Rockism is the belief that Rock music is above other genres due to its innate authenticity and artfulness. It elevates guitar-centric, album-oriented music, a niche dominated by straight white men. To an outsider looking in, this belief may be held by the drunk men asking you to name 5 Metallica songs on the street outside a venue, but a true rock scene is one that does not care about race, gender or sexuality (they only care if you can ROCK!). Rock is defined by queer people and ethnic minorities. The so-called father of Rock is commonly known as Chuck Berry (although Elvis is known as the ‘King’ he did not invent the genre). It was already well established by Berry and Fats Domino in the 1950s, two black artists that gained success not only at the time, but continue to influence and evolve in music today.
It is true that white men dominate the scene in terms of success, as they do throughout the music industry, however queer icons such as Joan Jett, David Bowie, and Freddie Mercury have added invaluably to how we listen to and define Rock and Roll.
Bowie’s exploration of gender, sexuality, and sci-fi challenged the normative strains of Rock and Roll, creating a queer paradise of fantasy and freedom that has stayed apparent and influential in the music industry.
There are certain communities that certainly ascribe to Rockism and its relation to the apparent superiority of straight, cis, white male artists. A quick google search reveals communities solely criticising female and queer artists such as Joan Jett for her “lesbian thing” on MetalSucks.net.
The concept of Rockism in people’s minds has come to exclude those who may want to join a local scene, when in many experiences the people who listen to Rock and its many sub genres are often incredibly open minded people. The stereotype of male Rockism may be loud, but it is not a majority; please don’t let it stop you and others from participating in, listening to, and making, the vastly diverse genre of Rock and Roll.
Image “David Bowie – Aladdin Sane” by Piano Piano! is licensed under CC BY 2.0.