“Women in punk” has become a rather colloquial phrase. When asked who they are, and who has influenced us, we often respond with enthusiastic shouts of “Kathleen Hanna! Kim Gordon! Joan Jett!” Though frequently debated, there’s no question that women are well represented in punk and hardcore. I wish I could say that discrimination and sexism doesn’t exist in a culture like punk, but it does, I’ve experienced it first hand, and I applaud every woman who gets up there and makes art on stage, who shares art with the world. However the “final frontier” of sorts, at least in my opinion, is women in noise. What is it about noise that makes it not only aurally harsh, but sexually harsh as well? Is it easier for women like Sasha Gray (of aTelecine) and Mayuko Hino (of C.C.C.C.) to enter such a sexist community because they’ve already coped with and been exposed to intense sexualization in the pornography community, and are therefore accustomed to it? It seems that women are left with an unfair set of options if they choose to enter the noise and power electronics community: to become coarse, and in a way, more masculine, or, to allow themselves to be treated and seen as sex objects. I don't pretend to speak for every woman in a band or every woman who runs a label, but from my tangential experience with the world of noise, it's a rough world.
What I take issue with is highly polarized nature of the female role in noise. Women either take on masculine styles of dress, and masculine mannerisms, or they allow themselves to be a sex object. Why are these our only options? Both of these are male-centric: you either dress like a male or you become his sexual fantasy. What about the majority of women who just want to make music without being subjected to a barrage of sexual comments? Women have a right to feel psychologically and physically safe both onstage and backstage. We tend to ignore the fact that sexual harassment is very, very common for women in the punk and noise world. So where the hell do we even start? Maybe...by simply encouraging women in noise in the first place. I used to scoff at Sasha Gray for her involvement in aTelecine. I didn't think she had a right to bring her celebrity into a scene she "was completely uneducated in." Now, oddly enough, I rather respect her. She has every right to enter the noise community, and whether or not her band or her image is accepted universally, she's brave for doing it.
As I said in a blog post a couple months ago, it’s a matter of linguistic ownership. I love Whitehouse and Brainbombs, and I’ve never felt guilty about it. These artists broadcast sexual (as well as cultural) violence, but in a way, I believe that simply by listening to this music, I can own it. The important thing to mention is that the violence in the music of the aforementioned artists is undirected in the sense that they aren't harassing anyone in reality. Yelling vulgar things to a woman performing onstage is different than describing that sort of vulgarity towards a platonic female in a song. Art derives power from its viewers, music derives meaning from its listeners. If I listen to Whitehouse and Brainbombs, in a certain sense I own those words. They only have the power to hurt if you allow them to, as the consumer of art, that is your choice.
So get out and do it. Listen to that harshness, push back with your words and the sounds you make. You are producer and consumer, and you have the last word.
