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Book: Heavy Metal

Chapter: ‘[I] hate girls and emo[tion]s’: Negotiating masculinity in grindcore music

DOI: 10.1558/equinox.20781

Blurb:

In this chapter, the author uses feeling brutal as an entry point for a discussion on how affect relates to, and troubles, metal masculinity. There is a recurrent assumption in metal studies that Western metal is sexist, masculinist, and even misogynist (Arnett 1996; Kahn-Harris 2007; Walser 1993; Weinstein 2000). The author questions whether grindcore participants really do, following a song title from band Blood Duster, ‘Hate Girls and Emotions’. Overell concurs that metal imagery, particularly in death metal and gore-grindcore, regularly represents women as sexualized objects at best and objects for rape, torture and murder at worst. Metal signifiers, often literally, scream masculinity

Chapter Contributors

  • Rosemary Overell (overell@equinoxpub.com - overell) 'University of Melbourne'