Let us quickly get rid of a basic confusion: censorship is using social or governmental pressure to remove from view unpopular ideas that are also plausibly accurate depictions of reality. This separates the act of removing someone spraypainting “death to all metalcore” from a ban on articles about metalcore.
Social Justice Warriors (SJWs) comprise the driving force behind the incursion into metal against which #metalgate is a reaction. Metalheads do not want to be told what to think by a self-appointed cabal determining what is “true” based on their ideological agenda. It does not matter which agenda that is, only that it swallows up truth and metal equally and uses them as means toward its real goal, which is power and control.
Metal isn't PC so it can discuss things honestly, and invoke the self-inspection necessary to find your own ideals. #MetalGate
— The Cult of Jim (@TheCultOfJim) December 21, 2014
Our first #metalgate article pointed out that the agenda of such people is inevitably control. Written by Cory van der Pol, the article detailed how political movements assimilate genres like metal, re-purposing them for the movement’s own needs. He followed this up with an article showing how the methods used by SJWs are bullying. Passive-aggressive bullying perhaps, hiding behind the pretense of morality and “good” politics, but nonetheless bullying. Then he illustrated how SJWs are associated with metalcore and indie-metal and are using it to slowly blot out real metal and replace it with this ersatz and inferior substitute. Finally, he predicted that SJWs would deny and conceal their actual goal, which is to censor — see definition above — any metal that does not fit their ideological needs and by doing so serve as a justification for their employment in media, academia and promotions.
He was 100% correct.
Today SJWs mounted a concerted campaign to remove me from the MetPol mailing list, which discusses metal and politics. As of this evening, apparently I have been removed. Here are some of the highlights:
Can the mods please block Brett Stevens / writing an article like the one natalie linked to is not only repulsive it’s misogynist.
We should take stand against this kind of thing. It’s unacceptable. It’s offensive. Especially to survivors of rape and sexual assault. – Rosie Overell
I would feel immensely safer if he were removed. – Natalie Zina Walschots
I am aiming to give #metalgate and its instigators as little oxygen as possible, but am glad Natalie brought this up here and would support the moderators if they chose to show Brett and his sympathizers the door. This is a place where people strive to broaden the understanding of metal, not narrow it, and while narrow views have a place in the world they’re not in keeping with the mission of this particular list. – Beth Winegarner
As one of the people that this piece of shit screen-shot their FB page and posted on his website, I must add that what astounds me – but doesn’t necessarily surprise me, unfortunately – is the lack of comments from both this thread and my so-called metal ‘friends’ on Facebook and Twitter about racism that surrounds the issue. – Laina Dawes
I will say, however, that I have been dismayed by this situation and I remain in awe of Laina’s courage to speak out despite the harassment and terrorization she has received. – Jeremy Wayne Wallach
This is a public list, with public archives that you can search via Google, Bing or the search engine of your choice. They are open to all and can be read by non-list members without a login or leaving any identifying information. These people are voluntarily posting this data to a public list where they hope it will be read for years to come. With this kind of outcry, it is not surprising the moderators chose to avoid damaging the list with more such drama and to remove me. It was the act of the small group — a dozen members out of a thousand — who chose to demand that I be censored and removed.
I have been a member of this list for the past year, entering in discussion about metal and providing links to resources there, without engaging in a single political opinion. To my mind, #metalgate has never been about politics and whether one side is right or not. It is about the tactics of a certain group who, in Cory’s words, use politics as the mantle behind which they assume power. In other words, they are doing it “in our best interests” and against our wishes are educating, enlightening and improving us to make us good citizens of their ideal society.
I’d like to keep this conversation going without hammering on the idiotic obvious. I appreciate the banning, but I’ll echo Olivia by quoting her: “…banning a single individual is not going to solve the problems of racism and sexism in the metal community. These prejudices are within us and among us, and begin with the complacency purchased by our various privileges.” – Sara Sutler-Cohen
My stance on this issue has always been clear: we stood up to the Christian right, then we stood up to the NSBM people, and now we’re standing up to SJWs. Metal has a unique view of life and a unique viewpoint on how to handle certain things, and it benefits no one to have metal start parroting the points of view of other groups. We should have a diversity of approaches instead of a lock-step uniform viewpoint enforced with guilt and threats of censorship and lack of tenure. My participation in this entire event was as someone opposing censorship, and those who can read will note that none of our articles here targeted the beliefs of SJWs, only their methods and motivations.
During my twenty years of writing about metal, I have sought to avoid both political dogma and commercialization. After initial experiences, I did not trust academia because of its long-standing bias in one trend or another. (And if metal hates anything, it is trends.) From starting the first underground metal site on the net, first as FTP and later as a series of web sites, I have always advocated an open mind and open discussion. This apparently is not the agenda of SJWs and despite their initial denial, they proceeded exactly as their dissenters said they would: with calls for censorship and propaganda.
In the meantime, #metalgate is gaining momentum with new articles in the work on both metal and social commentary websites. The SJWs have defeated themselves by becoming the caricature that their critics said they always were. And if we need to look for a silver lining to this cloud, it is the confirmation of that stereotype.
Tags: censorship, gamergate, metalgate, sjws
“I must add that what astounds me – but doesn’t necessarily surprise me, unfortunately – is the lack of comments from both this thread and my so-called metal ‘friends’ on Facebook and Twitter about racism that surrounds the issue.”
I nearly spit out my adult beverage reading this, it reads as if someone devised a parody of SJW culture.
Same here. I see mockery of SJW-speak so often that I begin to imagine that people are just picking out tthe extreme cases and acting as if all SJWs have this same absurdly extremist censorship mindset, but then every once and again, I see a real SJW use that type of speech and I’m fucking flabbergasted. The better part of me still wants to believe that these extremists are few and far between but the rest of me just burns with righteous indignation and screams for a SJW holocaust (there’s some edgy anti-PC material to let everyone know how srs bsns I am).
Oh jesus. You folks don’t really know what you’re dealing with here do you? Atheists/skeptics got attacked in 2009 and have been under siege ever since. One of the products has been a thing called “Atheism+”, the plus being “social justice”. Just have a browse of this item from their forums –
http://atheismplus.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=54453#p54453
No, it’s not a joke. Yes, it’s 110% real. If you have the stomach, check out some of the other discussions.
Ok,
I just wanted to add one more thing about this cult mentality of the weaklings here and this line here:
“I would feel immensely safer if he were removed” -by some woman
should ring a bell!
I dont know about you but when i´m in a bar i dont even feel “unsafe” when 2 or 3 guys starts fucking each other up. I just move a bit away and watch out that no glass is thrown at me. Most of the time people in reality who hear metal are no pussyfags and i´m not sure how one can be a metalhead if someone like you here on a website makes them unsafe ? Did these people ever walk out and have some fun or any other experience that is not like group hugging and mind yoga or so. I dont know…
Eh, fuck this shit. Its like you have been infiltrated by emos that dont look like emos but smell like emos. Hehe, good luck when you meet one and have some headbang fun. That would make a pretty vid.
Left-wing political commentary has ‘a place’ within metal, insofar as metal has been a view for all sorts of radical perspectives throughout its history. The problem is that SJW types are never going to be happy with just ‘a place’. They want to crowd out all other perspectives, erase all deviance, etc, etc. It’s a fundamentally narcissistic and morally prudish worldview.
Well you probably shouldn’t have written that article about legalising rape.
” I think what makes me especially angry
about this particular instantiation is the feeling that I’ve been betrayed by a community I fancy myself a part of. This feeling of betrayal is brought on in part by believing that really, for the most part, these outrageous beliefs belonged to freaks – to outsiders”
Lol, I thought heavy metal was music for outsiders (at least according to Sam Dunn). I don’t understand how calling people “freaks” is progressive. I find it ironic that she uses “freaks” when this genre of music fronted by guys like Nergal or even David Vincent.
This is good news. This is proof that metal is not only still relevant, but crucial. Metal (as it always has) stands in opposition to mass idiocy and delusional paranoic social obsessions. Maybe now more than ever, or maybe not; maybe this is just one battle in a series of many past and more to come. Either way, any one of us should be glad to take part and support one of the handful of movements that are worth supporting. Personally I am glad to have the chance to practice what I preach.
As a foreigner, the SJW attitude seems to me like a very natural extension of the US puritanical tradition, only it’s adapted to the secular and pseudo-Marxist climate of the times. It’s really awful, thought-killing stuff.
Indeed, they are just two sides of the same coin. This new authoritarian leftist/SJW thing is at its core the same thing as the extreme Christian right in times past, only it has replaced Christian dogma with cultural Marxist dogma (which is pretty much like some sort of atheist version of Christianity).
I agree with you, but the similarity isn’t limited to the surface. It’s the idea of sharing opinions that the majority won’t dare to criticise, that appeals to those kind of people.
A few decades ago, such non-criticisable opinions were those parroting the good old christian values, today they’re those supporting the values that SJWs claim to care about. In short, write “Legalize rape” and get banned, or share something along the lines of “Men are always guilty” on your personal shrine, usually your Facebook page, and get thousands of “likes” (instant gratification).
The end result is that SJWs like to think of themselves as people fighting a battle against an unfair system, ideological leaders of the next revolution, while in reality they’re just repeating slogans that were deeply implanted in their mind after years of conditioning. See Ted Kaczynski, “Industrial Society And Its Future”, paragraphs 24 to 32.
Not everything is a left and right debate. I don’t feel politics belong in metal and I definitely don’t subscribe to a packaged leftist mindset, but as much as I have a fatalist perspective regarding humanity, I can acknowledge the few small ways I can be a decent human being day to day. Today the only real taboos left in America unfortunately are racism and rape, and on the front page of Brett’s blog you have an article calling for shipping black people back to Africa to both end racism and rebuild European culture in the US, and another article that claims that rape as we know it doesn’t really exist because women are now too slutty to truly be abstinent before marriage. These articles may be written out in a very calculated manner and it seems as though there is a greater good in mind, but the perspectives can’t really exist here anymore and we don’t really operate as an ends-justify-the-means society. I’m not a fan of censorship or the extremes of feminism but I know when to not express an overtly hurtful worldview, and you don’t have to be a SJW or whatever to view those perspectives as callous, misogynistic and xenophobic. That being said, it was posted on a blog of yours that is independent of metal and probably shouldn’t be an albatross around your neck in regards to other aspects of online presence, but that’s the world we live in today. You’re judged by your words before your actions. I enjoy the dangerous side of metal, but I do hope that underground metal isn’t necessarily aligned in public views to the thoughts posted on your other blog. I’d rather hate humanity collectively, rather than in a compartmentalized fashion by race or gender.
The point.
Your head.
“You’re judged by your words before your actions.”
How so? What does judgment really mean to you? Sounds like you think that “judgment” is just the collective opinion formed of your persona. Maybe there is a more severe judgment awaiting all of us; the reality of facing the consequences of our decisions. In that case, words mean nothing; action determines all.
The rest of your comment exposes you for being a social pacifist, prepared to give up any stance to save face and avoid making enemies (because making enemies entails being called out for your bullshit). Throught this observation I also imply that you are unwilling to take a strong stance in any one direction or another, and are probably jealous or fearful of those that are.
You’ve clearly figured me completely out given my paragraph on a messageboard. The only thing I’m jealous of is that generations before me weren’t able to make anonymous generalizations about people online to give themselves an ego boost, and fear of others’ opinions is laughable and far more to be the crutch of most posters on this board, who are praised unless their opinion is that of the masses here. If you want to talk about calling people out on their bullshit, then congratulations, because the only exposure here is that of a weak-minded fool trying to compartmentalize others instead of accounting for individual thought just to make your reality a bit easier to bear. The crux of my post doesn’t paint me into any group except for those who choose to not be a fucking asshole online. I’d rather ignore the elements of humanity that I find to be detestable than participate in them, since I’d rather not sink to their level and that relieves me of the buffoonery that they are all prone to.
Welcome to their club.
I do understand what you are saying better than you think I do. Being an asshole on the internet is most people’s MO, so get some thicker skin. Dismissing my post because it hrts your feelings is the way of the SJW; be better than that. I’ll try again.
Metal is being overrun by pussies. You can 1) sit idly by or 2) tell them to fuck off. There is no middle ground. There is really no neutral option. To not fight means to surrender. This isn’t something that I conclude because I’m obsessed with compulsively forcing groups of people into categories that I’ve made up; although you want this to be the case, and that clearly shows what side you’re on and what kind of thinking you are limited to (“I don’t like that opinion, so you’re a sexist/racist/whatever and that automatically disqualifies your perspective!”).
So be honest with yourself and choose a side or get lost and quit whining about people not getting along on the internet.
I never said that a different opinion disqualifies any perspective. Your calling me a SJW lumps you in with that way of thinking. That being said, there is a maturity that comes along with acknowledging that the nature of argument is a moot point since no one has the ability to put their egos aside to actually listen to an outside perspective let alone by influenced by it. Everyone has their minds made up, and everyone is correct. So, rather than contribute to this silly debate, I’ll allow you to run your mouth and generalize to showcase your insecurities while I spend time with my family on a holiday far away from the judging eyes of internet trolls.
But sure, when you are able to completely overhaul a societal perspective in the name of metal, do let me know. I’m sure you have the power.
Godspeed.
Yeah, because it’s not like you can get busted in any EU countries for saying “offensive” stuff to the wrong people. Because it’s not like Sweden does any goofy shit with massively redefining what rape is or having a “feminist” foreign policy while a stronger country breathes down their neck. Because it’s not like Marxism was started by Euro-peon intellectuals or anything.
No, it’s all big bad America’s fault. Idiot.
Brett,
i m positive that many metalheads totally get that you, as many others, tend to wander at the extreme boundaries of metal music, as true evolution comes when you test, break or overcome these boundaries, usually.
However most people cannot get the point you are trying to make by wandering at the extreme boundaries of social problems such as racism, ethnicities, rape laws etc.. While you may be looking for ways to stress these boundaries in order to provoke new ways of dealing with these problems, western civilization and particularly american culture still has a long, long way to reach the required level of intelligence to understand your approach on these matters.
If people still cannot adequately resolve in their brains simple matters like color or ethnic difference, i wouldnt expect nothing more than censorship of your extreme approach from your puritanical society.
Our world is at the very beginning of the global communication era, be patient.
I would bet money most of the people on that mailing list think Babymetal is the most important thing to happen to the genre in 20 years. Those people aren’t hessians. They are interlopers, moving from one ironic fad to the next. They don’t care about the art of heavy metal. They think metal is a big fucking joke.
In a few years, these people will move on and bitch about something else they don’t actually like. The true metalheads will still be around as they always are. Underground metal acts and artists will give zero shits about what these would be San Francisco SJW hipsters have to say and keep making music that matters.
Well said.
It’s simple- people want metal to be like them, so they develop a ideology that exists on their behalf rather than as an honest statement: like a lumberjack saying the tree deserves to be cut rather than the tree just existing, rooted in place. Metal has always ‘cut through the noise’ (kind of funny metaphor contextually) because it is like the tree and not the lumberjack. Else it represents the relationship between the two in an almost removed fashion.
I’ve been reading Brett’s work since 1999 and I still recall the moment I first read one of his metal reviews, instantly I recognized he was something different – something better. He stood for something. He is brilliant. His understanding of metal music is beyond any other person. He’s more than just a metal writer, he is a sage, a philosopher, a keeper of everything that’s worth preserving in metal music.
.
And for that, I am eternally grateful.
All hail the great Spinoza Ray Prozak!
Brett, hails to your efforts in the metal community, but you certainly f*cked up writing that stupid ‘legalize rape’ article on Amerika.org with the same name that you use for writing about metal.
“This is a place where people strive to broaden the understanding of metal, not narrow it…” Um, what? How do you broaden by limiting viewpoints? Broaden by censorship? My brain hurts.
Question is what does my photograph have to do with any of this?