Via tumblr. H/T JC.

I used to be in a band. Thanks to the people around me at that time – my band mates, venue staff, promoters, the selfless souls who would hump equipment up and down flights of stairs, the fans who followed us everywhere to ensure we never had to play without at least twenty people throwing crazy shapes in front of the stage – it was one of the most exciting, petrifying, weird, maddening, exhausting and ultimately thrilling experiences of my life.

Regular readers will know that I’m perpetually primed to be pissed off when I read about incidents of misogyny, but a Tumblr post from Canadian musician Grimes that popped up on my FB feed yesterday touched an especially tender nerve of the festering feminist within.

Image via thenightworker.

In 2013 I can’t tell you how much it saddens me that a young, incredibly talented artist might be inhibited from expressing her glorious creativity by misguided, ignorant and frequently sexist attitudes of people whose own creativity is clearly tied-up in chest banging and pissing on tree trunks.

How does a person go to a gig, appreciate the music made by the artist and choose to demonstrate it by touching her up? Who sits in a chat room and debates the relative merits of her physicality? Why, even after rape culture has become a accepted and much discussed ‘thing‘, does no one believe her when she complains about it until they see it for themselves? Why do they think that because she’s a woman she’s going to need help with a sequencer?

When are ignorance and stupidity, the most egregious of genetic redundancies, going to be eradicated from civilisation? Can we even call a society that tolerates foisting those experiences on people civilised?

I had a brilliant time when I was in a band. Apparently, I was just lucky to be surrounded by people who understood complex concepts like respect, equality and most importantly that touching a woman’s arse is not an appropriate way to demonstrate your approval.

I hope that Grimes, her peers, and all the girls who look up to artists like them, are able to carry on pushing through the shit to do great things. Although I wonder sometimes whether, in this particular incarnation of our culture, we deserve them.