We weren’t the only ones that were a little put off by the MTV Guy Code article stating that cute girls are starting to go to metal shows. In fact, one of the venues featured in the article, Brooklyn’s Saint Vitus Bar, has responded to the article, as has the coed punk band War On Women, who actually elicited a response from the author. Like many, they were offended, calling the article awful and stating “It’s pretty tiring to feel like an animal at the zoo when you walk into a club (or on stage).” After being tagged in the comments, Ethan Fixell joined in on the conversation, stating that it was written as a comedy article, not for real:
For one thing, the piece was edited a bit (one section that was removed here). And the other issue is that it was written for a specific comedy-driven blog — if it were for a music-driven site, I would have written a much different piece. But trust me, I’m well aware of what you guys think! I appreciate all of the thoughtful (though not necessarily loving) comments.
It would be interesting to read the music-driven article, since any article written on how to get laid at (insert place here) is going to be problematic for any fans of (the place that was inserted). Even if the removed section was put back in, it wouldn’t have changed the article, though. It was just about how women musicians have become more prevalent in heavy music – it doesn’t touch on those in the audience. And although it’s written for a “comedy-driven blog,” it’s a little too straightforward to actually be that funny. And even as an authoritative metal article, it fails – Fixell has the wrong Merauder.
Saint Vitus Bar, the home of the Pig Destroyer show, also weighed in on the article, calling it blatantly sexist and a misrepresentation of the bar:
By now, many of you have seen the pants-on-head-stupid article that was posted over at MTV about girls at metal and hardcore shows.
This article is problematic in many, many ways, first and foremost for its blatant sexism.
Of course there are women at hardcore and metal shows. There always have been. And, it may surprise MTV to know, a lot of these women even play in hardcore and metal bands.
Do people try to get laid at our bar? That’s really none of our business, but it’s a bar where people convene based on a common love of music. If these people hook up? Great! If they find each other attractive? Even better! We work hard to keep Saint Vitus a safe space for anyone who comes. The world is still full of assholes, and we can’t keep out everyone, but we try hard to be welcoming environment for everyone.
Sure, we’re mad about how grossly misrepresented the bar is. We hope anyone who’s been here is too. But more importantly, this article is a stark reminder of how pervasive sexism still is in media, and how people exploit women’s sexuality in the name of getting clicks and generating page views.
So in summary, fuck this article, and we hope that at the very least, this article generates discussions among the music community that are apparently still sorely needed.
It didn’t help that one of the venue’s bouncers said that he was trying to get laid at the show, however. We’re sure Fixell knew what he was getting into when writing this article, though. And at the end of the day, it’s continuing to bring in hits for MTV and the Guy Code blog, so he wins. And at least he’s doing his best to address his detractors. But it’s easy to see why this is a sore spot for women that are fans of metal. They don’t want to be “chicks at metal shows.” They want to be metal fans at metal shows. Satirical or not, the article definitely set that back a bit.
