Alexandra Pollard, writing for The Guardian, looks at the myth that a band needs to have male fans to gain credibility in the music scene. I enjoyed the entire piece, but this really stuck out to me:
As a reviews editor, I’ve lost count of the number of times writers have – while bemoaning a gig’s drawbacks – referred derisively to the amount of “teenage girls” in the crowd. It’s as if that phrase itself is a code that needs no further explanation, no elaboration as to why a young woman’s fully paid-up presence at the gig is, unquestionably, a bad thing. It isn’t. Their judgments are just as legitimate, their enthusiasm just as credible, even if their screams are a little louder. And if you think their taste is indiscriminate, you’d be wise to remember that for every One Direction, there’s a thousand other bands who tried and failed to gain even a fraction of their success.
I remember making comments just like that in the past and it was ridiculous and stupid. We talk a little bit more about looking back on our past selves and why we think the term “guilty pleasure” is outdated in this week’s podcast.