"Men Making a Scene" Critical Review

Sara Cohen's "Men Making a Scene" discusses the (somewhat non-existent) role of women in rock music, focusing on the Liverpool indie rock scene. This scene is dominated not only by all-male bands but also by overwhelmingly-male audiences, a trend not uncommon among other rock scenes. She notes that many aspects that define the rock scene happen to exclude or discourage involvement by women; these include venues in narrow back streets, "masculine" activities, and male relationships/networks. When women do break into the scene, they are not always well-received. For example, Cohen writes, "One review of Space... stated that the band they were performing with could be 'easily dismissed as another girl-fronted indie group' as if there were already too many such bands, or as if having a 'girl' singer was a well-worn gimmick, thus illustrating how different ideas and values may be attached to the music according to whether it is created by men or women" (29-30). While it may not be explicit or entirely exclusive, rock music does seem to be a male-dominated culture.

Discussion question: Do people still consider girl-fronted indie groups to be gimmicky? If so, why? If not, what has changed this perception?