Portfolio 2: Theorizing With the Aural Mode - Sonic Gender Line

In the introductory chapter of Jennifer Stoever’s book The Sonic Color Line: Race and the Cultural Politics of Listening, Stoever explains what she means by the “sonic color line” and provides several examples of ways it manifests in modern and historical history. Stoever uses the term “sonic color line” to describe the way in which race, specifically blackness, is perceived auditorily.

For example, black voices are often characterized as being loud or aggressive, even when they are speaking in the same volume and tone as a white voice. One particularly relevant example of this can be seen in the murder of Sandra Bland, a black woman who was pulled over by a white police officer. When she expressed annoyance verbally, which she was well within her right to do so, she was dragged from her car, threatened, and arrested for “non-compliance.” Three days later, she was found hanged in her jail cell. Were a white person to express annoyance in the exact same way as Sandra Bland, they would almost certainly not be subject to the same abhorrent treatment that befalls too many black individuals.

As can be expected, the sonic color line also impacts music and how it is perceived racially. Stoever cites an example of hip-hop music being perceived as “thug music,” “rap-crap,” and “ridiculously loud,” and details the murder of seventeen year-old Jordan Davis, who was shot for playing hip-hop music in his own car “too loud.”

As I am a white person, I am obviously not subject to the same aural racial profiling, so instead I’d like to talk about gender and how there are certain types of music that are often characterized as being listened to by males or females; similar to how there are types of music such as rap, hip-hop, or soul that are characterized as being listened to by black people.

I deeply enjoy metal music, a fact which for some reason tends to surprise people when I tell them so. In America, there seems to be this concept of gendered music, where males are stereotypically assumed to listen to “harder” music, such as hard rock or metal, and women are assumed to listen to “lighter” music, like pop or folk. When women do express interest in “harder” music, it’s assumed that they’re only interested in it either because they are attracted to the band members or because a male got them interested in the music.

I often go to metal concerts and I’ve experienced this belief firsthand. Earlier this year I went to a metal show by myself and was asked on more than one occasion, “are you here with your boyfriend?” Other times, men in the audience have, unprompted, told me facts about the band or music that I already knew, and would not listen to me when I said that I already knew such facts.

Even some bands themselves have promoted this stereotype that women don’t listen to metal music or don’t participate in the “culture.” For example, one band started holding special male-only concerts, stating that when there were women in the audience, men wouldn’t mosh or headbang because they were afraid of injuring the women. I’ve been to many shows where I can safely say that the male audience members present did not hold back in any way due to the presence of female audience members, and if they were indeed holding back, it was probably for the best.

It's frustrating that in this supposedly modern society, such arbitrary societal classifications have affected the one art form that has the ability to transcend barriers such as gender or race. Anyone can enjoy music, and to assume someone doesn't because of their race or gender is a supremely foolish notion.

The sonic gender line also affects women's access to adequate mental health treatment. Because women are perceived as overemotional, dramatic, or overreacting, doctors and psychiatrists often won't take women's complaints seriously. This seriously impedes women's access to vital treatment or medications.