This might sound very obvious to some people, but the presence of females in metal is lacking, and this fact has actually caused quite the global stir. What’s caused even more of a global stir, however, is the recent rise in females in metal. Then again, a lot of them seem to be recognized for a lot of the wrong reasons.
Let’s start from the beginning. It’s no club secret that the majority gender in the metal industry (or any heavy music industry, really) is male. They are dominant. We all know a lot of cool dudes who know how to shred, drum, scream, headbang, get down and dirty, and overall have a somewhat scary/violent appearance. How many females do we know that can do that, though? While there are probably quite a lot of women who can be just as, if not more, badass than men when it comes to playing heavy music, they’re simply not all recognized. When they are recognized, though, it’s almost never primarily for their awesome instrumental and/or vocal skills.
Women are sexualized by men. Women are sexualized by women. Women are sexualized, period. We live in a society where a female’s breasts have to be covered up, but a male’s breasts can be exposed without blinking an eye. This is the result of the societal views on male dominance evolving over the years around the world, and it’s unfortunately something we will deal with for a long time, even though we seem to be rapidly progressing to an overall liberal mindset. The sexualization of women in scenarios where they don’t need to be sexualized causes a lot of conflict. Females in the heavy music industry are often looked at as bodies and not as the talented individuals they are. This problem has also caused talentless women to be looked at as “great musicians” when in fact, they’re just hot.
Let’s look at an opposing stance. The concept of sexualizing women in metal raises a lot of red flags, but at the same time, is it always a bad thing? What if some women want to be sexualized? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, the idea of women wanting to be sexualized can be an advantage: they are using what they have to attract others, which is exactly their goal. In fact, since metal is so closely related to violence and edginess, the entire idea of some women embracing and controlling what some men think they have priority over is violent and edgy itself. So, in theory, women in metal using their bodies as a means to lure a fanbase in their music career can be, well, metal.
This is not a callout against men in metal. It is simply known that when trying to achieve equality with anything in life, it is important to identify the majority/dominance (in this case, males) of a group (in this case, metal), and how/why they got there in those numbers specifically. Bottom line: a lot of females in the heavy music industry are primarily recognized for their looks, not their talents. Once they establish a reputable fanbase for themselves, it is easy for them to be looked at for how they look instead of what they can do. It’s frustrating, but it can also be used to an advantage.