An Editorial for the Lassie's Lair by Applesauce
What does a woman have to do these days to get noticed in the D.C. rock scene? Does she need to write raunchy lyrics, wear revealing clothes or have some kind of Shtick? In my eleven-plus years in the D.C. area, it seems to me the only women that truly get attention are the ones that use raunchy language, or have some kind of gimmick. Don't get me wrong, I love and appreciate people like Mary Prankster, but she seems to be one of the only female D.C. artists that gets the time of day. Is this what it takes to make it in rock music for women? What about women who just sing catchy little pop tunes? Or God forbid, happen to play their instruments really well?
I went to a local music festival this past weekend. Of the seven bands that played, I saw but one female in the entire line-up of the 30-plus musicians on stage that night. Yes, she was cool, but she was the only one. And this band was from out of town.
Am I just naïve? Should I stop writing this piece right now? Is this just how the world works? Should I just face the fact that I need to act like a sex-pot to make it in rock 'n roll? If so, maybe I should just forget this whole thing. Maybe Madonna is right. OR…Maybe D.C. just doesn't have the talent. Maybe it's not a sex thing at all. Maybe the good women here are hiding.
But I think this goes beyond D.C.
I'm still trying to figure out what my point is here, because this is more of a rant, but it seems to me that rock music and women in rock have much, much further to go in general. Do we still live in a sexist world that seems to mainly appreciate female musicians who appear to put out?
Evanescence may be an exception to this rule, but bands like that are far and few between. But let's look at a band like the Yeah Yeah Yeah's. I like them very much, don't get me wrong. Their music is catchy, the singer has a neat voice. But it really makes me wonder exactly how famous they would be if lead singer Karen O didn't flash the crowd or poor beer on herself during her sets.
Maybe that is just the way the world of rock is, and if I think it will ever be different, then maybe I should just go to law school right now.
Please don't get me wrong here: I am certainly not trying to come down on artists that act sexy, look sexy etc. Artists should act, look and feel exactly how they want. I am not knocking sexuality in female music whatsoever.
My goal here is to uncover why certain acts are not being noticed, and why others are.
I will be exploring further the topic of the D.C. music scene: what has gone wrong and what we can do to fix it, in an editorial that will examine women in the D.C. music from a more general perspective
Any comments please write applesauce2001@hotmail.com