Rock 'n' Roll 'n' Blues Women!

I was drawn to Maria Brink's astonishing screaming abilities at a time when I was looking for women who screamed:

IN THIS MOMENT - The Gun Show (OFFICIAL VIDEO)


But she is not only know for her killer vocals, but for the fact that she dresses in what is considered a sexy manner. And thus she is the subject of much angst and reduction of her undeniable talent to the fact that she adheres to what is conventionally sexy at the moment. This kind of anti-feminist rhetoric is coming both from the fanboys and from women who are supposedly critiquing her clothing choices from the perspective of woman empowerment in rock. Whenever the question is sexy women in rock, is it a problem? She is called up as exhibit 1. In my opinion, however, the problem is not with her. The problem is with the culture deciding that women can only be part of rock bands if they are sexualised. The society wide issue with making the pratice and ideas around sexuality so inherently oppressive to women needs to be changed. It is quite fine to find her sexy. What is not fine is to let that facet of her be your overriding view of her.



IN THIS MOMENT - Prayers (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
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IN THIS MOMENT - Beautiful Tragedy (HIGH QUALITY)
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I love the way her angst is expressed in her screaming.

IN THIS MOMENT - The Promise (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
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The problem in rock music is that women are forced to be sexualised whether they want it or not in order to have a music career. And this happens because record companies want to make money, and society has indicated that many people are willing to buy cds if women are heavily sexualised. Calling women sluts and and otherwise critiquing them for dressing in a way that conforms to what is aceepted as "sexy" is not going to help the situation. In fact, that is a classic example of victim-blaming. Changing societal attitudes about expression of sexuality and encouraging diversity so that women in rock aren't just represented by Maria and the European gothic progrock front women in pretty dresses; and can be represented by conventionally ugly women who play every instrument with every different method of expressing themselves will solve the problem. And that requires each fan to do some work. We claim that we value talent over looks. We need to walk that walk. We also need to stop allowing ourselves to reduce people from full persons to simply sex objects. Everyone, from the fans to the music magazines to the record companies to everyone else in the music industry, has to form the habit of seeing women as fully human. Yes, Maria Brink is sexy. We can celebrate that sexiness respectfully, as well as her talent, her intelligence, her perserverance, her tattoos, her thought and ideas etc.

In This Moment - Forever
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So instead of focusing exclsuively on her looks, lets get to know Maria as a human being:

Interview with Inked Magazine

A couple of years after moving from Albany, New York, to Los Angeles, In This Moment frontwoman Maria Brink almost gave up on her dream. It was mid-2004 and she was living alone, had no friends, hated her day job, and none of the groups she called to audition for would call her back. But instead of following her judgment, packing up her car and heading back east, the singer drove to a local tattoo shop and had the words “We Will” inked on the underside of her left wrist and “Overcome” on her right one. The phrase, once the slogan for the civil rights movement, became a mission statement for the tenacious singer. “Another time when I was down and frustrated, I had the word ‘Believe’ tattooed over my knuckles, which was the most painful thing ever,” she says from the table of a cozy coffee shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, between sips of a soy latte. “I did it for the same reason; to give myself motivation. It’s visually in front of me all the time, pushing me on.”

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Maria Brink of In This Moment @ theywillrockyou.com

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Maria Brink Interview Part 1
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Maria Brink Interview Part 2
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In This Moment - Call Me (Blondie) (Video)
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