"[No guy ever]said that Alanis Morissette was singing about his life. It was always the women."
Hey! I'm a 17-year-old male metalhead, and Jagged Little Pill describes my life pretty darn well, thank you! And in case you're wondering, I'm definitely not gay, either
But yeah, I'd hate to say it, but a lot of this stereotype is indeed true. When I went to Boy Scout Camp for the last time this past summer, my buds and I spent whole week partying to The Doors, the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and the White Stripes. But when I came back, I heard someone with enough nerve to call Crazy Frog "a classic".
But I really think it's more of a cultural thing than anything else. Women (especially in their teens) have this strange obsession with fitting in, so if they can't get down to "Imma Be" (one of the worst songs ever made, BTW), then they feel inferior about themselves.
That's just my theory.
Applerill, when a lot of kids your age like classic rock, they take it upon themselves to like ALL classic rock. That means the greatest Who masterpieces to the trashiest Heart albums, from early Metallica to later Motley Crue. Most kids don't have the sense to not make sweeping generalizations about the things they've decided they enjoy.
Once again, there's no gender divide when it comes to taste. Both genders love crap, and just because it smells different for either doesn't make it not crap. _________________ I love all music. It makes you feel like living. Silence is death.
"[No guy ever]said that Alanis Morissette was singing about his life. It was always the women."
Hey! I'm a 17-year-old male metalhead, and Jagged Little Pill describes my life pretty darn well, thank you! And in case you're wondering, I'm definitely not gay, either
But yeah, I'd hate to say it, but a lot of this stereotype is indeed true. When I went to Boy Scout Camp for the last time this past summer, my buds and I spent whole week partying to The Doors, the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and the White Stripes. But when I came back, I heard someone with enough nerve to call Crazy Frog "a classic".
But I really think it's more of a cultural thing than anything else. Women (especially in their teens) have this strange obsession with fitting in, so if they can't get down to "Imma Be" (one of the worst songs ever made, BTW), then they feel inferior about themselves.
That's just my theory.
Applerill, when a lot of kids your age like classic rock, they take it upon themselves to like ALL classic rock. That means the greatest Who masterpieces to the trashiest Heart albums, from early Metallica to later Motley Crue. Most kids don't have the sense to not make sweeping generalizations about the things they've decided they enjoy.
Once again, there's no gender divide when it comes to taste. Both genders love crap, and just because it smells different for either doesn't make it not crap.
Yeah, I guess you're right. In fact, I've noticed that fact on many occasions myself.
The thing is, though, that most teenage girls are into literally nothing else! I've had many a girlfriend who, when I bring up Pink Floyd or the Beatles, go "Eww!!!!! That's old!!!".
These classic rock guys have their guilty pleasures, I know. We all do. But most guys at least know a few good artists.
Of course, even then, I have to point out that I'm not being sexist or anything. In most cases, it is, as you said, simply a matter of environment. If KISS FM played "Karma Police" every twenty minutes, I'm sure the world would be vastly different.
Out of the friends I talk about music to, the only ones I can really talk in depth about music to are women. With most guys, the conversation boils down to 'yeah that's good/bad' but- in my experience- only women make the connections between influences and don't get caught up in genres or what's considered great, and are prepared to analyze what they like and don't like about a given song. Guess I've been talking to the wrong guys
Out of the friends I talk about music to, the only ones I can really talk in depth about music to are women. With most guys, the conversation boils down to 'yeah that's good/bad' but- in my experience- only women make the connections between influences and don't get caught up in genres or what's considered great, and are prepared to analyze what they like and don't like about a given song. Guess I've been talking to the wrong guys
Out of the friends I talk about music to, the only ones I can really talk in depth about music to are women. With most guys, the conversation boils down to 'yeah that's good/bad' but- in my experience- only women make the connections between influences and don't get caught up in genres or what's considered great, and are prepared to analyze what they like and don't like about a given song. Guess I've been talking to the wrong guys
Interesting, and interesting topic, Pam. I don't think you can generalize by gender. I had a few girlfriends in the 90's who had great taste in music, just like you. I guess the gender extremes would be boys liking gangsta rap and nu metal and girls liking women singer songwriters and glossy pop music. But in a genre like indie rock, it's split by gender and I think there are aspects to the music that both genders can appreciate. This is probably because indie rock is sort of neutral in its approach when it comes to gender and there is more of an artistic or cerebral quality to the music that girls appreciate. Also, many of the bands that shaped the genre like The Pixies, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Belle and Sebastian, and even The Velvet Underground were coed. You can't say that is true for too many musical genres.
Here's the difference: Men and especially, young men are much more likely to be highly knowledgeable and obsessive about music. Basically the propensity for geekdom is much higher. Men are also much more likely to be highly opinionated about music, and to draw lines in the sand when it comes to what they like (Look at all the heated arguments in the forums) That movie High Fidelity nailed it, and most of us that frequent this site are probably in that camp. Women tend to be more open minded about music on the one hand, but they tend to not know as many facts about genres, bands, influences, etc. Knowing facts and being obsessive about it is definitely a male thing. I'm pretty sure the population that frequents this site is 99% male.
As some have noticed, my other chart (H2 - http://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=2902 ) is dedicated to the music that my future wife likes or what reminds me of her. And in relation to Jhereko's comment on there, I should give some opinion.
My future wife's taste in music varied after I met her. Before me, it was mostly top 40 and boy band. Horrible. Argh! But after a while of listening to my post-punk, folk, 80s, rock, new wave mixture, she started to look at other bands. Muse was one of the first bands we connected on.
But she is a music teacher now so her music is more varied than mine at times. She can see the appeal of the Beatles, appreciate that I like listening to The Cure and has recently discovered King Of Limbs via myself and a few of her students.
In regards to better taste, it depends who looks at it. I see men stick to a genre and listen mostly to that style. Women might lean to listening to more pop but become what I call music tourist. Men are more music squatters.
I'm sure I'll think of more but I have wedding stuff to do! Playlist for the reception for one!
People with shitty taste in music defy boundaries. For every girl squealing to Justin Timberlake there's a boy blogging about how much he hates his gym teacher to Buckcherry, and chances are in a few years they'll find themselves grinding on each other to Lil' Wayne at a club. Terrible pop music(and that IS what bands like Godsmack, Nickleback, Trapt and the like are, and don't for a minute think otherwise) defies gender.
This is all based on opinion. Music that one person thinks is "shitty," others like. There is no definite terrible music. I mean, people have said that I have a terrible taste in music, but why would I care what they think? I don't like their music. Saying that specific genres are terrible is dangerous, because you cannot be right or wrong.
I have to say the whole issue boils down to gender conditioning.
Girls are conditioned to believe that that music is not for them, just as many of them are conditioned to like dolls, the colour pink, dresses and giving up their rights in oppressive patriarchal marriages. But I've met women in my life who have been THE most passionate metal heads - and I mean HARD shit, Meshuggah all the way. Not surprisingly, however, these girls were often brought up with minimal gender conditioning from their parents.
And also, in reference to Gary's post about black women and metal, there is also a large degree of RACIAL musical conditioning in the same way, too. It's why you don't find a lot of black fans of contemporary country music. _________________ A dick that's bigger than the sun.
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