humid sweaty room with metalhead guys than seeing H.I.M. live

Written by Ellrohir on 27.09.2009 at 13:11

I would rather be stuck in a humid sweaty room with metalhead guys than seeing H.I.M. live

hahaha good point

Idk I consider bands like HIM The 69 Eyes and Killswitch Engage "gateway metal". Usually people listen to them for a year, and decide if they want to listen to harder, or better stuff, or just drop metal altogether.

I honestly think most girls do it for fashion or trends or whatever. Same with guys though ;(

Written by Crème fraiche on 27.09.2009 at 22:04

Idk I consider bands like HIM The 69 Eyes and Killswitch Engage "gateway metal". Usually people listen to them for a year, and decide if they want to listen to harder, or better stuff, or just drop metal altogether.

fully agreed on that

Written by Crème fraiche on 27.09.2009 at 22:04

Idk I consider bands like HIM The 69 Eyes and Killswitch Engage "gateway metal". Usually people listen to them for a year, and decide if they want to listen to harder, or better stuff, or just drop metal altogether.

I honestly think most girls do it for fashion or trends or whatever. Same with guys though ;(

There are people who have been into metal for a while who like those bands...I like the 69 Eyes (well, Paris Kills and Blessed Be mostly - not too fond of their new stuff). And I know Dane Train is a big fan of Killswitch if a recall correctly...Nor have I dropped my to gateway metal. Ironically I got into the 69 Eyes long after I was accustomed to death and black metal.

I know what you're saying about the whole fashion trend thing...but at this day in age choosing a career in music doesn't seem lucrative enough to do it merely for fashion reasons.

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Written by Doc G. on 28.09.2009 at 04:35

Written by Crème fraiche on 27.09.2009 at 22:04

Idk I consider bands like HIM The 69 Eyes and Killswitch Engage "gateway metal". Usually people listen to them for a year, and decide if they want to listen to harder, or better stuff, or just drop metal altogether.

I honestly think most girls do it for fashion or trends or whatever. Same with guys though ;(

There are people who have been into metal for a while who like those bands...I like the 69 Eyes (well, Paris Kills and Blessed Be mostly - not too fond of their new stuff). And I know Dane Train is a big fan of Killswitch if a recall correctly...Nor have I dropped my to gateway metal. Ironically I got into the 69 Eyes long after I was accustomed to death and black metal.

I still enjoy Killswitch. I didn't say they were bad

I know what you're saying about the whole fashion trend thing...but at this day in age choosing a career in music doesn't seem lucrative enough to do it merely for fashion reasons.

I think for most girls into those bands, it hugely is. At least for us here in the U.S.

Written by Ellrohir on 26.09.2009 at 14:04

Depends on how you understand the term...when woman has "men's job" because of her skills i find it alright...when she is trying to get this job in the name of "her rights to do it too", then it is bad

yes Im agree here cause we have rights too! for example women work for less money and this is a bad thing man. then who will give works to men? if they want to win against men and do such things it worng and if not, so why they do such things? they have forced cause of money? a lot of men are the same too and yes a lot of me do work for less money too but this is cause of women! cause they have started to work for less money than men. and thats why more ppl are so poor and less ppl are so Fat. (one of the reason)

Puh feminists...I'm so sick of that shit, why don't they get on the band wagon with the "african-americans", jews, gays etc. and complain some more about subject matters that are pre-'60s. I think these people are making themselves targets, they are creating definitive lines and seperating themselves.
These so called "minorities" have presence, power and position every where! There are cops, judges, lawyers, doctors, engineers, university teachers, accomplished artists,government officials and so on and so forth that are women, and other alleged "minorities".

The article was crap, just a lot of complaining about nothing, hell, the article proves its own author wrong; that women are in prominent positions of metal! As for WITTR, fuck them. For one, they're a bunch of band wagon hopping poseurs that came over from hippy loving punk bands, they have actually HAD THEIR MUSIC FEATURED IN AT LEAST ONE PORN "FILM" and, one of them owns a club in Olympia which is now shut down, and I've spoken with an old time rocker turned music store owner who's attested that the onwer of the club (WITTR member) flashed some under age girl at a venue one night - WITTR "ecofeminism" is nothing but more bullshit!

And, I'm done on this subject.

You are simply a blinded evil jingo...