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Feb. 1st, 2007

  • 11:37 AM
office, work
Today's semi-related tangent in Intro to Feminist Theory was about 1980s hair metal, and how to think about men with big hair and spandex shorts.

Comments

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[info]orchid_and_wasp wrote:
Feb. 1st, 2007 05:51 pm (UTC)
You're providing a public service to students in helping them think about these types of men. If only I'd had a class with you, perhaps I wouldn't have pursued untoward thoughts about them when I got to graduate school!
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[info]jess_s wrote:
Feb. 1st, 2007 06:09 pm (UTC)
i wish that my life consisted only of going to classes about things like that. i would be so pleased with my life, in that situation.
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[info]xmobiusx wrote:
Feb. 1st, 2007 06:54 pm (UTC)
Maybe you've read 'Performing Glam Rock' by Philip Auslander. Clearly, it's not about hair metal but the similarities are obvious.
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[info]ubiquity75 wrote:
Feb. 1st, 2007 10:28 pm (UTC)
Not to mention that all those L.A. hair metal bands can trace a direct lineage back to (primarily American, I supopse) glam rock (New York Dolls being the most obvious reference point. That book sounds cool.
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[info]jactitation wrote:
Feb. 1st, 2007 07:00 pm (UTC)
What's the answer?
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[info]chrisomatic wrote:
Feb. 1st, 2007 09:10 pm (UTC)
Damn, I need to be in this class.
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[info]ubiquity75 wrote:
Feb. 1st, 2007 09:25 pm (UTC)
I think it's fascinating to recognizing how gender roles and hypersexuality played into that. In other words, it was okay for dudes to wear spandex a. as long as it showcased their manhood (cue the cucumber scene from Spinal Tap) and as long as videos, interviews, magazine articles, etc. all made frequent overt and latent nods to women, sex, and women as sex outlets. One of the most hilarious hair metal moments I can think of is in Penelope Spheeris's docu, Decline of Western Civilization II (why, oh, why do they always show this one and not the first?), wherein Paul Stanley, of KISS, is interviewed while in bed and surrounded by a passel of nameless scantily-clad ladies. Even in 1987, I suspected that that might have been one of the only times he ever found himself in said situation.
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[info]walktheplank wrote:
Feb. 1st, 2007 09:55 pm (UTC)
Even in 1987, I suspected that that might have been one of the only times he ever found himself in said situation.

He told Spheeris he wanted to do something "classy."
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[info]ubiquity75 wrote:
Feb. 1st, 2007 10:20 pm (UTC)
I was making a not-so-veiled intimation about Mr. Stanley's sexual orientation.

Ironically, the metal (particularly hair metal bands) were trying so hard to maintain a masculine edge while simultaneously borrowing their girlfriends' mascara that the version of masculinity they portray in videos and the like, to me, come off more as parody than anything else.

Meanwhile, one of the people who actually was gay and in metal, Rob Halford of Judas Preist, had one of the biggest and baddest tough guy looks in the scene - the leather, spikes, etc. - emulated by tens of thousands, most of whom undoubtedly had no idea how much that look owed to Tom of Finland, et al.

I find it all hilarious. And I recall a fateful day, also in 1987, as I sat with my best friend on her couch in her sun room, watching MTV as we were wont to do after school, while the channel debuted yet another Cinderella video. I turned to her, incredulous, and shook my head back and forth, saying, "This can't last. This can't last."

[NB: I hated that fucking crap from the time it arrived in music through the height of its popularity and merciful decline and even now, as a lot of people my age seem to be having some sort of nostalgia situation with regard to it.]
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[info]slit wrote:
Feb. 2nd, 2007 12:27 pm (UTC)
What's so funny to me now is that, _at the time_, that shit was perceived as so straightforwardly masculine & heterosexual. Bands like The Smiths and The Pet Shop Boys (guys in short hair and suits) were sexually ambiguous, "girl music" basically, but dudes with long curly hair and make-up and pink spandex were what guys with mullets listened to driving around in their pick-up trucks. Twenty years later that blows my mind, though my friends and I thought nothing of it at the time. It was the natural order of the universe.
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[info]ubiquity75 wrote:
Feb. 2nd, 2007 02:48 pm (UTC)
I still don't think that's been particularly deconstructed, L. And terming the former music (read: the music you and I liked) "sexually ambiguous" is something that happened in more enlightened places, but probably would have gotten you beat up in plenty of others.

[Also, I can't believe that we are talking about an era over two decades ago. Thanx for making me feel real old.]
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[info]herkyjerkydance wrote:
Feb. 1st, 2007 10:01 pm (UTC)
Have you seen Metal: A Headbanger's Journey? It's a documentary by an anthropology Ph.D. who's really into metal. It's kind of a mixed bag, cultural-studies-wise (no mention of race or nation at all, psh!) but really entertaining, and if I recall correctly he spends quite a bit of time on the homoeroticism of hair metal and metal in general (illustrated by things like Manowar in reindeer-fur chaps, etc.)
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[info]orchid_and_wasp wrote:
Feb. 2nd, 2007 05:24 am (UTC)
Yeah, I found it pretty decent, although I had no expectation that it would provide much more than a gloss on the subculture. Obviously, his doctoral research should aim for criticism and analysis.

While little in the film even approached analysis, I disagree that he remained completely and utterly silent on issues of race and nation. A significant bit of the film, and some of the most enjoyable parts of it for me, are designed to show the sheer idiocy of the Norwegian black metal scene and the racist, nationalist, violently anti-Christian and humourless fuckbags that are its most vocal members. I'm considering buying the DVD simply so that I can watch the follow-up mini-documentary that Sam Dunn made to address the controversy that arose over his treatment of the black metal scene. I'm expecting and hoping that he treats them to even more condemnation and ridicule.
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[info]herkyjerkydance wrote:
Feb. 2nd, 2007 09:22 pm (UTC)
Hm, all I remember from the black metal bit as far as the neo-Nazi politics was the dude from Gorgoroth going "grumble grumble grumble Semitic religions grumble grumble". Then again, I was kind of drunk at that point in the movie, so maybe my memory is faulty. That interview with Mayhem was great, though. "WHO IS SAYING THIS ABOUT BLACK METAL?!?!? FUCK THEM! AND FUCK YOU!"


In terms of race and nation I was hoping he would address metal scenes in places outside North America and Europe, and how metal subgenres vary by location. This would have been particularly interesting with black metal - I would have enjoyed an interview with, say, Impiety, who are from Singapore and got some shit from white supremacist d-bags for being Asian and playing "white" music. (They had the best response to it, too: "To all Norwegian Black Metal clowns, we desecrate your so-called northern kingdom and sky of white falseness...afterwhich, we baptise all of thee in piss!")

I also would have liked him to talk shit on Michael Moynihan for writing that godawful book. but perhaps there wasn't time.
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[info]orchid_and_wasp wrote:
Feb. 2nd, 2007 10:08 pm (UTC)
we baptise all of thee in piss!

Dude, this is the best quote ever! Racists go shit-wild over this kind of thing, no matter what subgenre you're talking about. My ex-boyfriend stumbled upon a bunch of them ranting about the amazing Japanese doom kings, Corrupted. I'm sure no response is forthcoming from Corrupted, who've never done interviews, rarely been photographed, etc. In a way, it feels much more elevated to truly deny the douchebags even an acknowledgement, but I do love hearing anyone say they're gonna baptise someone in piss!

I wonder how much of the whitey supremacist bullshit was provoked by the fact that Corrupted write almost entirely in Spanish. There's some interesting shit there, and it's sure to push the buttons of all the idiots out there who distance themselves from NSBM but still hold to the idea that one should be proud of one's national heritage, and one should strive to keep its expression "pure".

Anyway, thanks for referencing Impiety, I checked them out. Love me some blast beats!
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[info]jamie_miller wrote:
Feb. 1st, 2007 10:30 pm (UTC)
Speaking of hair, what do you know about hair and the 70s?
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[info]kristy_chan wrote:
Feb. 2nd, 2007 04:20 am (UTC)
My favorite is that wife-beating genius AXL ROSE.
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[info]sa_am wrote:
Apr. 8th, 2007 07:06 pm (UTC)
hello!

i was wondering if i might be able to friend you..

i actually met you at 2005 ASA where you did that panel on monuments with your two buddies?

i asked some bizarro question that i have to apologize for... but i am friending you via seeing you on [info]pylduck's flist...

do let me know if that's cool
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