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

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reports (written by men) reveal a conventional 'male gaze' which
did not evaluate the bands by their music as much as their looks.
For example, The Nubiles received a large amount of publicity
on account of the sexual associations their name evoked, and they
were related to as sex objects rather than as musicians. Yet, by
the same token, the women selected this name to represent
themselves. One could say that they put themselves into the male
gaze firing line, and that this was a deliberate choice. Thus to
label them 'victims of the male gaze' becomes problemmatic. At
the same time, however, many newspaper articles documenting their
progress as a band threw light onto the ways in which women are
regarded in rock and its performance:
They're young, pretty and nubile - and destined to
rock their way into the hearts of thousands. Well with
a name like The Nubiles, an all-girl band with some of
the prettiest ladies in town are sure to be a hit one
way or another. The latest in the line of girl groups
- most of which surprisingly enough to have come from
Durban - The Nubiles made their debut last weekend at
a steamy music concert at the Durban MOTH hall. And
came away happy and chuffed with the positive audience
response. The fact that it was a first public
performance for three of the four girls made it even
more heartwarming for them. (How much of it was due to
the very attractive visual factor and how much was due
to appreciation of the musical capabilities remains to
be seen -but they did have the boys whistling and
calling for an encore as they stepped off the stage.)
They spoke - shyly at first - of their ambition to
'prove women can do things as well as men.' 'We know
that we are going to make it further because of our
looks because we are girls, but we will have to prove
it is the music as much as the image... ,m
Thus, it appears that even in the supposedly liberated punk
scene, women punk musicians were subjected to different criteria
from the men. The fact that their popularity derived as much from
their looks as from their music (if not more) also says much
about the way in which audiences and the press engage with female
performers. It seems that their sexuality could never be
divorced from their music or their performance, and that they
29 Sunday Tribune reporter, 29th of November, 1981, p. 49.