(from Shari again) New BOC fan/Hawkwind Q's

[Max Wilcox]

Andrew Gilham wrote:
>
> It's unfair, IMO, to single Hawkwind out for sexism.

        Well, I wasn't calling them sexist. I was just saying that it's a shame
that there aren't more females involved.

>  How many hard rock/heavy
> metal bands  - except for "girl groups" - have ever had female members?  Why
> is Sean Yseult one of only two women to have performed on stage at Donington
> ever?  (No, I can't remember who was the other!)  Have you ever seen a
> Whitesnake video?!?

        This is one of the main reasons I dislike many heavy metal bands - they
are often degrading to women.

> For a long time, the dancers have generally been as decently clad as any
> dancers, and there's often been equal numbers of male and female dancers.  And
> back in the early '70s, we were still into hippy shit like "Hair", and the
> on-stage nudity, by Stacia in particular, was more in a spirit of sexual
> liberation that sexual titillation.  I don't know if the band ever played in
> the nude, as they threatened once, but it would have been more than just
> breasts jiggling if they did...

        Neither am I saying that I think the dancers are a bad idea, but rather
that I don't think they add much to the overall effect. Mind you, my
only real knowledge of the dancers etc. stems from the films that I have
seen of HW - such as "the Chronicles of the Black Sword" - which IMO is
shocking. The music's great, but having women running around in swimming
costumes is just silly. What's more the Elric looked extremely silly.
        Again, I'm not directing this complaint -directly- at HW, but I think
it's a valid point. The fact that the only thing that women do in front
of the audience is dance about, and don't sing/play instruments/etc,
reinforces such misguided notions as "that's where they belong", or
"they couldn't play the instruments, because it's not right".
        Only some people would fall foul of this misconception, as most people
are able to differentiate, but it does happen. I was chatting to Mary
Cason (who played with Calvert on the "Queen Elisabeth Hall" gig) and
she said something like "that many of the HW fans that saw her, wondered
why she wasn't up the front jiggling her breasts, rather than behind a
keyboard".

> Anyway, joking aside, you might as well complain about the lack of Black
> members of Hawkwind ever.  Although they've had at least one gay member.

        This is a good point, but also you must consider that as HW come from
the UK, where (about) 51% of the population are female, whereas other
ethnic groups make up substantially less of the population.
        Anyway, I say again that I'm not really complaining about the band, and
it's not as if I'm going to get angry and throw all my albums out the
window or anything, but rather I'm just making an observation, and
commenting on something that I think is unjust in our society.

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