(Here’s Part 3 of a 5-part series about metal culture by guest contributor David Mollica, a trained cultural anthropologist and dedicated metal head. This series is based in part on David’s Master’s dissertation and the interviews he conducted in preparation for writing it. The previous Parts of the series can be found here.)

Lets talk about sex and heavy metal…Get your mind out of the gutter, I mean gender, not how to spawn while listening to Slayer. It’s a pretty universal truth that there are more male metal heads than female. Of course anyone can rattle off a huge list of metal bands that have some women in them, like Into Darkness, and even a few all female acts such as Derketa or Mortals (all of which are pretty sweet bands), but these groups tend to be exceptions to the rule. The field is male dominated and always has been. I found this to be one of the most difficult things to inquire about during my study because I got a different answer from every guy I interviewed and the few female metal heads I knew at the time didn’t want to do an interview. My conclusions on the subject didn’t entirely satisfy me, as most of them are speculative and one can even be construed as vaguely sexist, so I hope this post spurs some healthy discussion.

First, think about the social environment at your average metal venue. If it’s even a halfway decent night there is going be yelling, pushing, drinking, headbanging, and mosh pits. According to Beth Winegarner, who has contributed to Invisible Oranges, she never liked to go to concerts because of that sort behavior. However, she still felt the emotional connection to metal that many people reported when I asked them why they liked the music. In other words, Beth is a fan even if she doesn’t socialize with the group all that often. She felt uncomfortable about being around what she saw as the aggressive behavior of male fans. Obviously this sort of feeling doesn’t account for everyone — one of my most gnarly pit-related black eyes was administered by a girl who looked to be about 16 — but it might be a contributing factor to why so many gigs end up being sausage fests. Continue reading »