In 2012, a 23-year-old woman decided to pose for the cover of a metal album by Calgary band Gatekrashor. The release titled Fear of Attack showed a blond woman against a fence appearing to be bracing herself for a violent attack with a bottle, while four men behind the fence look on. Three years later, the outrage machine is running at full throttle, finding anything they can to ruin someone’s life.
Newly elected Wildrose MLA Angela Pitt claimed the album “promotes sexual violence,” while Mount Royal University professor Lori Williams argued the photo is, “pretty difficult to reconcile with a party that stands for the equality and rights of women.” Those two comments show complete ignorance, by failing to understand what the album cover represents; which isn’t sexist, or promoting anything violent.
Heavy metal music is all about violent imagery. Bands like Iron Maiden, Slayer and Metallica wrote classic songs that play on the themes of violence, war, death, and destruction. The genre plays on societal ills by expressing the brutality of crimes and injustices which ravage our world. Gatekrashor showcased that very imagery and violent themes with their album cover. If a woman is surrounded by men and one of them is about to strike her with a bottle, she would be fearful of the attack. The fact it has to be explained is baffling.
Metal music does not use sadistic album covers or brutal songs as propaganda; nor is Gatekrashor condoning, or promoting violence against women with the artwork. But in the world of the outrage fanatics, they are doing just that. Any representation of a crime is an endorsement, any picture, song, or comment is scrutinized as an expression of rape culture, or the support of misogyny. Issues that should not be issues in the first place are blown up to the point where critics sound like fundamental morons who believe art acts as a mind control device.
Claiming an album cover promotes a crime, or the acceptance of a criminal acts is an argument that belongs on the lips of Tipper Gore while she tries to censor music during her attack on music during the 1980’s. People are not that stupid. Upon purchasing the cassette, Gatekrashor fans did not hit the streets looking for women to beat, and saying art is dangerous and destructive to our minds is insane. People who are ignorant about the genre, or upset about the P.C party losing to the NDP found a picture from three years ago to propagate the agenda of social justice warriors, who want to destroy humor and art, and anything else that doesn’t fit into their hyper sensitive mindset.
Drever did not act as a promoter of misogyny for acting as the cover girl of an album. She did a favor for friends, who needed a cover girl for their album; now long after the album has been released, social media continues to jump on a woman who has committed no crimes.
We all have picture or status updates on our Facebook pages that we regret or dismiss as tomfoolery. I have many of those pictures, but just like Drever’s photograph in front of a shirt that had a cannabis leaf on it, or the middle finger to the maple leaf; those shots should not be used to judge a person’s ability to perform a job. Drever has not even been sworn in; she has not made any egregious political statements, or voted for a bill, yet prudes and hysterical no-lives have kicked Drever down, setting a dangerous precedent where past social media posts or pictures will be used to personally attack people based on trivial things.
Now a foolish grade 10 student who claims Drever, “simply does not have the maturity and forethought to be in government,” has joined the critics who are basing criticism of Drever on actions that have nothing to do with politics or her ability to serve her constituents, by calling for Drever to be recalled, which is a flagrant attack on our democracy, at a time when our deficit can’t afford yet another by-election to appease petulant children posing as adults.
The controversies surrounding the newly elected MLA is so far beyond ridiculous you can’t find a word in the dictionary to describe it. Any criticism of Drever should be based on her age, and lack of political experience, but even then she should be judged on what she does in the next four years.
Now; if you plan on running for office in a few years and have a picture of yourself smoking a joint, or acting like a drunk idiot, remove them now, and hope no one has screenshot them. We now live in an age where menial social media pictures and album covers can turn your life upside down before you have a chance to do your job.
