Being a woman and a Band Mate

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The majority of people in society believe they are meant to do certain things in their lives. Some believe they are meant to teach others, or heal, and some believe they are meant to create something. The feeling that one must be creating art in the form of sound is a common character trait amongst those who join bands. The reasons men and women become a part of musical groups are similar in most cases if not the same. Musicians seek out music for similar reasons and join together to play music in groups because of this. These people have a need to express something, perhaps it is a need to feel attention, or a need to create something that is entirely from their own mind. Men and women join bands as musicians wanting to be heard but their experiences are quite different. Despite feminist undertones in various types of independent music, being in a band is still very much a boys’ game. Those who seek out local music sub-cultures, or music scenes, need to belong and this is not what is happening for many of them.
From a young age, music was a very significant part of my life. Both my mother and father had a passion for music and I was exposed to a number of musical genres whilst growing up. From the age of 15, when I began to play guitar, there was nothing else in the world that mattered with the exception of playing in a band. This would not happen for years for various reasons; the first being the need to learn and the second would be my gender. I would stumble upon missed opportunities or rather opportunities I never really had for much of my youth. I became accustom to having my gender be the reason I was not permitted to join bands. The words “we just don’t want to play with any chicks right now” became so familiar that it no ...

... middle of paper ...

...sfits in society because of our choice to live differently and this makes life hard; it is not fair that we are now misfits in a sub-culture we helped build.

Works Cited

Becker, S. (n.d.). Editor's Note: The worlds a mess it's in my kiss, Punk women and why They Matter.
Downes, J. (n.d.). The Expansion of Punk Rock: Riot Grrl challenges to gender power relations in British indie Music Subcultures.
Fisher, O. G. (2013, November 11). Personal Interview. (A. Carroll, Interviewer)
Hopper, J. (2003). Emo: Where the Girls Aren't by Jessica Hopper. Retrieved from infoshop news.
Keenan, E. K. (n.d.). Who are you Calling A Lady?; Feminity, sexuality, and third wave Feminism . Journal of Popular Music Studies, 378–401.
Kennedy, D. (n.d.). Afterword: From Patti Smith to Paramore.
Olszewski, M. (2013, November 27). Personal Interview. (A. R. Carroll, Interviewer)

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