b/c i'm a woman i can't appreciate
I just read a fantastic article about listening parties -- a group of music-obsessed people come together with elaborate mix cds of obscure and random songs and sit for a few hours listening, drinking, smoking and just indulging their audiophilic desires. Loud volumes are key. This sounds phenomenal to me and I'm so excited (going to ring up Cosby and Bob and Natalie and Venus and whomever else I can think of who might have fantastic if not slightly odd musical tastes), and then I read this:
Did I say it's mostly a men's thing? Indeed. Fact is, rare is the woman who would like to do nothing but listen to random music at such ear-jarring volumes. Rare is the woman who would enjoy just sitting there, drink in hand, eyes closed and head bobbing (though dancing is always allowed), and just let the tune wash over her body, without speaking. As the cliche goes, it's just sort of a guy thing.
Not that we haven't tried. "Wait-wait-wait," women say, when invited in the past. "So you just, like, sit there? You just sit there and blast unusual music and drink?" Well, yes. "You don't talk, share, emote about it?" Only a little. "So the songs aren't background music for your discussions of how weird your spouses are and where to get the best designer jeans and why the Bush administration is so full of misogynist jackals?" Well, not exactly. See, the music is its own language. "Oh," they say, looking slightly nonplussed. "I think I'll stay home and watch 'The Colbert Report.' "
"Well, OK," you reply, shrugging. "But you'll be missing out. I'm bringing 'Joker & the Thief' from the new Wolfmother. Plus, someone's bound to play some old Kate Bush. Or maybe some deep Southern blues. Maybe some Iron & Wine. All really, really loud. I mean, come on. Who'd want to miss that?"
Way to ruin a perfectly good column.
And secondly, what the fuck? I know A LOT of women who would be happy to immerse themselves in the sonic moment, free from social obligation or "emoting" (and by the way, I don't know ANY women who use the word 'emote' to refer to their interactions with other people -- that's some fresh-faced stereotypical bullshit right there). In fact, I once passed three hours with a friend like that, trading songs & artists, trying to show a bit of ourselves and perhaps find that new sound that would make our ears pop to attention.
I don't know who this columnist is acquainted with, but I'm sure in San Francisco of all places there are plenty of women who would be happy to shut up, drink top-shelf scotch and blast their eardrums out. I mean, come on, if there are in Harrisburg...I'm glad he can sit back and pass such judgement on women in order to support his (male) artistic and intellectual superiority. He could very well have just said "Listening parties are a great thing, yadda yadda, everyone should try it" and not even comment on what he obviously believes to be a gender-specific activity. Because though he tries to imply that he is merely pointing out a trend, the fact remains that the male/female makeup of such listening parties is inconsequential to the character of the event itself, and in making it a focal point of his article he reveals himself for the closet misogynist he is, reiterating the tired-out idea that pure aesthetic understanding/enjoyment is a thing only people with penises can achieve.
Did I say it's mostly a men's thing? Indeed. Fact is, rare is the woman who would like to do nothing but listen to random music at such ear-jarring volumes. Rare is the woman who would enjoy just sitting there, drink in hand, eyes closed and head bobbing (though dancing is always allowed), and just let the tune wash over her body, without speaking. As the cliche goes, it's just sort of a guy thing.
Not that we haven't tried. "Wait-wait-wait," women say, when invited in the past. "So you just, like, sit there? You just sit there and blast unusual music and drink?" Well, yes. "You don't talk, share, emote about it?" Only a little. "So the songs aren't background music for your discussions of how weird your spouses are and where to get the best designer jeans and why the Bush administration is so full of misogynist jackals?" Well, not exactly. See, the music is its own language. "Oh," they say, looking slightly nonplussed. "I think I'll stay home and watch 'The Colbert Report.' "
"Well, OK," you reply, shrugging. "But you'll be missing out. I'm bringing 'Joker & the Thief' from the new Wolfmother. Plus, someone's bound to play some old Kate Bush. Or maybe some deep Southern blues. Maybe some Iron & Wine. All really, really loud. I mean, come on. Who'd want to miss that?"
Way to ruin a perfectly good column.
And secondly, what the fuck? I know A LOT of women who would be happy to immerse themselves in the sonic moment, free from social obligation or "emoting" (and by the way, I don't know ANY women who use the word 'emote' to refer to their interactions with other people -- that's some fresh-faced stereotypical bullshit right there). In fact, I once passed three hours with a friend like that, trading songs & artists, trying to show a bit of ourselves and perhaps find that new sound that would make our ears pop to attention.
I don't know who this columnist is acquainted with, but I'm sure in San Francisco of all places there are plenty of women who would be happy to shut up, drink top-shelf scotch and blast their eardrums out. I mean, come on, if there are in Harrisburg...I'm glad he can sit back and pass such judgement on women in order to support his (male) artistic and intellectual superiority. He could very well have just said "Listening parties are a great thing, yadda yadda, everyone should try it" and not even comment on what he obviously believes to be a gender-specific activity. Because though he tries to imply that he is merely pointing out a trend, the fact remains that the male/female makeup of such listening parties is inconsequential to the character of the event itself, and in making it a focal point of his article he reveals himself for the closet misogynist he is, reiterating the tired-out idea that pure aesthetic understanding/enjoyment is a thing only people with penises can achieve.