L7 - "Pretend We're Dead"

It's no secret that I'm passionate about the subject of women in music. I've co-hosted the Women on Women Music Program for years, I'm a frequent guest on panels about women in rock, and heck, I even wrote my Master's thesis on female musicians. But where did it all start?

I grew up in a very musical family. Both my parents played instruments, there was always music playing around our house, and I devoured hours upon hours of MTV during every summer vacation. Despite early and constant exposure to pop music, however, it wasn't until my older brother joined the school band that I realized there was any sort of gender disparity in music. Look at your average grade school music program: the flute and clarinet sections are overwhelmingly, if not exclusively, populated by girls, while the boys play trumpet, low brass, and drums. I got to witness this uneven gendering of instruments firsthand when I was old enough to join band, and chose to join the percussion section.

Interestingly enough, however, this vague understanding of gender biases in music didn't carry over to my love of popular rock music until 1992, when I saw L7's video for "Pretend We're Dead." (Up until that point I'd been gleefully singing along to mysogynistic Guns 'n' Roses lyrics in blissful ignorance... I won't pretend I don't still know every word to "Appetite for Destruction," but at least I've got a better sense of perspective now, and some Bikini Kill records to balance it out.)

The song was noisy and raw. The girls in the band (in the band! they were playing drums and guitars, not just singing!!) were dirty, wore sloppy flannel shirts and big stompy boots, and looked absolutely nothing like any of the other female artists I was used to seeing on MTV. They weren't clean and polished, they weren't demure or polite, they weren't trying to push any kind of overt sexuality: they looked just like the boys. It was like a hammer to the head, and made me instantly wonder why I'd never seen girls play loud rock music like this before. L7 was where it all started for me: they made me question heavy metal for its lack of girls, question female musicians in the Top 40 for their prissiness, and wonder why the simple act of picking up a guitar (and perhaps forgetting to brush your hair or wear makeup the morning of your big video shoot) was so dang revolutionary.