Women in Music Subcultures: The Case of Metal

Miroslav Vrzal: Conference opening speech

Keynote lecture

ANNA-KATHARINA HÖPFLINGER

Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich

Headbanging With the Nine Muses: Reflections on a Gender-Specific Approach to Metal

A gender-specific focus has been part of Metal studies from the very beginning. Deena Weinstein (Heavy Metal. A Cultural Sociology, New York: Lexington 1991) and Robert Walser (Running With the Devil, Hanover: Univ. Press of New England 1993) already discuss gender stereotypes and roles in their books. Gender has remained a central and important topic in metal studies ever since.

A gender-specific approach not only reveals different gender roles in metal and exposes the complex processes of power and boundary-work in this music scene, but also has theoretical and methodological consequences. The question of gender and metal is connected to a shift that reconsiders central concepts of metal Studies: for example, it reformulates the definition of metal and emphasises “unfamiliar” spaces that are worth investigating. A gender-specific perspective can help to rethink the relationship between the metal scene and dominant public imaginations and highlight the multiple processes of exchange between metal and “mainstream” society. And such an approach is also linked to hermeneutic reflection, it takes the researcher into the research as an active producer of meaning.

Based on these thoughts, the lecture will use selected examples to reflect on the possibilities and implications of a gender-specific approach to metal.

Anna-Katharina Höpflinger is a research and teaching assistant at the Ludwig- Maximilians-University in Munich (Germany). After completing her Ph.D in the Study of Religion at the University of Zurich (Switzerland), she has developed different research projects in the field of media and religion, particularly focusing on the body, clothing, and gender. She is also interested in religions in the ancient world and in European history, in Heavy metal and religion, and in charnel-chapels. For more information: http://media-religion.org/e/team/hoepflinger.htm

 

Coffee break

Mandy Malon (independent scholar)

Gender Inequality: How Do Women Experience Themselves in Heavy Metal?

Heavy metal has long evolved into an international pop-cultural phenomenon and has become a significant area of research within the realm of Metal studies. Both in media and academic discourse, metal is predominantly viewed as an androcentric phenomenon. Factors such as the male-dominated band system, the patriarchally organized music industry, and hegemonic masculinity are often examined, with women frequently portrayed as the Other, the Exotic, the Marginalized. (Empirical) studies focusing on women in Heavy metal are generally rarer and often refer to the early (Western-centric) phases of Heavy metal, when the proportion of women was even lower, and younger subgenres like "Female-Fronted metal" were not yet in existence. These developments, however, are crucial for a contemporary understanding and academic engagement with Heavy metal. This thesis aims to empirically explore how women experience themselves within the Heavy metal scene. Do women perceive the often-cited gender inequality, and if so, where does it manifest? Has the increase in female participants in Heavy metal been noticeable for women, and has this growth changed their role or experience in any way? Are differences in evaluation structures and meaning frameworks attributable to specific factors such as career stage, origin, or affiliation with a particular metal subgenre? What contradictions and tensions arise, especially concerning processes of self-empowerment? These core questions have been addressed methodologically through qualitative expert interviews. The goal was to create a comprehensive and diverse picture of women in Heavy metal, one that views femininity in metal as a complex field of tension and, ideally, challenges prevailing androcentric and ethnocentric research approaches. Heavy metal should be understood as part of pop culture and, therefore, as a societal seismograph that both reflects and shapes social and cultural processes.

Pippa Lang (Kingston University)

Disenfranchised Female Autoethnographer's Nomadic Journey Within Metal as Means of Empowerment

The nomadic, multiple-role journey of empowerment through metal for a female autoethnographer, from disenfranchised youth of 1970s patriarchal post-WWII Britain to fan, manager, PR and significant metal journalist in the 1980s and 1990s, intends to illustrate, with ethnographic support, metal's role in empowering the disempowered. This proposed paper alludes to the autoethnographer's PhD and hopes to inspire much debate, contribution and advice. Now 65 and a PhD popular musicology researcher, she seeks to convey the additional sociological burdens facing girls and women, not only during the autoethnographer's 1970s youth but today. A desperation to break free from the structuralist concept of the 'Universal Woman', the autoethnographer found in the metal subculture and music a space to escape, express, purge and commune with like-minded youth, each searching for their own identity within, without and despite society's restrictions. The element of youth alienation is both old and new - and present. The autoethnographer seeks also to illustrate the possibilities for women in the metal subculture. She retrospectively examines hers and others' motivations for listening to metal and participating in the metal subculture, in order to reveal the role of metal in empowering the disempowered. Metal's empowerment is discussed as musicological, however not overly analytical, focusing rather on its 'heart', that is the salient qualities that attract us and how we react physiologically to these. Metal's empowerment as subcultural is more complex and the CCCS' subcultural theory of the 1970s has been guilty of skimping on empirical studies - significantly ignoring girls altogether - and therefore lacking insight into the lived lives of subcultural individuals. The autoethnographer's experiences within the metal subculture reveal an immersive community that supported and protected her from trauma; however, she seeks to address the ethnographic experiences of other girls and women within the subculture, both past and present, in order to objectivise. In previous studies, whilst Sonia Vasan proposed that girls may have "accepted an unfair rate of exchange...." for membership of the metal subculture, it is also true that some of Germaine Greer's "caged canaries" were content to remain 'caged' (a case study being the autoethnographer's mother), the word itself being questioned as demeaning. The concept of 'freedom' is complex and subjective and I would be grateful for debate and input on this. Acknowledging, with great respect, prevailing criticisms of metal's chauvinism and continued lack of inclusivity, the autoethnographer intends, with this paper and her PhD, to illustrate only what can be achieved by women within the metal subculture through strength and determination. She does ask that the past not be judged by today's standards - but does not dismiss metal's continuing machismo when it damages and invades girls and women in the subculture. Her PhD has dived deep into gender studies, in particular Rosi Braidotti's nomadic theory and Judith Butler's performativity.

Claire McGee (University of East Anglia)

Queens of Marok: Identity, Costuming and Community in the Botswana Metal Scene

This paper will explore the Maro(c)k subculture, originating in Botswana, Africa, which is distinctive due to members styling themselves with a heavy metal aesthetic, The Marock scene is distinguished by the additional adoption of cowboy-style attire which references the cattle herding heritage of the nation. Outwardly marked as ‘Other’, Marock exist on the periphery of society, as a unit. Often considered to be hyper-masculine male subculture, the community have a number of female members, referred to as 'Queens', who have been documented by filmmakers and photographers such as Sarah Vianney and Paul Shiakallis. This presentation will explore visual representations of the Queens of the scene. The persona of a member of the Marock subculture can be adopted as a ‘fulltime’ identity, or a temporary costume to be implemented at appropriate times. Stylistically, Marock aesthetics tend to fall into three broad categories – non-cowboy metal attire, cowboy metal attire, and a more dramatic style akin to carnival or masquerade. Often considered by external agents to be ‘wild’, ‘evil’ or ‘satanists’, due to their dark aesthetic stylings, the Marock scene is a warm and caring group of individuals with a commitment to local charities. This presentation contains research from my PhD thesis and will survey examples of social media posts, professional photography, interviews and documentary footage. The paper aims to share insights from my project and to initiate ongoing discussion about the experience of a selection of female metal fans in Botswana, Africa, recognising the material presented as part of a larger narrative of community building, as well as the influence Euro-American style in Africa. The intention of this paper is to demonstrate the importance of critically engaging with visual material culture in relation to subcultural groups, in this case through digitally circulated portraiture photography, as well as social media posts, to explore the ways in which Marock continuously subvert expectations with their community-minded behaviour.

Lunch

Elena Bös (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich)

“The Bitch of Buchenwald” – Female NS Perpetrator Representation in Metal

Sexism and misogyny constitute a spectrum in metal music culture, not unlike in the general society. Within the latter, the (legal and discursive) judgement of women who perpetrated crimes against Nazi concentration camp inmates, such as Ilse Koch, as especially “monstrous” and sadistic reveals an interesting facet of misogyny, which at the same time served the purpose of an alleviation of guilt for post-war German society (cf. Tomaz Jardim, Ilse Koch on Trial. Making the “Bitch of Buchenwald”, Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA/London 2023). This gendered perception is not only interesting for historiography, but also a staple of popular culture, as exemplified by decidedly pornographic ‘Nazisploitation' films such as Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1975), which are centered around the sexualized representation of such female perpetrator figures (clearly inspired by the historical personalities). Now turning to Metal, there can be found some examples where Ilse Koch is referenced: ranging from the Norwegian NSBM band Ilse Koch to songs about the “Bitch of Buchenwald” by Nocturnal Breed (2014) or Sad Theory (2017). Drawing on my work on Holocaust representation, I want to investigate these representations, by paying attention to the aforementioned broader cultural contexts as well as aspects pertaining to metal's fascination with ‘evil'. Untangling these issues along the question of female NS perpetrator representation in metal might shed light on a core question for metal fans and researcher: Is metal really that unique and different from mainstream society and popular culture? Or is it rather a (albeit refracted) mirror of the dynamics and issues originating in the maligned ‘mainstream'?

Gabriela Stašová (Masaryk University) and David Miguel (University of Coimbra)

Tenderness and Screaming: Beauty and the Beast? Maybe Around the Year 2000

The concept of "female" metal at the turn of the millennium and now is very different. While old school gothic bands were dominated by female melodic vocals, a soft, almost ethereal way of presentation, and archaic lyricism, nowadays other subgenres, a leaning towards male energy, growling, and fierce presentation are more prevalent. Why is it that women in metal have changed? Is it a general trend where melodic singing is generally disappearing, or is it also about the feminization of society, but with the effect of erasing subtlety and femininity? Why has music in „female fronted“ metal evolved in a direction that is not so much romantic, but rather benefits from contemporary musical and visual trends? And what are the main differences between the genre circa 2000 and now? Examples will be given using some bands of the past and present, as well as specific female metal icons of the time, with particular music parts.

Coffee break

Hale Fulya Çelikel (independent scholar)

"Transgression" from the Perspective of a Female Instrumentalist

Metal music recently seems to have made its peace with women: considering the number of metal fans, audiences at live events and even metal scholars, the gender ratio has come to a balance in comparison to before-2000s, the initial period when metal as a genre "erupted into existence" (Walser 1992). However, there is still a blatant gender imbalance: Various surveys and analyses suggest that women are an uncommon sight among metal musicians, stage technicians or studio crews. A 2018 study by Berkers and Schaap found that only about 3% of metal artists were female, highlighting the significant underrepresentation of women in the genre. The proposed presentation offers a gaze into the metal music industry from the viewpoint of a musician and scholar: a progressive metal and symphonic metal keyboardist, composer and singer. The account concentrates on the last decade and aims to elucidate how, even under the best of circumstances, a female instrumentalist get "islanded" (Shadrack 2017) within the male-dominated live metal music scene, facing much more rollback compared to male counterparts.

Miguel Reyes (University of Ixtlahuaca CUI)

This is Why We Take You With Us. Discourse Analysis Approach to Women’s Fondness of Metal Music

Heavy metal is generally considered a musical genre mainly for the masculine group. The aggressiveness is associated to a male behavior and characteristic to them, mostly because of the cliché expression of sex, girls and rock and roll or the like. Apart from that, there are many girls who are devoted to the genre, they prefer it over many others. What motivates them? Is there any male influence behind and if so, how do they feel about it? What are which are the features of this kind of music which attract them the most? There is a small group of girls ranging from adolescence to middle aged adults who share their feeling via interviews to answer the aforementioned questions. The results reflect the richness of heavy metal in terms of music, topics and even learning possibilities in topics like history, cinema, literature, mythology and general culture. This brief analysis is made with the data from 8 interviewees and a Critical Discourse Analysis approach is applied to answer the research question.

Special guest 1: Mandy Malon

Mandy Malon has been a music journalist for the German magazine Rock Hard since 2013 and previously earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Popular Music and Media at the University of Paderborn. In her master's thesis, she explored gender inequality in heavy metal and how women experience it. In addition to her work as a journalist, Mandy is also an active musician, playing bass in a black metal band.

She shares her knowledge not only through her articles but also as a guest lecturer at the University of Paderborn, where she led a seminar on "Women in Pop" in 2022/23. Additionally, she moderated the world premiere of the film Total Thrash – The Teutonic Story at the Lichtburg cinema in Essen. For Mandy, music journalism is a key mediator between artists, fans, and the industry, with a strong emphasis on critical, independent, and in-depth reporting.

In the future, Mandy plans to continue researching the topic of metal and gender, potentially within the framework of a Ph.D., and to further pursue a career in academia, focusing on teaching and research.

Special guest 2: Anna Laviour

From the moment Anna first picked up a guitar as a child, she knew she was destined for a life of rock 'n' roll. Growing up immersed in music, she forged her own path in the industry, driven by pure passion and grit. With her electrifying bass playing and powerhouse vocals, Anna soon found herself sharing the stage with icons like Michael Angelo Batio and Keith West of The Brats in New York—a dream come true for the rising musician.

Her talents didn’t stop at performing. A gifted writer, she contributed to Metal Hammer, where she interviewed legends such as Zakk Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt, and Rob Halford, making her mark on the metal journalism scene. Over the years, she toured with heavyweights like Alice Cooper, Uriah Heep, and Sepultura, honing her craft and living the life she'd always envisioned.

Anna also appeared in two music videos for KK Downing's "Sermons of the Sinner" and "Hymn 66," further cementing her presence in the metal world. More recently, she collaborated on two shows with Metallica, continuing her remarkable journey in the industry.

 

Miroslav Vrzal: Conference closing words