METAL LESBIAN FANTASIES

I.

Date: May 16, 2006 10:33 PM

Subject: finished your book

To: Tim Riley


and boy do I have comments. They are too lengthy to go into right now, but I hope to soon. In the meantime…



My main question is: What is this book about? What I expected was a book about Madonna, Bowie, Elton, Mick, k.d. lang, Boy George, 80s hair bands…and how they blurred gender. I also predicted comments on how shitty women in rock (not pop) are treated in the mainstream, or even in indie rock. Instead I read a book about how Elvis and Tina are the blueprint for male and female musical performers, and how Bruce Springsteen had trouble with his dad.



I guess gender may mean something different to me. I’ve got a lot of queer friends (and am a bit queer myself), and many of them have studied gender both in and out of academic realms. Gender is a totally made up thing to them. It’s amazing that Elton, Bowie, and Boy George got away with acting like complete fags (pardon the slang but is there a better word for it?) before gay couples could even walk down the street holding hands without getting beat up. And nobody from Poison, Motley Crue, or Guns n’ Roses were called fags or girlie for wearing loads of makeup and hairspray… they were MEN to the fullest, fillthiest degree. And the clincher is that women loved it. Why did they love it? It felt safe? It played out lesbian fantasies?



I suppose I’m interchanging sexual orientation with gender but to me they do go hand-in-hand to some degree.



You have convinced me that Elvis played a major role in shaping how the boys who listened to him acted, especially as compared to John Wayne. But what was Elvis’s view on women? Was he really sensitive? Sure, he danced and felt comfortable with being sexy, but what good did it do? No, the first generation of men to really improve themselves in terms of how they treated women and their families was the generation listening to the Beatles and all the hippie post-1965 bands. Flower power, man. That’s what really transformed gender in America.



I did really like the last chapter on rock super couples though. Very well done.



Anyway, now that you hate me…


— SM of
heresyourwater.com/blog