Heavy Metal Rocks Women

What do lovers of ocean cruising and aficionados of heavy metal music have in common? Quite a bit, according to and fourth year recreation student, Gabby Riches, a soon-to-be-alumna who attended the 2008 World Leisure Congress in Quebec City in October to present her own paper on the presence of women in heavy metal scenes.

It appears that in every type of leisure - from the banal to the extreme - common threads related to a sense of community, the existence of subcultures and quality of life related to the form of leisure chosen by its adherents are evident.

"(At the conference) I attended a presentation on ocean cruising (as a form of leisure) and … the presenter examined notions of family, dedication and lifestyle; concepts that are equally valued and respected in the subculture of heavy metal," says Riches.

She was one of three recipients of a prestigious World Leisure Scholarship, which gave her the opportunity to present her own research paper, Places of Metal: Women, Leisure and Identities, looking at the perspectives of, and opportunities for, leisure for female heavy metal fans.

A fan of heavy metal music since the age of 15, Riches found her interest bloomed after watching the landmark documentary Metal: a Headbanger's Journey (2005) on the subject by anthropologist Sam Dunn. Riches was hooked - but she noticed a gaping omission. "The film did not comment or document women's involvement in the music." So she began scouring scholarly literature on the subject, under the guidance of leisure professor, Dr. Karen Fox.

The results weren't encouraging. "(I found) that heavy metal communities have not been represented in the leisure and recreation literature, nor has women's involvement in the music been substantially noted," says Riches.

It's an omission soon to be rectified as Riches plans on framing her graduate studies around this little-explored subject.

Riches' research took her to Wacken, Germany where the Wacken Open Air Festival - the biggest gathering of heavy metal bands and fans in the world, drawing over 70,000 last year - and providing Riches a superabundance of willing interviewees and fans of the musical genre. She also talked to women at the Party San Open Air Festival, in Berlin and Edmonton. Overall Riches has interviewed 17 women in the 18 - 28 age range.

Despite the mainstream stereotype of heavy metal as male-dominated, dark and even a little dangerous, Riches found that women she spoke to found heavy metal places such as the open air festivals she visited, empowering and personally liberating. "Many claimed that they enjoyed the fact that they did not have to be pre-occupied with their appearance and they would be accepted for who they really are," says Riches. Furthermore, she adds, the heavy metal scene also provides a space where women can be flexible and experimental with their identity and sexuality.

Importantly, participants found a deep sense of belonging, and were able to foster meaningful relationships with like-minded women. Bonding among the women was so strong, noted Riches; some said they were comfortable attending concerts alone, knowing they would meet up with other women like themselves.

Riches sums up: "Heavy metal fans resist mainstream culture by retreating into more private sub-cultural spaces and places. The heavy metal scene is perceived as an open, welcoming space by many participants; a space in which people gather to share musical tastes, values and common feelings of alienation which unite the subculture."

She'll pursue her fascination with women in heavy metal when she completes her undergraduate degree this year. Riches, who helped found, and is president of, the newly-formed Heavy Metal on Campus Club, will begin a Master's degree program under the supervision of Dr. Karen Fox in September.

Fox is delighted to have helped nurture Riches' curiosity about the subject.

"The excitement for me, as a scholar, is in the process of developing and refining a question that needs to be answered, that has not been addressed in the literature-a leisure pursuit created by people themselves and addresses their own passions, commitments, and needs for life and identity," says Fox.

"To open a door to research often connects an undergraduate student with the excitement of scholarship as dynamic and uncertain and brings to the field new, exciting young scholars and researchers."