Let’s just face the facts – sex sells. Whatever genre of music, an attractive woman flaunting about showing some cleavage is going to get attention. So why not take advantage of your bass player or vocalist who happens to be female in the world of rock and metal? Genres which consist of 90% decent bands (everyone to their opinion) are male dominated, so the moment they hear about a band with a female singer, they want to see them. Females in a male dominant genre are going to get all sorts of attention, and more than likely, more press dependent on how good the band is or how pretty the singer is, but more press isn’t always 
good press. A lot of bands are overtaken by the fact there is a female in it – for example Sonic Syndicate and their female bass player Karin (right). The band themselves aren’t the best on the planet but Karin gets the attention because she is in fact female, attractive, and not afraid to show some flesh. With all that attention, she becomes the reason why people watch their music videos or look them up online, so in a way it is a bonus. It’s a physical thing; no one really talks about her bass playing skills, but more than often, how ‘hot’ she looks. Marta Peterson from Bleeding Through is another example. If you’ve never heard of the band, you will probably of heard or seen her in ‘hottest chicks in metal’ or whatever it is called, as she is normally on that list somewhere. She is the keyboardist, so she shy’s away a bit rather than flaunting about on stage. But as soon as the chance for a photo shoot comes along, she is right there, front of the row.
Marta Peterson – Bleeding Through
Maria Brink, vocalist for In This Moment – one of my favourites – is also used as an advertisement for the band. The blonde hair, skimpy outfits and massive tits don’t go amiss and really supports this statement. The band’s music has changed over the years, but she hasn’t. She is still there in their videos either frolicking along the beach, dressed as a schoolgirl in a church, or generally being sexualized with the outfits she wears along with photo shoots and press. Singers in a band will most likely always get more attention than the rest of the band, but being a female in a male dominant world will get you five times the attention. Men are visual creatures (apart from those out there who actually listen to the music, the lyrics, and the technique rather than stare at a bare midriff or pair of legs) and therefore, in the music industry and especially in this day and age, woman are going to be sexualized. Women want to be like the sexy perfected musician and men want to look at her and be with her.
Maria Brink – In This Moment
Hayley Williams from Paramore had a mishap where a photograph of her boobs was ‘accidentally’ leaked on her Twitter account. She was apparently ‘hacked’, but there is an on-going argument that she did it more so for the attention, so that more people would find out about her and consequentially, about her band. Two members of her band had recently left because of her as well. She was the only female in the band and garnered a lot of attention, and being named the ‘hottest women in rock’ a fair few times clearly got to her head, letting her ego inflate so much that she was losing fans. It got to the point that it was only her with what seemed to be a band backing her. But enough about her – it just goes to show that in any genre of music, it is becoming clear that the band’s image is more important than the musical content. I’ve seen a lot of bands who used to be good – before many people knew them – and have gone more mainstream, and the members themselves have changed along with their music. It’s all due to the audience and what they want to see. It’s just a shame so many bands out there have lost all originality due to image and are more concerned with how they look, rather than what they sound like.
Hayley Williams – Paramore
People will disagree but people need to get over the fact there is a woman singing in front of you and not what she looks like when naked. There are still a few bands out there that really aren’t concerned what people think and are not there to just use their female singer to get attention (e.g. Flyleaf), as they are there to make music – this is the way it should be. I go to a lot of metal gigs and as a female, it’s almost as if I don’t belong there. You’ll always get the attention being female at a gig or festival, as it really is just a sausage fest and people expect it to be all males. But as soon as a group of girls show up, all eyes are on them. Men, please get over the fact there are some people in the room that don’t have a penis and just enjoy the music. It helps that the singer is ridiculously hot, but at least try to enjoy watching them live as a band and not just hoping that she will bend over so you can get a glimpse of boobs. Boobs will always sell, but it’s not what the genres are about – it does help, but please just shut up and enjoy.
- Emily Simmons
