When posting our "Women In Metal" edition of our documentary series, On The Record, a big hoopla was made about Revolver Magazine's Hottest Chicks In Hard Rock & Heavy Metal issues, saying that these magazines over-sexualized women and made it not about the music, but their looks. While Revolver defended themselves saying these women are empowered by these shoots, it looks like Decibel is taking it one step further in their next special issue, "Women In Metal." The photo on the cover is not controversial, there seems to be no scantily clad frontwomen, just women who happen to be singers of awesome bands. Here is how dB described it in a mailing this morning:
From Queen Latifah to Bikini Kill to, um, Spice Girls, feminism has gone through some interesting permutations in popular music. Metal's perspective on the matter usually manifests in shrugged-off indifference, spiked with occasional lunkhead leering (from fans and publications). Until now, Decibel has simply covered women in extreme music with the same gender-inconsequential praise and respect we bestow upon the guys. But their journeys to equality are substantially more arduous, whether the endgame is publicity, management or shredding onstage.
So it's high time somebody devoted a huge mess of pages to their stories, without requiring that the subjects take their clothes off. That's what you'll get inDecibel's Women in Metal issue, in which we interviewed over 70 ladies of the underground for their unique perspectives, with members of Kylesa,Royal Thunder and Cretin gracing the cover, and Electric Wizard delivering an exclusive track on the flexi disc. It's in the webstore now – pick it up before it hits newsstands and learn what happened when these women kicked the hornets' nest. Subscribers should have the issue within the next three week.
The most awesome part about this whole thing is Decibel's pledge to donate a portion of the proceeds from this issue's sales to Girls Rock Philly, an organization dedicated to creating rock 'n' roll camps for girls and young women.
Kudos to Decibel for keeping grrrl power alive, and using the platform to donate to a cause to ensure future women of this world will have the power to rock. The issue hits newsstands July 5th, but if you want a copy before then, you can grab one here.
