Gender in Metal: An Interview with “Bad Reputation” Director Emily Harris

Emily: Well, it’s kind of a weird story.  After I finished my first film, “Atlanta Metal,” as part of my thesis for graduate school, I finally graduated and was antsy to travel.  Shortly after graduation, I attended a metal academic conference in Finland and met a Finnish metal documentarian.  We remained friends, and he approached me later on about working on a documentary together.  The only thing I really cared about diving into was women in metal, since it’s something I am a part of personally, but also something I am really passionate about.

 

 

Actually, there are academic friends of mine out there doing research on lots of topics, including the participation of women at certain metal events.  From what I gather, have read, and from what I have seen the numbers are about even across the board for all genres, with women still being around 20-30% of the crowd.  But I would say that black metal probably brings the least amount of women out, and actually most of the extreme metal genres I believe tend to attract more men then women as compared to say, symphonic metal, or folk metal, etc.

 

 

Oh, don’t get me started on misogyny.  Ha Ha, it will be heavily discussed in my upcoming film.  I think the older 80’s hair metal crowd witnessed a totally different period for metal, where women were certainly seen as objects, and that’s pretty clear.  But as metal trucks into its’ 5th decade as a genre, I think that women are being taken more seriously, as our roles have become more ingrained with the music.  Women are playing more metal, taking photos, acting as public relations, being tour managers, producing videos, etc.  I think as women become more and more involved in metal, the less we will be seen as just ‘groupies,’ although it’s still a struggle sometimes being a female in the scene. I think within major cities, people are more accepting of women or people of color being a part of their scene; whereas out in the boondocks, I would say people might be a little more close-minded.  I haven’t seen too much of a difference between young and old, because like I said, the metal scene has come really far.

 

Well, in dance – specifically ballet, because not all dance is the same – women are meant to be seen as light, fragile and graceful.  They are supposed to smile, to be beautiful and feminine.  They are supposed to entertain and enchant the audience.  I think women who are involved in metal gravitate towards it for its masculine tendencies.  Metal as a genre is heavily male-dominated and functions within the masculine code of society’s patriarchal standards.   Therefore, women have two choices.  They can either conform to the masculine code of metal by dressing more like a man and losing most of their femininity, or they can risk suspicion and possible dismissal if they choose to dress and act more feminine.  But most women these days are drawn to being involved in metal because of the power that metal signifies.  And power, as observed through society’s collective histories, relates to the masculine, not the feminine.  So while a ballet dancer might be extremely strong, she is still very much stuck in the role of the female; whereas in metal, I think women are given more room to choose whether they want to conform to the feminine code or the masculine code, or possibly mix in both.  But it can be tricky.

They are all around me.  I know so many women who are involved in the scene.  I have academic friends researching and writing about the struggles of women in metal. I know fans. I know other female photographers. I know women who perform or sing in bands.  A lot of these women will be in my film, so I don’t want to talk too much about it now, check out the film!  I am so proud of all of them.

 

 

I think music, especially rebellious music like punk or metal, will always be political and challenge our current political state.  I think with the current state of our country, there is certainly going to be some backlash and music written that is going to confront what’s going on.  Metal will always be a safe haven for the pariahs out there.

Yes, I do and I have had discussions with several people from different countries about how women are perceived in their local area.  I interviewed some people too for the film from different countries, so I don’t want to give too much away, but I would say that Europe has the best gender equality, and I think that stems from their cultures.

 

 

Well, I am still in the process of making it.  I have grown so much in the past few years, and one of my favorite things about making this film is the people and bands I have been able to become friends with.  Since the film is coming from the first person perspective, people will be seeing all of me.  I mean, the good times and the really heavy shit.  I am putting myself out on a limb and exposing myself pretty hardcore to the World, and that takes real strength.  I am challenging myself, and I hope to challenge others.  I believe in gender equality, but by no means does that mean I don’t love my boys out there!  My greatest reward when the film comes out would be to see that I have made some sort of a positive impact on the metal scene and that I have made people think.   Oh!  And I adore arm-wrestling men in bands, it makes me laugh every time.