Last week, Pauwke Berkers and Julian Schaap published their book on gender inequality in metal music. Their book was launched during the KISMIF conference in Portugal. Catherine Hoad, Lecturer in Critical Studies in Popular Music at the College of Creative Arts, Massey University, gave comments during the book launch.
The authors explain that previous studies on gender inequality in metal music have convincingly demonstrated how gender dynamics shape the reception of metal music and metal scenes all over the globe. Yet, these studies shed relatively little light on the extent of and reasons for metal music's male domination from a production perspective. This book fills this gap, offering is a systematic and large-scale overview of gender inequality in metal music production.
Synopsis
“Three percent. That is the average share of women in metal music acts across the globe over the last forty years. In metal, it seems that women are nowhere but gender is everywhere. Why has this genre been an impenetrable fortress for female musicians and are there changes towards gender equality? Gender Inequality in Metal Music Production provides a systematic theoretical overview that helps explain this huge underrepresentation of women in metal music. Moreover, instead of focusing on individual scenes, this book provides a unique large-scale overview of women in global metal music. By drawing from Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives and interview data, the authors empirically study the extent of gender inequality in metal music by comparing longitudinal trends and countries, subgenres within metal, and roles in terms of instrumentation. In addition, this book examines how the 'double-edged sword' – greater visibility versus not being taken seriously as a musician – affects the careers of women in metal.”
Please find the book and purchasing here.
