To the untrained eye at least, the metal scene and its associated subgenres have long been viewed as a boys club, with the objectification of scantily clad women and misogynistic lyrical content having been fairly commonplace throughout the bulk of the genre’s existence.
While views have markedly evolved across the past decade or so, it wasn’t all that long ago that sexual objectification of females in the scene remained the norm. Of course, some bands leaned into that own sexuality to their advantage, with the Butcher Babies‘ early nipple tape days allowing them to titillate their early audiences not all that long ago.
Then there are artists out there today like Scowl‘s Kat Moss, who still wrestle with embracing femininity and sexuality in a male-dominated scene to this day. Amid the aughts and beyond, Revolver magazine — at the time perhaps the largest U.S. print publication catering to metal and hard rock — would annually publish an issue dedicated to the ‘Hottest Chicks In Metal’ and ‘Hottest Chicks in Rock’.
Female musicians participating in those features were sometimes dressed in lingerie, skimpy leather, or generally at least tight fitting attire, and ranked on a scale from 1 to 25. Many famous females in the scene partook in those issues, including Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil), Marta Demmel (Bleeding Through), Amy Lee (Evanescence), Taylor Momsen (The Pretty Reckless), Lzzy Hale (Halestorm) and many more.
The success of those issues was evident, as the associated photoshoots wound up being released by Revolver as calendars, and tours under the banner of ‘The Hottest Chicks In Hard Rock‘ were presented by the magazine as recently as 2015. However, Revolver would ultimately undergo a staff change and brand revamp, with those issues ultimately falling by the wayside.
In a newly conducted interview with Belgian Jasper, Cristina Scabbia, who graced the cover of at least two of those issues around the mid aughts, shared her thoughts on being featured in them [transcribed by Blabbermouth.net]:
“The thing is that I never saw the malice in it. I always thought that it’s actually a very powerful thing for a woman to be feminine. I love women power. I love to be empowered by who I am, and I don’t want to hide myself because I’m a woman and if I show my legs that means I’m worth less. That’s not my problem. So when I actually went on that cover of Revolver magazine, because I was the very first woman to to actually appear on that cover, for me, it was just the biggest honor because it was the first time that a magazine, an American magazine, would give a woman the pleasure of being on a cover. So for me, it was something that blew my mind back then.”
“I was just happy if more women could come on board of this women-fronted, the female-fronted band [movement], stuff like that, even if that’s a definition that I never liked. Maybe because I was coming from a different world before Lacuna Coil — I was listening to a lot of dance and R&B music, so, for me, it was already normal to see women playing music and singing. It was nothing new. Metal was predominantly followed by guys because it was a more aggressive and heavy sound, but I never looked at myself as the different element or I am different or I’m worth less because I’m a woman.
So it was never my personal problem. It is true that perception of people — you have to deal with it. You have to expect a reaction. Everything you do, everything you say, you have to expect a reaction. And I would never go over the line, showing myself, but that’s because I don’t want to do it. But I don’t care about what other persons want to do, other women want to do with their body — it’s up to them, and I’m not going to judge them, but for sure you have to prepare to a reaction as soon as you do something.
It’s discouraging that they only see the look of it, but I’m also sure that every woman included in those Revolver magazine ‘Hottest Chicks In Metal’ were talented as well. So at least we got attention back then. And I mean, it happened to ladies as well to look at a singer because he was hot or considered sexy a singer. So whatever. If you can use it as a tool to get attention and you’re okay with it, as long as it’s your decision, you can do whatever you want.”
Not every female musician prominent in the heavy metal scene at the time embraced the concept of what Revolver was doing with those issues however. Back in 2011, former Arch Enemy vocalist Angela Gossow alleged her band were blacklisted by Revolver for not agreeing to participate in those issues, stating at the time:
“It basically came down to Revolver telling us that if you don’t want to be in these Revolver Magazine chicks issues anymore, then they’d make sure Arch Enemy would never be featured in another magazine by their publisher. So we are no longer seen in any magazines by their publisher. We are not a small band so we just don’t give a fuck.”
