FROM ROCK 'N 'ROLL TO HARD CORE PUNK - UKZN ...

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in the workplace [or band] .dO Because women are associated with
family life, they are often treated in a paternalistic manner by
men in the workplace, sometimes in an attempt to 'protect' them.
The role of homemaker often manifests itself in women as being
the coffee-maker and note-taker in the business place. This is
paralleled in the rock music scene where women's involvement with
band members is often on the level of fan, admirer and/or
girlfriend who meets the practical needs of band members by
making of beverages during practices and attending to
administrative details ll •
The sexual role of women (as perceived by men) has resulted in
the degradation of women and a lack of respect in the workplace.
This is true, too of women in rock bands in Durban, particularly
the all-women punk bands of the early 1980s who (as it will be
seen) received publicity on the basis of their sexual appeal and
hardly ever received a word of either criticism or praise about
their music itself.
The fact that a woman has entered the 'man's world' of business,
means she is also regarded by men as having abandoned her
traditional role as wife/mother, and is therefore often regarded
as a rival or intruder. In the rock music world, this is also
true. Heavy-metal music, in particular, has made it difficult for
women to 'intrude', with the result that very few women enter
this musical realm.
According to McGough, women find it increasingly difficult to
progress along their desired path of promotion, because they are
expected to either adopt mens' roles (in attitude, behaviour and
career expectations) or adopt stereotypical female roles. The
first option allows a woman to gain the status of 'honourary
man', while the second leaves women feeling like 'devalued human
10 K. McGough, Values and Achievement Motivation as Barriers to Upward
Mobility of Women, pp. 25-26.
11
, , S., Cohen makes frequent reference to this in her recent study of rock
mUSlC In Llverpool: Rock Culture in Liverpool, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991.