Girls Don’t Like Metal is a new column by Natalie Zed (aka Natalie Zina Walschots), developed exclusively for Canada Arts Connect Magazine. This biweekly column examines gender issues, feminism and sexuality within heavy metal music. Each post will come in the form of an interview with a member of the heavy metal community, including artists, writers, magazine and website editors, road crew members, merch folks, sound techs and fans. Interview subjects may identify as female/femme/trans/genderqueer or be allies, and share a deep love of, and commitment to, heavy metal.
The inspiration for this column came from the title of an article published on Metalsucks in October of 2011: “Public Service Announcement: Girls Do Not Like Metal!” The article, written by Sergeant D of the infamous Stuff You Will Hate site and intended as a piece of satire, posited the idea that women don’t actually enjoy heavy metal, but rather pretend to in order to attract male attention. While it was framed as a piece of satire, the tone of the article contained a snarling meanness that made me wonder if this opinion is something that the author genuinely believes (not to mention the slut-shaming). But even more disturbing than the article were the comments that followed. It was clear that many of the readers actually shared the (debatable) satirical opinion of the article in a very real and distressing way.
This article, phenomena like Revolver’s Hottest Chicks In Hard Rock special issue and calendar and the discussion that followed inspired me to launch several new projects devoted to the contributions of women to heavy metal. These women are strong and vibrant, tough and intelligent, passionate and brilliant and often hilariously funny. This space is devoted to my sisters in arms and the allies who support them.
When I began developing this column, I knew immediately that I wanted to interview Kim Kelly. Kim is an active and dynamic member of the metal scene. A skilled and prolific writer, a dedicated promoter and PR specialist and one of the finest merch slingers on the continent, Kim has devoted her time, attention and eardrums to heavy metal. She is a woman I have long admired, someone who gives her all to her projects and has made her greatest love her full-time work and life.
* * *
"Grim" Kim Kelly
How would you define your role/job/niche within the context of heavy metal music?
Some heretical amalgamation of scribe, entrepreneur, road warrior, merry blasphemer, masochist, blue-eyed devil woman, mercenary and firebrand, if I were one to wax poetic. More tangentially speaking, I am an opinionated extreme metal journalist and writer for a number of print and online publications (Terrorizer, Invisible Oranges, The Atlantic, NPR, Metalsucks, Hails & Horns, Loud! and lots more).
I’m also the publicist and sole owner/operator of my company, Catharsis PR, an occasional blogger, NYC gig promoter and merch slingin’ road dog for Corrosion of Conformity, Black Tusk and Saint Vitus (to name a few). I was 15 when my first piece of metal-related writing was published, and in the ensuing almost-decade, I’ve fought tooth and nail to make that scrawny, Bathory-obsessed kid’s dreams come true. So far, so good.
How did you find metal, or how did metal find you?
It crept up on me, that’s for sure. I grew up in a super-rural woodland area without much exposure to, well, anything really, until I started reading metal magazines and sneaking out to shows in Philadelphia. By all accounts, I should be barefoot and pregnant in a rickety, wood-panelled kitchen right now, but, luckily, the metal gods intervened. When I was 12 or so, I had a few friends who introduced me to the kind of shitty nu-metal that pervaded the early ’00s, and from there, in my early teens, I moved onto the accessible brutality of Swedish melodeath, into the classics of American death metal and grindcore, and then further out into the cold of black metal’s first and second waves (I owe everything to Quorthon). From there, it just got worse, until I ended up in the festering sonic cesspools I love so dearly. I’m into a lot of crust, neo-folk and old country music as well, but for me at least, heavy metal is the law, black metal is war and doom shall rise.
What does metal give to you? Why do you adore this genre so much and devote so much of your time and energy toward the celebration and advancement of very loud noise?
Metal has given me a place in the world to call my own; it has given me joy, purpose, solace, a path to follow, a tribe. Its influence has seeped into every possible aspect of my life. This is not just a style of music; it is a way of life, born of excess and alienation, strength and power, misanthropy and emotion, Satanic lust and whiskey funerals. This music—this loud, aggressive, intricate, primal, cerebral, primitive, beautiful, wretched, godless noise—speaks to me like nothing else. Black metal saved my life, and I can say that with a straight face. Everyone’s got their cross to bear, their gaping wounds and badly stitched-together scars; everyone’s got their something, and those who have the guts to keep fighting will find a way to keep going. Giving up was never an option for me, and during the darkest of days, the raw, bleak, anti-human hatefulness that came grating out of my speakers spoke to me in the only voice I could understand. Friends come and go, family fractures and fades, but, hell, records are forever, and even if your favourite band put out a shitty new record, you’ll always have the demos. Metal is eternal.
It’s hard to explain to the uninitiated, but that strangeness, otherness, the darkness that permeates our world and keeps us isolated from the mainstream—it’s really fucking special. Extreme music requires extreme commitment. There will never be any danger of our “losing” extreme metal to those who don’t truly worship it. It will always belong to us. Outsider music for outsiders. Forever underground.
Do you consider yourself a feminist? How does this definition of yourself (feminist or not) work within the context of your relationship to heavy metal?
If the definition of a feminist is “someone who believes in equality between the sexes and supports female empowerment,” then I definitely fit the bill. Beyond that, I’m not too sure; I honestly don’t know as much about feminism as I should (I’m working on it, I swear!). I do, however, know what it’s like to be a young woman in the extreme metal scene and metal music industry, so that’s the perspective I write from: my own. I spend quite a lot of time (and ink) discussing the issues that women face within this scene, and doing what I can to spread awareness and heap well-deserved praise upon the legions of metal warrior women out there in the trenches, behind the scenes, onstage and off, who keep the black flame burning and spit upon the laughable tenet “Girls don’t like metal.”
Heavy metal has long been seen as a boys’ club, music for disillusioned, white, middle class youth, but women have been slinging axes and making power moves since the genre’s inception (not to mention way before Iommi lost his fingertips). The audience is still predominantly male, but more and more women are making their presence known and voices heard, and it’s a beautiful thing.
Being a female metaller isn’t the easiest thing in the world, and while it’s something I would never back down from, it can get ugly. Scores of metal songs gleefully exhort violence towards women in their lyrics, but that doesn’t bother me, though other people may take terrible offence to this kind of sonic torture porn. It does bother me, though, when the fake woman hating in their liner notes comes to life. I personally have dealt with plenty of misogyny and sexism, both inadvertent and explicit. I’ve been insulted, hit on, disparaged, touched, condescended towards, propositioned, ignored, laughed at, leered at, grabbed at, sexually assaulted, dismissed as a “groupie,” a “little girl” or just “someone’s girlfriend,” had my metal knowledge, credibility, and intent called into question time and time again. I’ve had to scream, threaten, and get violent with individuals who don’t understand boundaries or show me the proper amount of respect. Even little things like getting emails addressed to “Mr. Kelly” or being asked, “So, who in the band are you dating?” can be terribly aggravating or discouraging. Sometimes it seems as though the only roles women are allowed within this world are the Madonna, the untouchable, über-feminine metal goddess with comic book proportions, or the Whore, the grody scene slut who’ll drop to her knees for any Neanderthal with a dirty ‘stache and a B. C. Rich. And guys wonder why women seem less inclined to enter this world. To enter the eternal fire, as it were.
That’s not to generalize or say that all metalheads act this way. Quite the contrary—the vast majority of metal fans I’ve come into contact with (and there have been literally thousands by now) have been the kindest, most respectful, down-to-earth and fun individuals imaginable. There are bad eggs, but the entire genre doesn’t deserve to be painted with the same brush. Sexism and disrespectful behaviour occur within every subculture, music scene, tribe and group, after all. I just wish there was less of it in mine.
When you are asked to “introduce” someone to heavy metal, how do you go about doing so? Do you take them to a show, refer them to writers, put together a playlist, etc.?
You mean to desecrate a pair of virgin ears? You know, it’s not often that I end up listening to music with someone who’s not into metal already, and if I do, it’s generally an old friend who’s content to listen to my Merle Haggard records or stoner rock instead. Otherwise, honestly, I usually just say, “Listen to Black Sabbath, then Hellhammer; you’ll figure it out.” Sums it up pretty well, I think.
How have you seen the role of women, including appreciation for the work of female artists, as well as a place for female fans, change since you began to identify with the scene?
It’s been amazing seeing the number of ladies in attendance at gigs climb higher and higher, and seeing women taking a more active role in the business/media side of things as well. When I first started getting into black metal, I didn’t know a single girl who gave a shit about Vlad Tepes. Now, I have tons of girlfriends across the world who are all about filthy, bestial, occult metal.
Metal is a tribe, and being able to connect with fellow female metallers really emphasizes that we are truly bonded by blood. The whole “women in metal thing” has become less of a novelty and is edging closer and closer to becoming a true “of course there are chicks here, why wouldn’t there be?” situation. We have pioneers like Doro, Jo Bench, Runhild Gammelsæter and Liz Buckingham, who shattered stereotypes and influenced countless musicians. We have Marissa Martinez of Cretin and Kat Shevill of Winds of Genocide, who shared their transitions from male to female with the world and were welcomed with horns held high and open arms. We have newer female musicians blowing up the underground (Adorior, Laudanum, Wooden Stake, Christian Mistress, Occultation, Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult) and beloved bands with well-respected female members reforming (Noothgrush!!!). It has never been a better time to be a lady hesher, and I am so very proud of all my sisters in steel.
What should we be listening to right now?
Hellhammer and Bathory—always. Otherwise, I just picked up a handful of new records from Ride For Revenge, Teitanblood, Weapon and Cruciamentum, some classics from Demoncy, Bestial Holocaust and Conqueror, and am pretty much constantly listening to Necros Christos, Horna, EyeHateGod, Amebix, Satanic Warmaster, Diocletian, Archgoat and Sperm of Antichrist. Oh, and check out Ensorcelor, Ash Borer, Void Meditation Cult, Bell Witch, Pilgrim and Lycus, and go buy the newest Altar of Plagues record. You won’t regret it. Hail death.
* * *
Kim Kelly is an NYC-based writer, music publicist and promoter who spends most of her time travelling, either on tour hustling merch for bands like Corrosion of Conformity and Saint Vitus or crisscrossing the globe on various riff-related adventures. She has written about extreme metal and the culture surrounding it for Terrorizer, The Atlantic, NPR.org, Invisible Oranges, The Boston Phoenix, Brooklyn Vegan, Metal Maniacs, Metalsucks and many more. As well, she helms Catharsis PR, promotes shows in the NYC/Philadelphia area and spends way too much money on records. Her drugs of choice are raw black metal, Southern sludge, filthy crust punk, dusty bookshops and Dixie whiskey. Read more of her work and follow her exploits on her personal blog, Ravishing Grimness http://ravishinggrimness.blogspot.com/, and on Twitter: @GrimKim.
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[...] YOU SHOULD GO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE. Now. It’s well worth your time. And keep your eye on it, because Natalie is going to bring us the goods. I’d put money on it. 0AKPC_IDS += "2726,";Past posts you might dig: [...]
Nice to see a bad-ass metal scribe feature another bad-ass metal scribe. Good on both of you; the metal scene is better with your inclusion!
Nawww, thanks Sarah! x
[...] welcome a new local metal column to the online metal music community. The column is named “Girls don’t like metal.” The woman behind the column, Natalie Zina Walschots (@NatalieZed on Twitter), explains that [...]
I wasn’t sure what direction this column would go when you first started talking about doing it, but like I mentioned on twitter, I like what I see! First and foremost I think it’s important you’re doing this and giving women a proper voice and not a photo spread. I also like that this is happening not on some random metal blog, but on an art website. You’re bringing this issue to a lot of people who would otherwise be unaware, and also helping to connect the problem of misogyny to a larger context outside of metal.
[...] new columns continue to launch and yesterday saw an interview with “Grim” Kim Kelly for Girls Don’t Like Metal from Natalie Zed (aka Natalie Zina [...]
Mike,
Thanks so much for the comment; I am very pleased that you like what we’ve done here! I specifically wanted to host the column here for exactly the reasons that you mentioned. Not that dedicated metal sites can’t be legitimate sources of high-quality writing, but I think it was important to remove it by one tiny degree. It repositions metal in a broader social/cultural context.
I think that the time is right for women in metal to have that voice. There are more brilliant, dynamic, passionate women participating in the scene that ever before, and their voices and stories are part of the larger story of metal — and, sadly, are often reduced to a photo spread. I wanted to give them a different space. I also wanted the column to be about positivity, challenge, and change, not negativity. Hopefully we can build something wonderful here!
Thrilled to see the existence of this column, and found this particular interview very interesting. Extremely disappointed to find the level of discourse following it to be so sophomoric already, though. I guess in the unlikely event anybody was questioning how much need there might be for a column like this, there’s your proof right there.
Piotr & Ponkfart: Thank you for succinctly illustrating exactly why columns like this exist. Also: very brave of you to refrain from leaving any identifying/contact information.
Valley of Steel: Exactly right. Thank you for reading and I am glad that you enjoyed it.
Sarah: Thank you!
It’s kind of frustrating to see you talk on twitter about the asshole commenters and then come here and find their comments deleted, but you left your replies calling them by name (fake name, but still). Please either leave all comments so people can see for themselves who you’re dissing, or deleted them and don’t comment in them at all. Good article, and it’s good to see this subject being addressed, but it doesn’t make you look great to be calling people out for comments you’ve already censored
Bryciferal: Thanks for the comments. This is a bit new to me, and we’re still working out the comment policy. In the end, the artistic director of the site and I opted to take them down but leave my comment up because it had other replies. In the end, having the comments left up made us all uncomfortable, decided to delete after I had already sent the twitter call-out, and honestly I am not sure how (or concerned) that could make me look bad.
Natalie, it’s the simple fact that people can see people being dissertation for comments that have been deleted. No matter how abhorrent their opinion, I think that those commenters have the right to be judged for what they said, rather than what people are saying about them.
PS I can tell that this is a difficult area to navigate; not having seen the deleted comments, I have no idea if they were indictable hate speech, annoying insensitivities or where in between. I all I see is other people taking about them without being able to join in. That’s it! I’ve been marginalised! Obviously, I’m kidding. But I’d like you to consider my above advice in the future: either leave offensive comments, or delete them and all responses. And talk to the web designer; the box I’m typing in now is incredibly buggy.
bryciferal: Thanks for the feedback, truly. Still figuring all of this out. It was hedging a little close to hate speech/sexual violence for everyone’s comfort zones; in the future they will just be deleted without response from me or anyone else. Thanks for weighing in.
Also: forgive the bugs! We’re migrating the site and incorporating a new design so there is a lot going on behind the scenes!
Thanks for the considered responses! The “people who enjoy seeing idiots make fools of themselves” demographic will just have to go elsewhere for that; it’s easy to find. I look forward to more columns featuring sexy girls in metal shirts. (;
@bryciferal – I asked ‘em to take down the comments ’cause they were just so wretchedly hateful and untrue that it verged upon the absurd. I can be as tough as old boot leather, but it still gets under my skin sometimes, so when I have the option to ask a friend to remove some truly nasty BS, I’ll take it. It might be censorship, but, no use in spreading more hate, eh?
Really good read. Grim is like a breath of fresh air within the putrid stench of underground metal.
***ADMIN: This comment violates out terms of use policy, but has been left up at the request of the interview subject so she could respond to it.
Oh yeah like when you got run off lambgoat? Remember? Real absurd huh?
Byc, here you go dude.
Miss Kelly is exactly this… A girl that got into extreme music to garner male attention, we all saw her post on LG, that site with the Frankenstein looking motherfucker where she instigated a fight between Lambgoat & Oceano via reading comments to the band. We all know she blows her way to the top, she has fingers in many pies, PR for every single fucking band/thing. The girl is dying for acceptance. She craves attention.
& No I am not trolling, just fucking sick of this woman’s name come up, and that shameless display of namedropping in “what should be we listening to now?” Terrible. Why the need for a list unless you’re trying to show off? We get it OSDM is Sick, ladies.
Utter absurdity, as I said. Not sure how I managed to “blow my way to the top” when pretty much every editor, band, or label i’ve worked with has never been in the same room with me before, but it sure sounds fun!
And “getting run off Lamboat” = I started a new semester at school and had less time to waste on messageboards…unlike you, I guess.
Lastly, only two or three of those bands on the list they asked me to provide could be classified as “OSDM,” by the way; you should probably do a bit more research before trying to say I don’t know my shit. That’s all I’ve got to say.
Nothing but love for Grim Kim. ‘Nuff said.
Stacey May Fowles wrote this Tumblr post in response to some of the now removed/still up comments on this piece, and I think it deserves to be here.
http://staceymayfowles.tumblr.com/post/16462554459/reading-the-phrase-the-girl-is-dying-for
[...] found this in my referrer logs and LOLed myself half to death. Apparently some Canadian girl started a column “inspired” by my “PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Girls Don’t Like [...]
Nice to see metalsucks is still living up to its name. I wish they’d leave metal out of it.
Surely to any rational person the question of gender is a non issue. In my many years of being an active member of the music scene I have witnessed more misogynistic behavior in the pop/indie scene than I have ever surrounding metal. I have found that male dominated genres such as Metal/Hip Hop/IDM have always welcomed and respected anyone regardless of gender. The flip side of this is where there is an acceptance of a proportionally represented crowd the boys behave far worse.
[...] This particular interview is with Kim Kelly, who you may know from her incredible music writing, her PR company Catharsis or that one time I emailed her thinking she was a dude (again, sorry about that.) [...]
[...] This particular interview is with Kim Kelly, who you may know from her incredible music writing, her PR company Catharsis or that one time I emailed her thinking she was a dude (again, sorry about that.) [...]
I’m a metal “lightweight,” but have a deep respect for metal nonetheless. I think it’s awesome that women are actively working to carve out a spot in the genre where we can be seen for our brains, talent, and wit, rather than our boobs.
I very much enjoyed your interview. Thank you.
I don’t get it. Why are women in metal supposed to be recognised just because of their gender?
Also, to the girl being interviewed, she does realise that girls who listen to underground black/bestial/war metal are common as hell, right? I’ve seen more girls at a Revenge show than at Fates Warning, General Surgery or even ’80s glam metallers Faster Pussycat show. I’d be more impressed if she was into slam or technical thrash metal. Hell, even suicidal black metal would have been a rarer genre.
Altar of Plagues are worthless, btw. There are so many better underground UKBM acts than these band wagon jumpers.
Comments shouldn’t be deleted. Fuck censorship.
Would like to point out that I’m a girl, btw.
As I said, I know tons of ladies who are into underground shit. It rules.
Altar of Plagues are from Ireland, not the UK.
And the website has made the decision to delete comments as part of a company-wide policy, I’m told. I haven’t requested to have any removed since the first two, which were over the line.
Ireland is part of the common wealth, the Republic however is not.
It’s a sensitive subject for Irish people. Given that the AOP lads are from Cork and Dublin, calling them a “UK” band is very insulting.
Ha, I recognise your name from Last.fm. You go to lots of the same shows that I do.
I can’t believe you even think that “band I don’t like are worthless” is a valid argument. De gustibus non est disputandum, right? But whatever, many, many respected media sources disagree with you about AoP, so whatever.
Disputing Kim’s “rarity value” is… I can’t even follow your argument. So, girls who listen to black metal (of the bestial kind) are so common they’re not worth interviewing? Uh, ok? No, wait, what?!
Also you really, REALLY need to learn what censorship ACTUALLY means. Because you clearly don’t, and it’s just embarrassing. If you came into my house and called me every name under the sun while smearing shit all over the walls, I would be well within my rights to throw you the fuck out, and I would take pleasure in doing so. A private website’s owner has the right to leave/delete whatever comments s/he sees fit, and comments which were not only ugly, misogynist and hate-filled but also libellous is most certainly NOT censorship. Those commenters are free to go and repeat their poison wherever they like, as indeed they have (check out the SYWH link for proof), so saying their freedom of speech has been removed (which is what censorship boils down to) is utterly absurd.
Really, Ms Jericho, where’s your sense of logic?
I’m a long time fan of metal as well…I just don’t fit into the parameters of the stereotypical view of a female metalhead, and who cares? I’m happy to see more women enjoying the music and coming to the shows.
My issue with the nasty comments is that their origin lies in shaming — I doubt that Ponkfart in froths at the mouth about the sexual antics of certain musicians. He’d be criticizing a musician’s talent, or his output of work; he wouldn’t be ranting on about how these guys f*cked anything with a pulse. Notice how he carefully avoided mentionong any of the men who he claims have been blown. He really does seem to know quite a bit about what other men do with their pricks.
Substitute an interview with a woman for a black man, for a homosexual, for a handicapped individual, and we would see this crap for what it is — hate, bias, vitriol based on nothing more than deep rooted insecurities. Yet it’s accepted as normal that a man who doesn’t seem to have healthy relationship with women can publicly deride a woman’s sexual behavior — fine if you don’t like someone, but complain about someone’s qualifications, rather than rely on plain old sexism. It’s obvious that Ponkfart needs to take a fibergel or something.
I was linked to this article via a good friend of mine who happens to be (drum roll) a WOMAN GASP.
How is that a rebuttal? Are you trying to say that women can’t be patronizing or hostile towards other women for shallow reasons? I’ve know women who hold misogynistic attitudes, and rant on about how they’re only friends with guys because most women are bitches, attentions seekers…Anyone with sense steers clear of people who consistently demonstrate misogynistic or misandrist attitudes.
Again, why are you so concerned with what certain musicians do with their pricks, but only go out of your way to insult this particular woman because you don’t care for her or for the article?
Thank you for this series, Ms. Zed, and thank you, Ms. Kelly, for once again leading the vanguard. I am genuinely surprised and troubled by the hate I read here yesterday. The laughable claim that Ms. Kelly listens to extreme metal for attention (why am I not laughing?) and the incomprehensible criticism of self-promotion and pretentiousness (in an industry where “prepare your ass and ears for the penetrating power of band-name-here” is a stock phrase) show that women are still far from equal treatment in the metal world. A writer who successfully pitches black metal to NPR deserves better. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
[...] very first instalment of the column went up on Monday morning, and features an interview with the wonderful and inexhaustible “Grim” Kim Kelly. Kim talks about her passionate love for heavy metal, what drew her to difficult music, and how it [...]
THE IRONY IN THIS POST IS DELICIOUS!!
“Yeah I am a woman that likes metal!!! Look at me! Look at all the obscure bands I can name!! I am better than you because I know more underground band names!!! Girls like metal too!!! PAY ATTENTION TO MEEEEEE!!!!!!”
whilst at the same time
“OMG stop treating us different!! We are all the same!!! FUCKING MISOGYNIST PIGS!!”
Are you too stupid to realise that by constantly making an issue of how you are *gasp* a FEMALE THAT LIKES METAL???, you are only distancing yourself further from equality?? DAMN SON.
If I meet a girl that likes metal and she is chill and doesn’t whine on about it, then it’s all good and I treat her just like I would anyone else. If I meet a girl that likes metal and she is a whining bitch that constantly talks about obscure bands and how she is so unique because just because she has a fucking vagina and likes a genre of music, then I run away from her as quickly as possible.
tl;dr, the irony of making a post against sexism, that is promoting sexism (by making such a huge deal out of a girl liking metal WTF), is delicious.
Gemma D, Jo and Jen: Thank you for reading and commenting! I am thrilled that you liked and connected with the first instalment, of the column, and that it continues to flat your boat. :)
D Jericho: You have brought up a criticism that has been levelled at this column several times both in the comments here and other places that I honestly don’t understand: that it is somehow just about women who listen to metal. While listening to and enjoying metal is a noble pursuit, several people (you included) have pointed out that just liking metal is not enough to base a column on. I completely agree with this! The *name* of the column is a response to another article, and does not perfectly match up with the mandate of the column (which I explain extensively during the opening paragraph of the column). This is not a column that just revolves around the fact that some women like metal. It is a series of interviews with women who work in the industry, and who have build careers around heavy metal, including musicians, promoters, PRs, merch workers, journalists, photographers, etc. The column is about the experience of those women actively participating in metal culture, and their contributions to it — something which tends to be overlooked, glossed over, or misrepresented. Female artists and workers get less respect and have many more challenges to face. This column intends to give them some space and time to tell their own stories and discuss what the metal community means to them, not simply to point out that they are women.
I enjoyed reading this and mean to check back for more of the interviews in the future! Kim is an interesting person in world of morons (of all sexes) and for that alone she deserves an interview of this sort. Further, It’s cool reading her opinions on gender, metal etc..
Still deleting comments, still can’t compete on a level playing field. Keep screaming for equality while hiding from it when it’s inconvenient, gals.
LOL et. al.: Let me clarify our comments policy: anything that contributes to the discussion, whether it not is expresses a differing opinion, will be left up and engaged with. Anyone can say that they hate the column, don’t think we did something well, offer a criticism, etc. However, statements that do not add to the conversation, such as personal attacks and insults, will be deleted. That is the comment policy for the entire Canada Arts Connect site and will continue to be enforced here.
There are plenty of places that you can go to post unmoderated comments of you have some pointless negativity or vitriol of spend, but that place is not here.
Also, everyone is welcome to contact me directly at NatalieZed@CanadaArtsConnect.com if they wish to extend the discussion beyond the comments. Thanks!
silly girl no one wants to carry on the discussion with you!
I’m a girl and I like metal.
Don’t hit on me you silly boys.
[...] when I consider the initial response to Canadian writer Natalie Zed’s new series on women in heavy metal, this has been a week when crossing genres has done much more than let me [...]
I like how she jocks her boyfriend’s band without a hint of irony or self-disclosure. SRS METAL JOURNALIST, FOLKS.
This article is hilarious because Kim claims that she doesn’t want people to make a big deal out of the fact that she’s a girl who likes metal… while doing an article that’s all about her being a girl who is into metal.
[...] Originally written for Canada Arts Connect. [...]
[...] Earlier this year my attention was drawn to a brilliant new blog column with the provocative title, ‘Girls Don’t Like Metal’. [...]