Frustration Rock, Continued

theremixbaby:

Three things:

1. Douglas Martin, I like your music writing and I liked your review of Vivian Girls. I read Passion of the Weiss a lot and you seem real cool. But you don’t get cookies and prizes for being a male feminist. So far, I haven’t read any reviews of this record by male music writers that have mentioned the feminist aspects of it besides yours. It’s perfectly possible that Jenn Pelly didn’t even read your review in the first place, and thus didn’t know that there was a man who noticed the feminist themes she did. It’s also perfectly possible that she felt her overall point still stood despite your review. Your one review does not undo the overall pattern that Pelly noticed. Or are you more miffed that feminists don’t notice in general how many male feminist ally music writers are out there when they make generalizations about the hivemind of chauvinist musicwriterbros? Because, while I don’t think most music writers are especially sexist (definitely not more so that the average bro), most of them don’t strike me as really being very feminist at all either.

2. Anecdote: I have noticed lately a lot of men complaining about GENDER STEREOTYPING!111!! especially on the internet, but I have also noticed that they’re mostly complaining about feminists stereotyping all men as sexist.

3. I don’t even like Vivian Girls anyway.

ETA: All things considered, this is a nice thought: I think the best way to clip the problem of misogyny and chauvinism in music criticism is to not only acknowledge the problem, but recognize that there are men trying dutifully to be a part of the solution.

Okay, for starters, I want to thank you for taking the time to write such a passionate reply to my little gripe, and also send my gratitude for reading my writing on a regular basis. I assure you that I’m not cool, but I wholeheartedly appreciate the sentiment.

  1. I’m not necessarily trying to earn brownie points for my interest in feminism and my willingness to judge a band regardless of gender (or race!). I probably would have still been salty if Pelly said that EVERY MALE ROCK WRITER EXCEPT FOR MARTIN DOUGLAS IS FRUSTRATINGLY SEXIST, because there are male writers out there trying to make it an even playing field. And a good point that Marc brought up is that there are areas where we don’t get it, because we aren’t women. It’s just like when a white writer tries to explain the same thing when it happens to musicians of color. You can’t really know what it’s like unless you’ve been through it. You are absolutely right, most male music writers aren’t particularly feminist.
  2. But there are some of us trying to do the best we can to make sure female musicians don’t have to deal with what is called “the soft bigotry of low expectations”. I know there are a lot of men (a lot of men, some of which I probably know personally) that do this. This is not about me, it’s about acknowledging that there are a few rare good eggs. Gender stereotyping— or any sort of stereotyping— is socially reductive. By all means, call a spade a spade, but there are hearts, clubs, and diamonds, too.
  3. I appreciate that you made such a passionate argument over a band you don’t really enjoy. And for the record, I thought Pelly’s review nailed the feminist bent on a lot of the songs on Share the Joy; she provided a perspective that no review of the album I’ve read offered. But that one line— and its emphasis of it— sounded kind of like an advertisement to distrust any male music writer when they assigned to write about a woman. 

(Source: douglasmartini)

Notes

  1. andrewtsks reblogged this from hardcorefornerds and added:
    Well, now wait a minute. If you define “being an asshole” as “disagreeing with someone,” then fine, I guess you can’t...
  2. hardcorefornerds reblogged this from andrewtsks and added:
    - every assertion ought to be questionable. only a real asshole would disagree with that. - part of the sympathetic view...
  3. jakec reblogged this from douglasmartini and added:
    It’s incredibly self-aggrandizing...believe they deserve recognition simply
  4. bloodletters reblogged this from howtolistentomusic and added:
    okay, so I finally read this much-buzzed-about-on-the-internet Vivian Girls review and I don’t really see what
  5. howtolistentomusic reblogged this from douglasmartini and added:
    best way to clip...acknowledge the problem,...recognize that...
  6. douglasmartini reblogged this from theremixbaby and added:
    Okay, for starters,...want to thank you for taking...time to...
  7. anythingcouldhappen reblogged this from desnoise and added:
    weigh in on tumblr discussions regarding women and music, particularly when music geekiness is kinda peripheral to my...
  8. theremixbaby reblogged this from douglasmartini and added:
    Three things 1. Douglas Martin,...your music writing...I...
  9. desnoise reblogged this from douglasmartini and added:
    hesitate to reblog this, because even as allies I’m sure there are still areas where male critics can be short-sighted...