Are heavy metal fans sexist?: The relationship between metal music depicting misogynistic violence and sexism

Abstract

An exploratory study was conducted to investigate the relationship between heavy metal music and sexism based on metal subgenre preferences, lyrical preferences, affective responses to album cover imagery, consumption of merchandise that depicts misogynistic violence, perceptions of sexism in metal based on gender and subgenre-preferences, and the relationship between gender and questioned legitimacy as metal fans. It was found that the style of metal music preferred, including specific subgenres of styles associated with misogynistic themes like death metal, was unrelated to sexism. Hostile sexism was higher among those with lyrical and artwork preferences towards misogynistic violence. Those higher in hostile sexism experienced more positive and less aversive emotions in response to both lyrics and imagery that depicted misogynistic violence, and they were the most likely individuals to buy albums, clothing, wear clothing, and hang posters in their homes that depicted misogynistic violence. Although metal fans generally did not see sexism as an issue within metal culture, women were more likely to identify sexism as an issue, and women were more likely to report a greater frequency of having their legitimacy as metal fans questioned. This provides evidence that many death metal fans might be listening with a focus on the music, and only those with higher levels of sexism might be attentive to and enjoy lyrics and imagery about misogynistic violence. It’s also the case that despite heavy metal culture often emphasizing inclusiveness as an idea, evidence demonstrated that women continue to experience inequality in metal.