selfdefensefamily: Magazines and websites need to fill content. It’s how they secure readership and, in turn, secure advertising dollars. Every month the publicist that works on behalf of our label sends us “open” calls for content. Sometimes it’s simple comment and other times it asks for an essay. The periodical/website gets the content for free and the bands get exposure. As it really only takes 10 minutes of anyone’s time, it’s what I would consider a mutually beneficial relationship. Even in the case of us and Alternative Press, a magazine whose core readership is of a younger and more, er, hair-conscious variety than our listenership- it’s worth the time I put into it. I saw our friends in Hostage Calm tweet about their inclusion in the Alternative Press feature and looked on the internet to see if we’d been included. We were not, so I thought I’d share that little blurb here. I fall on the other side of the fence from Hostage Calm and from Dan Yemin (whose assertion that anyone who disagrees with him should be reading The National Review was both specious and weirdly self-involved). It’s worth mentioning that I don’t speak for everyone in the band. We’ve got a butt-load of people who play under the name Self Defense and their positions vary wildly. The topic I commented on was (superficially) tied to sexual preference and we’ve got every variation of that under the sun in the band. It’s possible there are some of us who more directly feel the impact of homophobia than I do and cannot tolerate it from anyone, anywhere, including from their favorite artists. I respectfully submit my own view.  Here’s the question that was posed to bands: IF YOU DISCOVER A MUSICIAN IS ANTI-GAY RIGHTS DOES IT MAKE YOU LIKE THEIR MUSIC ANY LESS? And here was my answer: I’m an adult. That means I respect the rights of other adults to believe whatever they’d like to believe. Also, I’m vegan. That means I view the slaughter of non-human animals to be fundamentally no different than the extermination of humans. The vast majority of my friends eat meat or dairy. I continue to see those people as my peers, despite the fact that they do something every day that I find morally repellent. Further, I’m sure if we picked apart my life we could find numerous small examples of me doing things that aren’t in line with my beliefs. Undoubtedly, the electronics in my home have components made from African minerals mined under conditions the Western world would consider slavery. My point is that while being anti-gay is, without question, retrogressive and hateful, it falls into a spectrum of rights-awareness that people tend to be selective about. It doesn’t mean people who are progressive should excuse those who just don’t get it. But it does mean that writing off homophobes, racists, misogynists, anthropocentrics, etc as incapable of artistic contribution is wasteful and, above all, hypocritical.It’s difficult to justify throwing away the works of artists, writers and musicians throughout history because their views were not progressive. Do you believe that your favorite creators from the 1800s would see eye-to-eye with you on social issues today? They certainly would not. And attempting to dismiss their backwards views as “symptomatic of the time they lived in” does a massive disservice to the progressive people of those eras. Throughout every period of human history there have been individuals who lived compassionately while the majority have not. There is an excellent chance that the creative people who inspire you most fall into the second group. When Morrissey called the Chinese “subhuman” last year, did it impact my view of Morrissey? No. He was a pop singer before he said it and he was a pop singer after. I now know not to take him to a Chinese restaurant for his 53rd birthday dinner, but other than that there has been little change to my world. A person who knows who he/she is does not feel threatened by idiocy, even when it comes from those they admire. Keeping with the Morrissey theme here, I ask artists to “Sing your life” not “sing the life I wish you had so I can relate to you better because I don’t feel confident in my own views”.  This being said, I do have certain thresholds that I will not tolerate. Like Chris Brown.

selfdefensefamily:

Magazines and websites need to fill content. It’s how they secure readership and, in turn, secure advertising dollars. Every month the publicist that works on behalf of our label sends us “open” calls for content. Sometimes it’s simple comment and other times it asks for an essay. The periodical/website gets the content for free and the bands get exposure. As it really only takes 10 minutes of anyone’s time, it’s what I would consider a mutually beneficial relationship. Even in the case of us and Alternative Press, a magazine whose core readership is of a younger and more, er, hair-conscious variety than our listenership- it’s worth the time I put into it.

I saw our friends in Hostage Calm tweet about their inclusion in the Alternative Press feature and looked on the internet to see if we’d been included. We were not, so I thought I’d share that little blurb here. I fall on the other side of the fence from Hostage Calm and from Dan Yemin (whose assertion that anyone who disagrees with him should be reading The National Review was both specious and weirdly self-involved).

It’s worth mentioning that I don’t speak for everyone in the band. We’ve got a butt-load of people who play under the name Self Defense and their positions vary wildly. The topic I commented on was (superficially) tied to sexual preference and we’ve got every variation of that under the sun in the band. It’s possible there are some of us who more directly feel the impact of homophobia than I do and cannot tolerate it from anyone, anywhere, including from their favorite artists. I respectfully submit my own view. 

Here’s the question that was posed to bands:

IF YOU DISCOVER A MUSICIAN IS ANTI-GAY RIGHTS DOES IT MAKE YOU LIKE THEIR MUSIC ANY LESS?

And here was my answer:

I’m an adult. That means I respect the rights of other adults to believe whatever they’d like to believe. 

Also, I’m vegan. That means I view the slaughter of non-human animals to be fundamentally no different than the extermination of humans. The vast majority of my friends eat meat or dairy. I continue to see those people as my peers, despite the fact that they do something every day that I find morally repellent. Further, I’m sure if we picked apart my life we could find numerous small examples of me doing things that aren’t in line with my beliefs. Undoubtedly, the electronics in my home have components made from African minerals mined under conditions the Western world would consider slavery. My point is that while being anti-gay is, without question, retrogressive and hateful, it falls into a spectrum of rights-awareness that people tend to be selective about. It doesn’t mean people who are progressive should excuse those who just don’t get it. But it does mean that writing off homophobes, racists, misogynists, anthropocentrics, etc as incapable of artistic contribution is wasteful and, above all, hypocritical.

It’s difficult to justify throwing away the works of artists, writers and musicians throughout history because their views were not progressive. Do you believe that your favorite creators from the 1800s would see eye-to-eye with you on social issues today? They certainly would not. And attempting to dismiss their backwards views as “symptomatic of the time they lived in” does a massive disservice to the progressive people of those eras. Throughout every period of human history there have been individuals who lived compassionately while the majority have not. There is an excellent chance that the creative people who inspire you most fall into the second group. 

When Morrissey called the Chinese “subhuman” last year, did it impact my view of Morrissey? No. He was a pop singer before he said it and he was a pop singer after. I now know not to take him to a Chinese restaurant for his 53rd birthday dinner, but other than that there has been little change to my world. 

A person who knows who he/she is does not feel threatened by idiocy, even when it comes from those they admire. Keeping with the Morrissey theme here, I ask artists to “Sing your life” not “sing the life I wish you had so I can relate to you better because I don’t feel confident in my own views”. 

This being said, I do have certain thresholds that I will not tolerate. Like Chris Brown.

Notes

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    This being said,...certain thresholds...tolerate. Like Chris...
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