UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE PERFORMING GENDER: HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A WOMAN HORNED A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS By GLENN FLANSBURG Norman, Oklahoma 2021 PERFORMING GENDER: HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A WOMAN HORNED A THESIS APPROVED FOR THE GAYLORD COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION BY THE COMMITTEE CONSISTING OF Dr. Ralph Beliveau, Chair Dr. Meta Carstarphen Dr. Casey Gerber © Copyright by GLENN FLANSBURG 2021 All Rights Reserved. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... vi Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 Heavy Metal Reigns…and Quickly Dies ....................................................................................... 1 Music as Discourse ...................................................................................................................... 2 The Hegemony of Heavy Metal .................................................................................................. 2 Theory ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Encoding/Decoding Theory ..................................................................................................... 3 Feminist Communication Theory ............................................................................................ 5 Definitions ................................................................................................................................... 6 Heavy Metal ............................................................................................................................ 6 Hair Metal ............................................................................................................................... 7 Symphonic Metal .................................................................................................................... 8 Hegemony ............................................................................................................................... 8 Literature Review .......................................................................................................................... 10 The Birth of Metal as a Dominant Medium .............................................................................. 10 Power, Masculinity, and Sexuality ............................................................................................ 11 No Girls Allowed! ...................................................................................................................... 13 White Lace and Black Leather ................................................................................................... 14 Lyrics as Communication .......................................................................................................... 15 Metal Matriarchs ...................................................................................................................... 17 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 19 Rationale ....................................................................................................................................... 21 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 23 Design ........................................................................................................................................ 23 Population ................................................................................................................................. 25 Instruments and Procedures .................................................................................................... 26 Ethical Considerations............................................................................................................... 28 Justification ............................................................................................................................... 29 Results ........................................................................................................................................... 31 Text Example 1: “Call Me When You’re Sober” ........................................................................ 32 Text Example 2: “All I Need” ..................................................................................................... 35 v Text Example 3: “What Have You Done” .................................................................................. 36 Text Example 4: “Spellbound” .................................................................................................. 37 Text Example 5: “We Are the Others” ...................................................................................... 38 Text Example 6: “Here Come the Vultures” ............................................................................. 39 Text Example 7: “Get the Fuck Out of Here” ............................................................................ 41 Text Example 8: “You Don’t Know” .......................................................................................... 42 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 43 Discussion...................................................................................................................................... 45 Limitations................................................................................................................................. 47 Recommendations for Future Research ................................................................................... 47 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 50 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 51 Appendices .................................................................................................................................... 59 Appendix A ................................................................................................................................ 59 Appendix B ................................................................................................................................ 60 Appendix C ................................................................................................................................ 61 Appendix D ................................................................................................................................ 62 Appendix E ................................................................................................................................ 63 Appendix F ................................................................................................................................ 64 Appendix G ................................................................................................................................ 65 Appendix H ................................................................................................................................ 66 Appendix I ................................................................................................................................. 67 Appendix J ................................................................................................................................. 68 Appendix K ................................................................................................................................ 69 Appendix L ................................................................................................................................. 70 Table 1: Themes ........................................................................................................................ 71 vi ABSTRACT Heavy metal has traditionally been a predominately masculine form of music and artistic expression. Many previous scholars have identified a lack of women in the genre to be one of the leading reasons for its misogynistic nature. Traditionally, heavy metal speaks primarily to young, white, working class, heterosexual men. Lyrical content varies from sexual to violent and to the occult. The last decade has seen strides with diversity within the heavy metal community and some scholars claim it is no longer hegemonically masculine, but in fact, in a constant state of flux and diverse in its expression (Scott, 2016). Utilizing Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this study will examine heavy metal lyrics by women lyricists. I propose that Stuart Hall’s encoding and decoding theory (1980) guided by feminist communication theory framework (Rakow & Wackwitz, 2004) should offer the greatest potential for addressing how women within the heavy metal music genre use their lyrics as tools for highlighting dominant, hegemonic gender roles within the heavy metal community. 1 Performing Gender: Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Horned