July 6, 2010 - Tuesday
to the hardcore scene (payback time)
Current mood: angry
Do you know what I'm sick of? Do you? No, you probably don't, 'cause since I don't have a penis my opinion doesn't count.
Well, I am sick of attending and working at shows and being payed back in lyrics about whores(aka women), bitches(aka women) and cunts(aka women). I don't know about you, but I have never heard a hardcore song about women, were we're not referred to as above.
Let me tell you something. The fact that your ex girlfriend cheated on you does not make me a whore. Neither does it make me a slut, a cunt, a hole, a bitch or a faggot. Neither does it make her one. But the fact that you refer to me and other women like this does make you an idiot. And a sexist.
"You fucking bitch, you fucking whore
Cut out your throat, blood on the soil
Tie you up, then take you down
dragged by the hair, your gonna drown"
- six ft ditch
It makes me sick that bands that sing songs like this are allowed on stage. It makes me sick that the girls are always the ones forced to handle it. It makes me sick when boys sing along to songs like "I don't wanna fuck you, I don't wanna touch you, you filthy fucking whore!" And it makes me sick that girls who speak up against this stupidity aren't listened to, before a cool enough guy backs them up.
And when the discussion finally comes up it's all about the nice guys defending themselves (against accusations made against the macho idiots) instead of taking action. As long as you're letting macho boys speak for you and as long as you give them a place in the scene, you're part of the fucking problem. Speak up! Take some fucking responsibility. Next time someone yells faggot, ask them to shut up. Next time someone refers to women as holes, cunts, whores, sluts etc. kick them in their fucking balls. Next time someone asks you why there are so few girls in the scene, ask them what they're doing to change it.
"So where the fuck did this stupid chick come from?"
I'm the one who's been making your fucking burgers. I'm the one picking up the dirty socks and condoms after the band has left the lounge. I'm the coffemaker, the café worker, the cunt, the cleaning lady, the "that guys' girlfriend", the kitchen staff, the attendant. I'm the one who catches the bullet everytime someone yells "fucking faggot".
I'm the "fucking WHORE"-ex girlfriend in that bands' song. I'm the one with the cheap fucking camera. I'm the one whose ass you grabbed in the moshpit. I'm the one with the clenched fists in my pockets, pushed into back corners by macho boys.
fuck your bromance. fuck your macho pride. FUCK YOU.
oh, and fuck six ft ditch too. and ringworm. and one life crew.
Read more: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=188890423&blogId=536745668#ixzz0xppzqVlx
AND THEN CAME PART TWO.
August 28, 2010 - Saturday
to the hardcore scene II
Current mood: confused
Wow. When I wrote this blog I never imagined it to become such an issue.
I have never been one of those public "bloggers" who share their everyday stories with
everyone, so when I wrote the text it was more of a diary post than the press release it
was made to be. There was never much attention drawn to the blog when I first wrote it,
and I didn't really care about that. It just felt really good that for once I could speak of
exactly what was on my mind.
About a month after I posted the blog a friend of mine asked if she could post a link to
the text on her facebook. I said something like "Wow! Really? Sure." and then I didn't
hear much more about it. Until now.
I have been sent e-mails from people I've never met, both praising and hating. People
from all around the world wanted to discuss this.
And I have to tell you, and this is with both pride and sadness, that a lot of girls have
been writing me to tell that they feel the same way. (I feel the need to be crystal clear
on this one: I'm not saying all hardcore-girls feel this way, but a lot do and therefore I
think it is important that this IS being made into an issue.)
However, I think I need to clear some things up.
First, not the entire blog post was about Six feet ditch and no one in that band ever
grabbed my ass. (I never wrote that!) The lyrics to their song "Blood on the soil" was put
in the blog post as an example. And no, I'm not claiming that Blood on the soil is
about anyones ex girlfriend. It was a quote to describe song lyrics demeaning to women.
I still feel provoked by their lyrics and no matter what, this is shit:
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o275/marchofthesfd/sfdteacher.jpg
And damn it, I'm gonna be crystal clear about this too: I don't think all bands HAVE TO
sing about straight edge or veganism. But for fuck sake, can't we have one place where
we're all equal, where we can just go to a show together and have fun?
I'm not going to write anymore specifically about Six ft ditch,
so please don't make it up to be all about one band, because then you're
just looking for a scapegoat and an easy solution.
If you have any questions about this, just ASK ME.
I think a lot of bands need to really think through what they are singing about.
You need to know that "slut", "whore" and "cunt" are to women what "nigger", "coon"
and "shithead" are to people of colour. My sex being ridiculed and used as a weapon
against me (=sexism) is as big an issue as racism.
So yes, song lyrics is an issue to me, think about it; when you sing of your ex girlfriend
calling her a whore, what message does it send out to other women?
And yes, some deathmetal bands and rappers are singing similar lyrics, but the blog post
I wrote was not about the deathmetal- or hiphop-scene. So FUCK ALL SEXIST
HIPHOPPERS, METALBANDS AND COUNTRYSINGERS too, but now we are speaking about
the hardcore scene.
I want the scene to be a place free from oppression such as sexism, racism,
hompophobia and anything similar, there is plenty of space for it in the rest of society -
why don't you leave it out there?
Second, I never expected people to discuss ME, but it seems that part of the "issue"
has been whether or not I am really a part of the scene.
I don't think I am the right person to judge, so I'll let you do it:
- Some people say they haven't seen me on a lot of shows and therefore I must be
some silly girl taking one look at a moshpit and then declairing it to be an all-macho-
boys-gaybashing-hockey-rape-fest. However amusing, this is not the case.
- I've been to a lot of shows, but a lot of the time I've been working in the café, cooking
meals for bands, flipping burgers to sell, working in an AR-distro or documenting the
show with a film camera.
(Though we've been selling vegan burgers for a long time, I invented the "Lyxburgare"
at Deadfest. However, I was not around when the famous "Deadfest-mackan" was
created. And those 100%sugar and fat-cupcakes and cookies you've been buing, I'm
one of all the people who spent the night before the show baking them.)
- The part of hardcore that I like the most is that it is being created by the people in the
scene, that there's no clean line between band, audience and those who work at the
show. I love the fact that I can be selling burgers in the café, watch a band on stage and
then discuss vegan food with the drummer afterwards when we clean up together.
- I almost never wear hardcore band t-shirts, I've got a nice pair of panties with a To
Kill-logo though.
- I have been trying to make a documentary about girls in the hardcore scene, but
decided to give it up due to the fact that a lot of them think that they are not a part of
the scene. So I think it's really typical that this is made into an issue here AGAIN.
(I'll write more about my experiences with the documentary some other day.)
- I don't call myself a hardcore-kid, I don't call myself straight edge - even though I am
drugfree, and I don't know as many bands as those of you who have been part of the
scene for 10, 15 or 20+ years.
However, I LIKE to go to shows, I love to meet sweaty kids and laugh at jokes between
songs and I LOVE to watch a really sweet band play songs that make my heart beat
faster. And I've also been frustrated that so few hardcore bands can be found on Spotify.
I don't care if you consider me a hardcore-kid or not. But I do care about this shit that is
ruining the shows for so many people.
And damn it, I never said I was perfect. I haven't read every interview and song text by
all my myspace friends. I still think I can say whatever I want about something that is
bothering me. WHY ARE YOU MAKING THIS UP TO BE ALL ABOUT THE LYRICS? The only
reason I used the two lyrical quotes was to point out a sexist jargon and climate that is
very hard for you to see if you haven't experienced it.
The happenings described in this quote:
"I'm the one who's been making your fucking burgers. I'm the one picking up the
dirty socks and condoms after the band has left the lounge. I'm the coffemaker,
the café worker, the cunt, the cleaning lady, the "that guys' girlfriend", the
kitchen staff, the attendant. I'm the one who catches the bullet every time
someone yells "fucking faggot".
I'm the "fucking WHORE"-ex girlfriend in that bands' song. I'm the one with the
cheap fucking camera. I'm the one whose ass you grabbed in the moshpit. I'm the
one with the clenched fists in my pockets, pushed into back corners by macho boys."
are not from my dreamland fantasies or made up stories, it is experiences from the
scene. To a lot of girls some of the things described above is a regular basis going to
shows.
Another issue is about something I think I already expected when I wrote the blog post,
but that a lot of people seem to have misunderstood anyway. The words "pushed into back
corners by macho boys" seems to have made the impression that I believe all
hardcorekids are sexist macho monsters. I thought that I made it clear that I think that
those idiots are a small part of the scene when I wrote:
"And when the discussion finally comes up it's all about the nice guys defending themselves
(against accusations made against the macho idiots) instead of taking action."
And wow, the post is not about whether or not girls can enjoy hardcore music or
moshpits - 'cause I assure you - we can, and we DO! I'm looking for a solution here,
what can we do about bands that sing sexist and/or homophobic songs? What can we do
about a sexist jargon excused by "it's just a joke"? What can we do about the attitude
carried by some - that girls don't belong in the scene, in the moshpit, on the shows or
anywhere else outside the kitchen? What can we do to make people see women as great
singers, guitarists or moshers instead of just "hot"/"fat"? What can we do about the fact
that a lot of girls don't feel like part of the scene? What can we do about sexist jargon, values and climate?
What can we do to make everyone feel welcome?
Any further questions, let me know, because your speculations seems to be far from correct.
Now, can we please discuss the real issue?
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