Alli's Articles
INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS, CULTURE PIECES, MUSICAL RAMBLINGS.
** Trigger Warning: This article discusses mentions of abuse, assault, and other uncomfortable subjects related to those themes. If you are not in the state to read about these topics, you do not have to read this article. It’s old news that being a woman, in pretty much any profession, comes with automatic risks and hardships. Actually, let me revise that - being a woman AT ALL comes with automatic risks and hardships. It’s unfortunate, but I, along with the many other young girls in my life, are strangely desensitized to it now. Shouts from creepy men on the side of the street, unwelcome advances at parties, and in extreme cases, pure assault, are normalities at college. As the #MeToo articles and celebrity exposures continue to pile up, I came to the realization that this problem won’t go away once I graduate, and will possibly only get worse as I enter a male-dominated industry. Earlier in the month of July, surf rock group The Growlers put out a statement denying multiple assault allegations, including one that claimed singer Brooks Nielsen “touched a female journalist on her breast during an interview that happened ten years ago.” According to the thread on Twitter documenting the allegation, the band also made cruel jokes at the woman, such as saying that they would only do the interview if she was topless. There were a number of other actions and comments the user recalled coming from members of the group, but the apology statement that was posted to their Instagram page seemed to only bring up that one specific incident regarding her situation. As a result of this, many fans were unhappy with the statement. The Growlers were just one of many bands associated with the record company Burger Records with a history of predatory behavior towards women, many of whom were minors. Many of these experiences were documented on an Instagram account named @lured_by_burger_records, and the overwhelming submissions and evidence eventually led to the company shutdown on July 22nd. As I was skimming through the account, all of the posts made me feel angry and sick to my stomach, but the case of The Growlers especially caused my head to spin. As an aspiring female journalist, I’d say that one of the biggest fears I have is something terrible happening to me if I am interviewing a male, or group of men, alone. I am so lucky that I’ve had 100% safe and kind experiences with all of the men I’ve interviewed, but sadly, it isn’t that way for some women in the music industry. When I plan in-person interviews, I always make sure they take place in a public setting, a place that’s quiet enough to record but with other people present at all times. If this isn’t possible, I share my location with my roommate or other friends so they know where I’m going to be at all times. While reading through this journalist’s experience, I thought about the anxiety and fear she must have felt being put on the spot the way she was in front of a group of powerful men. Women in the music industry come with a default set of stereotypes in the eyes of the scene. We are thought to know less about music. We are accused of only being in the field to get with the band members. We are reduced to “fangirls” or “groupies.” Last year Liah and I talked to ex-fanfiction writer Schuyler Dade about how women in the music field aren’t taken as professionally as they should be, given the magnitude that they’ve contributed to the industry. Hurtful beliefs like those are what contribute to the culture of men feeling comfortable enough to belittle and take advantage of female interviewers, journalists, and even their own fans. One female journalist in particular that I truly look up to is Alicia Atout, referred to as “The Interview Queen” across YouTube. She is known for creating A Music Blog, Yea? and primarily interviews musicians and wrestlers. Her easy-going personality, her engaging questions, and her prolific channel with thousands of interviews has made her a huge name in the industry and has given her countless awards. Whenever she posts something to Twitter or Instagram, a trip to the comments makes something extremely apparent: a noticeable portion of her fanbase are men significantly older than her. I was watching a video where a fellow wrestling journalist brought up the topic of creepy DMs to Alicia, and she immediately cringed. “I try to delete them on Instagram, but it’s hard to keep up with.” she said. The other journalist then asked, “How many times have you interviewed a wrestler or musician that has tried to slide into your DMs in a non-conversational way?” to which she responded, “Like, 85% of the time.” She further explained that she was confused at that high percentage, considering that her boyfriend is a well-known wrestler and it is very apparent on her social media that they are together. The other journalist brought up the constant misconception that kindness can sometimes equal flirtatiousness when it is coming from a woman, and Alicia agreed. I figured that since Alicia has been in the music industry for years, she would definitely have a couple stories to tell about creepy interviewees, since that seems to be the norm for female journalists nowadays. I was shocked at the fact that she feels 85% of the time, the men she interviews have tried to flirt or get with her to some extent, because that is a statistic that you truly don’t see with male reporters. To picture how disproportionate it really is, I try to imagine if Nardwuar ever talked about all of the times female artists crossed a line with him. It definitely isn’t impossible, he could possibly have some stories, and I won’t invalidate them if they exist. But, I think I can confidently say that the rate that it happens is way below Alicia's, purely based on the evidence that she is a young woman. Alicia laughed the topic off, but I found it disheartening that she talked so breezily about the possibility of wrestlers being less engaged in the interview if she conducted the interview in a less kind and “flirtatious” manner. Women shouldn’t have to dim their bubbly personalities down during an interview for a male musician to realize that she is not interested in a romantic relationship with them. Furthermore, flirting with the musician, or having their personal space invaded should not be “requirements” a female journalist should have to go through to conduct a good interview. That is never their fault. A couple days after I started writing this article, The Growlers deleted their original post and Brooks put out a more personal statement apologizing for what he and the band has done and promising to reflect and make a difference in the way they operate. He also announced that he will start raising money for a variety of charities for women that have experienced abuse, and concluded the post stating that he will “come out of this experience as a better person.” Their Instagram account disabled the comment section on this post, which, to me, goes directly against what he is preaching. He even claimed that he would be contacting “a range of peers and collaborators'' to have them “share their feelings and advice.” How are we, public, supposed to believe that he will listen to his peers when he won’t even listen to the comment section? The problem of bands posting these apologies after allegations make a national stir, instead of realizing earlier on that what they are doing is not acceptable, exists because it is strangely normalized in the music world to think a certain way about the women employed in it. This is largely due to the “groupie” stereotype, the idea that women know less about music, and the way male musicians could feel that they could take advantage of females interviewing them. As seen with Alicia Atout’s DM story, many musicians frequently assume the interviewers are being flirtatious or trying to get with them, so they feel that it is okay to make off-color comments or invade their personal space. This is how it seems the members of The Growlers thought, and I hope they realize that this apology means nothing without affirmative action following it. With all of the male indie musicians being outed as creeps, it makes me nervous about further pursuing this already dangerous career choice. However, with the way the community has been coming together to hold the bands and record companies accountable, I have hope that it will get better by the time I’m in the professional world. Sadly, it will take a long time (if it's even possible) to completely abolish these harmful thoughts about women in the music industry, but I believe that one day there will exist a scene of bands who know how to treat their audience, and the people they work with, with complete respect. This will only happen if we, the public, continue to use our platforms to speculate the causes of the ideologies, and how to stop them from infecting our world. To all of the fans holding their favorite bands to a higher scale, I see you and I resonate with you. It’s not easy to accept when someone you admire has done something wrong, but it's necessary to stop defending them and to realize what they have done. It’s time to dethrone famous people from our imaginary pedestals and value accountability over perfection. We’ve already been off to a great start, and we can’t lose steam here until every fan is safe. If you or someone you know is struggling with the topics discussed in this article, here is a link to some numbers and resources you can get help from.
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