lilbitof-alilbitch - Tumblr blog

lilbitof-alilbitch · 3 years

Text

I wrote a review of Friday's Waterparks/Zeph/Phem show for my journalism class & posted the rough draft online & it would mean the world to me if literally anyone read it 🥺👉👈 The show was absolutely phenomenal! Best concert I've ever been to!!

32 notes · View notes

lilbitof-alilbitch · 3 years

Text

I wrote a review of Friday's Waterparks/Zeph/Phem show for my journalism class & posted the rough draft online & it would mean the world to me if literally anyone read it 🥺👉👈 The show was absolutely phenomenal! Best concert I've ever been to!!

32 notes · View notes

lilbitof-alilbitch · 3 years

Text

Over a decade of concert going and last night's Waterparks show was easily the best I've ever been to. If you haven't gotten tickets to A Night Out on Earth Tour, do yourself a fa or and get some ASAP!

5 notes · View notes

lilbitof-alilbitch · 3 years

Text

I wrote a review of Friday's Waterparks/Zeph/Phem show for my journalism class & posted the rough draft online & it would mean the world to me if literally anyone read it 🥺👉👈 The show was absolutely phenomenal! Best concert I've ever been to!!

32 notes · View notes

lilbitof-alilbitch · 3 years

Text

I wrote a review of Friday's Waterparks/Zeph/Phem show for my journalism class and decided to post the rough draft online, give it a read! The show was absolutely phenomenal! Best concert I've ever been to!!

32 notes · View notes

lilbitof-alilbitch · 3 years

Text

I wrote a review of Friday's Waterparks/Zeph/Phem show for my journalism class and decided to post the rough draft online, give it a read! The show was absolutely phenomenal! Best concert I've ever been to!!

32 notes · View notes

lilbitof-alilbitch · 3 years

Text

I wrote a review of Friday's Waterparks/Zeph/Phem show for my journalism class and decided to post the rough draft online, give it a read! The show was absolutely phenomenal! Best concert I've ever been to!!

32 notes · View notes

lilbitof-alilbitch · 3 years

Text

I wrote a review of Friday's Waterparks/Zeph/Phem show for my journalism class & posted the rough draft online & it would mean the world to me if literally anyone read it 🥺👉👈 The show was absolutely phenomenal! Best concert I've ever been to!!

32 notes · View notes

lilbitof-alilbitch · 3 years

Text

Over a decade of concert going and last night's Waterparks show was easily the best I've ever been to. If you haven't gotten tickets to A Night Out on Earth Tour, do yourself a fa or and get some ASAP!

#music stuffs #waterparks #music #awsten knight #geoff wigington #otto wood #otto waterparks #geoff waterparks #awsten waterparks #bands #parx #waterparks band #a night out on earth tour #live music #concerts #concert #photography

5 notes · View notes

lilbitof-alilbitch · 3 years

Text

LET'S BE TWITTER MUTUALS 💖

I will 100% follow back! 😊

2 notes · View notes

lilbitof-alilbitch · 3 years

Text

LET'S BE TWITTER MUTUALS 💖

I will 100% follow back! 😊

2 notes · View notes

lilbitof-alilbitch · 3 years

Text

I wrote a thing about how the culture surrounding the Rock Scene was founded on the abuse and degradation of women. Give it a read!

TW// MENTION OF RAPE, SA, AND GROOMING

8 notes · View notes

lilbitof-alilbitch · 3 years

Text

The Girl(s) at the Rock Show

The culture surrounding the music industry, particularly the rock scene, was largely built on the abuse and degradation of women. Read that again and repeat it to yourself if necessary. Growing up in the scene, we always thought it was a safe space, a place where you could be yourself and get away from the world for a little while. And to an extent, it is just that, somewhere where those who are different can feel a part of something. But for women and female-aligned people, it’s not as simple as that. Even if you cast aside the general misogyny of the fact that we must worry about dressing “too slutty” for fear of being mistaken for a groupie, the real issues reside in the predatory behavior of the men in the bands. For it seems like every day new allegations and accusations are coming to light, showing the true nature of the bands we grew up adoring. Grooming, assault, abuse, general sexual misconduct, and more are the reality for women and female-aligned people in the scene. Not only have the behaviors associated with those crimes been largely accepted in the rock scene, but for a long time, they were encouraged and celebrated.

My mother often romanticizes the 1980s, when rock music was at the height of its popularity. And as she reminisces, she’s told me a countless number of times that it was common for women to wear negligees to bars and shows. No doubt to help boost their chances of catching the eye of a band member. And how can you blame them? The motto of the times was “sex and drugs and rock and roll”. Being a groupie wasn’t frowned upon back then, but rather expected of the women in the scene. But these expectations are derogatory in and of themselves. Women were expected, and encouraged, to always be on display like pieces of meat, for male pleasure. It was the cultural norm, a cultural norm we’ve been fighting for decades now. And while Generation X may glamorize the 80s, and despite enormous strides in feminism during this time and before, women in the scene were treated like dirt.

Speaking of “dirt” I can’t think of a better example of the mistreatment of women in the rock scene circa the 1980s than an incident that Nikki Sixx wrote about in Motley Crue’s 2001 autobiography The Dirt. As he was having relations with a girl, he got the oh so hilarious idea to have bandmate Tommy Lee switch places with him, like it was some sort of tag-team sport. The issue here is, neither one of these men informed the woman, who consented to sex with Nikki Sixx, not Tommy Lee, of what was happening. That’s rape. Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee raped this girl, and the book was still glorified enough to become a movie. Now, for obvious reasons, this scene never made the movie adaptation. But the question is: how could they have allowed this book a movie adaptation in the first place? Answer: Because it was the 80s. That’s just how things were. Incidents like that were probably commonplace. It’s seen as ridiculous to protest things that happened in the past where the cultural mindset of the time deemed it appropriate. And that movie quite literally brought Motley Crue back from the dead, with a whole new generation of fans ready to rock. It gave an even bigger platform to actual rapists and revered that lifestyle. If a band was caught doing that today, luckily it would be career-ending. It’s almost 2022, and the scene is just now moving to a place where behavior like this results in being canceled, and rightfully so. However, we need to get to a place where we can take away the platforms of abusers, despite how many years have passed since their abuse. Or we’ll never get the rock scene to become the safe space we always thought it was.

While on the subject, how does Steven Tyler still have a platform? How was he able to grow into the enigma he is today? Is he one of the best rock musicians of our time? Quite possibly. But did he, in 1975, at the age of 27, convince a 14-year-old groupie’s parents to sign over guardianship to him so she could move in with him as a live-in girlfriend? Yes. How did that get swept under the rug for so many years? How did nobody seem to bat an eye? That’s not only a 13-year age difference with a minor, but I’m sure the relationship was sexual. And yet, here we are, 47 years later and what does Steven Tyler have to show for it? Fame, fortune, and a slot as one of the most influential rock artists of our time, despite grooming and statutory raping a minor. It’s no wonder we still see these issues today in the scene when artists are just now beginning to see consequences for this kind of predatory behavior.

These days it seems like no band can be completely trusted. Not in the age of media, with new information coming to light what seems like every day. Even bands that claim to be feminists and stand with victims have been caught up in webs of manipulation and abuse of power. And repeatedly, we women and female-aligned people are left wondering if anyone with the slightest position of power can be trusted, if there really is a safe space out there for us. Because it’s certainly not the rock scene like we all grew up thinking. How could it be? When bands thought it was okay to invite minors on their bus or van during Warped Tour days. When young girls have been so frequently complimented on their breasts by band members that instead of being uncomfortable or disgusted, they celebrate. I mean, it wasn’t but a little over a decade ago when it was common practice to make rape jokes on stage. It’s amazing how we ever saw this as a safe space. But it’s not our fault. We surrounded ourselves in a culture that told us those things were funny and/or okay. We put our complete trust into adults who were supposed to be helping us, not taking advantage of our adoration. We didn’t know any better, we were kids. But they should have.

The irony of the scene not being safe for us is that the scene would be nothing without us. Without our devotion and dedication, artists wouldn’t ever get to where they do. We are the backbone of this industry, and yet instead of being met with gratitude, we’re looked down on and exploited. We shouldn’t have to fear for our safety at shows. We shouldn’t have to live with the soul-crushing pain of finding out that a band you’ve dedicated a decade or more of your life to is nothing but a bunch of predators. But we do. And damn it, we deserve better, way better.

So how do we get to “better”? We need more women and female-aligned people in music for starters. The numbers are insanely low regarding women in the music industry, making up only 22.4% of all chart-topping artists, 12.2% of all pop songwriters, and a whopping 2.3% of all producers. We need them in these and so many more positions; security, touring crew, stagehands, you name it. Women know how to keep women safe, and the more women we have in positions of power the safer we are.

We also need to start holding artists accountable for past mistakes. Just because something was acceptable a few years ago doesn’t mean that it was ever okay. Apologies need to be issued, changes need to be promised and made. And a huge conversation needs to be had between artists and fans about boundaries, what they are and how to set them properly. Bands have too much power over us when really, we should have the power over them. We made them what they are. The very least they can do is give us basic decency and respect.

I see a day where women in the rock scene are finally safe, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work to get there. We have decades of cultural norms to undo, and sometimes the fight seems fruitless. But I refuse to give up. How can I? When I have nieces who will be old enough to go to shows on their own one day. When the little pieces of what’s left of 15-year-old me keep dying off with every new accusation that surfaces. No, we can’t give up. Not now, not ever. We made this scene what it is, and we can make it what it needs to be too.

5 notes · View notes

lilbitof-alilbitch · 3 years

Text

Writing a thing about the degradation of women in the rock scene, stay tuned

9 notes · View notes