Unfortunately, within the metal scene, we still see a lot of disrespect towards women.
Today is International Women's Day. And what does that mean?
We're here to remind everyone that March 8th is not a day for celebration. It's a day for struggle. A struggle for more space. More respect. Greater representation.
We're here to say what most people already know but what many still insist on ignoring. Unfortunately, within the metal scene, we still see a lot of disrespect towards women.
We live in a society that has grown up learning to expect women to be fragile and delicate. And perhaps that's why there's so much resistance when women in Rock and Metal challenge this idea.
For those who insist that the lack of representation doesn't exist, and that the lack of interest is on the part of women, let's take two examples from interviews we conducted. In an interview with Wikimetal in 2014, Fernanda Lira from Nervosa told us: “There is a difference, yes, people aren't women playing Thrash Metal to know that this difference exists. But it exists mainly in the audience's reaction; we feel that we always need to conquer, we always need to prove something.”
Mia Coldheart , from Crucified Barbara, spoke with us back in 2012 and talked about something even more absurd; the resistance people have not only to listening to Metal from an all-female band, but also the disbelief of listeners who still don't know 'if it's really you playing on the album' . Speaking of Crucified Barbara, the Swedish band released a great song in 2014 about violence against women in society, " To Kill A Man ", part of their latest album, "In The Red".
Let's take advantage of March 8th to ask for personal reflection from each of us.
We are proud to say that the female presence in Rock has grown, and by a lot! But unfortunately, resistance and biased views still exist. If we were to make a request today, it would be for less prejudice, for an end to the sexism that fills timelines, posts, and comments that pop up here and there on the internet.
Earlier this year we published a news story in which Lacuna Coil vocalist Cristina Scabbia spoke about the conservatism of Metal regarding female representation. The post about the news on our Facebook page was a great example of the problem; how much people still live in denial and resistance to admitting a problem.
And we still see this a lot.
Let's be frank: why are news stories involving bands with women filled with comments about appearances? Imagine if the comments on our posts about James Hetfield were "hot," "plays well, but he's ugly," or "fat." Let's stop and think about that?
Let's use March 8th as an opportunity for personal reflection, to remember that, despite the significant progress we've made, we still have a long way to go. For the dismantling of sexism. For gender equality in Metal.
*This text was written by Julia Sabbaga.
