Questionable Goths - "Tuesday Discusses Gender Roles In The Goth Subculture"

If you want to get one person's opinion on gender and sexual orientation within the goth community, here's a good video. I wish someone could alert me to some videos about that subject within the rivethead community, because that's a topic that's discussed a whole lot less.

Sebastian Columbine - "Sebastian is No Longer a Girl"

Sebastian Columbine, a prolific goth scene vlogger who I've mentioned before, made a video last night about how zhe's coming to grips with self-identifying as genderqueer. I think this is something worth paying attention to, because concepts of gender fluidity and other ideas that break the gender binary were something that used to be fairly commonplace within the goth-industrial scene, but aren't so much, anymore. I think people's reactions to this will be just as important, if not more important, than Sebastian's own actions in being able to get a feel about how the scene at large sees this kind of thing. Early trends show that most people are supportive about this, although there is significant backlash and confusion, as well. This is a topic I will likely revisit later.

You know what's deplorable? Misogyny.

As my readers should know by now, Unter Null is one of my favorite musicians. I've not had the opportunity to have the years of experience with her music that some people have, but in the short time that I've listened to it, it's moved me. Moreover, based on the half a shot glass's worth of information I have gathered about her personality, Erica has my respect in that category, too. In particular, I like how she's able to take things in stride and change the direction of an annoying situation using sarcasm.

(Photo by Ericadunham, CC 3.0 Unported License)

So, Erica made a status update on her official Facebook page, today. She asked people what people would like to see in her collector's boxset edition of her next Unter Null album. Most of the suggestions were mundane, such as T-shirts, autographs, and wristbands, but someone made a comment about putting in condoms. That was kind of icky, but that was one of the things you could probably roll your eyes and just skip over. The crown jewel though was when someone said "used panties."

I'm not joking here. Someone suggested she put used panties in her box set. Regardless of whether or not that was supposed to be a joke, that was still pretty vile. Erica said, "Allowing some of these comments for posterity. This is what happens when you don't have a dick and still write music." I think she hit the nail on the head with that comment.

Why are there men out there who don't see women as people? I see this all the time when I look at communication between male fans and female artists. Luckily, I don't see it as much within the goth-industrial circles as much as I see it within some other scenes, but it still happens quite a bit. There are some men out there who think women are lesser beings than men are and don't have to be treated with the same respect.

First and foremost, if you're a guy, firing off sexually charged statements, whether in jest or seriousness, to a woman you don't know, just because she's a woman, makes you a jerk. She's a person, just like any man is a person. Moreover, as far as I know, Erica has a husband, and he's likely the only person who can get away with saying things of a sexual nature to her. If you are one of the billions of men on this planet who aren't her husband, and you say things like this to her, you're also a jerk because you're saying these things to another guy's wife.

I'm happy to see that Erica was able to handle this with such poise. If I had to guess, I'd say she probably has plenty of experience having to put up with misogynist fans, and this experience is probably something fairly common among women in the goth-industrial music scene. All things considered, this is not remotely as damaging of a situation as countless others in the past that women have had to endure, but it's still wrong and should be called out for what it is.

Industrial Anti-Oppression blog

If social causes matter to you, and you're part of the goth-industrial scene, I recommend that you read the Industrial Anti-Oppression blog (for which I just realized that we share the same base generic layout template, haha!). These people stand for tearing down misogyny, racism, and homophobia within the scene.

(Public Domain License)

These people aren't quite as active in posting as they used to be, but I definitely think what they have to say is very much worth reading. They care about wanting the industrial scene to be more inclusive of people who are traditionally marginalized, and I feel that's a necessary goal for any subculture. We have to be willing to be frank about the social issues that face the scene, and we need more people like those who make the Industrial Anti-Oppression blog to give voice to those discussions. I wholeheartedly agree that the scene does have its problems, and we can't let bigoted views even be considered as worthwhile opinions.

I tip my hat off to these people, and I hope they come back and post with more frequency, once again. If you want a good place to start, check out their post about their reasons for starting the blog in the first place.

New Alfa Matrix compilation: "Absolute Grrrls Manifesto"

It appears that Alfa Matrix is putting out a compilation next year that features all female vocals. I, for one, am very interested to see how this turns out.

(Property of Alfa Matrix, used under Fair Use for direct, substantial commentary on product)

According to the official Alfa Matrix Facebook page, this is going to be a 4-CD box set with an extended booklet and 40 bonus songs on a dropcard. Alfa Matrix is chock full of talented singing women; Brittany Bindrim, Jennifer Parkin, Erica Dunham, and Emélie Nicolaï are good examples that I just thought of off the top of my head. I'm sure I could come up with more if I thought about it some more, but I think you get my point. I have a good feeling this compilation will be off the chain if it has musicians all of comparable caliber to the ones I mentioned.

What I really like about this is that Alfa Matrix is implying this is just the first volume. I really hope they're serious about making this a big series, like Sounds of the Matrix or Endzeit Bunkertracks. I tend to believe women musicians within the scene do not always get the respect they deserve, and I think albums like these, if done in a serious, non-pandering manner, can really show progress for the scene. If you want my opinion, I think the feedback for this compilation might end up having some interesting implications on a greater level. We shall see.

My music is harder than yours, and you are inferior as a result.

You know what I don't understand? I don't quite understand why listening to "harder" stuff is somehow considered a badge of pride or a talking point when evaluating a musician or band. It's like these people think they'll get an achievement on XBox Live or a gold star on a progress sheet on their walls if they happen to listen to music with more bass and harsh vocal distortion than other people. When you step back and think about it, it's very difficult to even take such comments seriously. It makes you wonder if these people actually listen to themselves when they speak.

(Photo by kevin dooley / Foter / CC BY)

Usually, comments like those are a self-validation mechanism in which the poster has to make himself or herself have a confidence boost in regard his or her place within fandom. This flavor of antagonism is meant to make the person saying it feel better about his or her own music choices, which tend to be an extension of a greater self. The popularity of music that falls outside of these people's worldviews is considered to be a threat to these people's worth, so combativeness occurs.

A lot of the combativeness seems to be grounded in some level of misogyny and/or homophobia, too. A significant portion of the time, people get called sexual orientation insults or anti-woman insults in relation to listening to music that doesn't fit this almost entirely arbitrary and falsely linear level of musical composition. When I hear insults like being called a certain word for female genitalia due to listening to a certain musician, I hear this, "Your music lacks enough bass and scratchy vocals to meet my arbitrary standard. As a result, I will attribute feminine characteristics to you, and by definition, feminine characteristics are bad and should be met with hostility." Does anyone actually see logic in making a statement like that?

All in all, none of it makes sense to me. So, if you're one of those people who attributes a desire to listen to music with a certain level of harshness as some form of achievement, think to yourself, "Does this make sense? Is it logical?" Then, once you've figured that out, ask yourself why it matters to you so much in the first place. The answer may surprise you.