Gaslight, Gatekeep, Grrrlboss - TRAMP STAMPS
Oh, what better way to honor the influential, brave, and radical women in music that came before you than to dye your hair pink, write mediocre love songs with abusive undertones, and push the most blatantly performative activism the Internet has seen in a long time. Tramp Stamps, as you unfortunately may know, is the new TikTok topic of the month, and for all of the wrong reasons. From the purposefully coordinating dyed-hair, to the desperation to fit in with Gen Z, to the misandry and double-standards in their songs, Tramp Stamps was shot down before they even got the chance to release an EP. Their sudden appearance on TikTok has sparked more nuanced conversations about industry plants, the authenticity of some of music’s most popular artists, and the toxic white-centered feminism that the band pushes.
Understanding why the industry plant speculations began is pertinent to seeing the gripes that most people have with Tramp Stamps. For starters, each member of the band was previously signed to a record label and had worked in production, writing, and singing before—notably, never in the pop-punk genre that they are currently assimilating to. Drummer Paige Blue has written and produced music for Apple, Sephora, Grey’s Anatomy, and MTV. Similarly, lead singer Marisa Maino and guitarist Caroline Baker are both signed to Prescription Records, a publishing company owned by Dr. Luke who is notoriously known for mentally and sexually abusing Ke$ha. Despite this, neither Marisa nor Caroline have refrained from showing pride in their commitment to his brand. So, how can a band made of already-successful artists market themselves as an independently-made girls-boss-ran group? Well, they pretend to be part of Gen Z and mass-produce uninspired and “relatable” TikToks in hopes of reeling in the gullible youngsters, of course.
But, as always, the music community on TikTok did not hold back their criticisms and let loose in the comments of Tramp Stamps’ videos. Whether it was about their obnoxious Hot-Topic-sales-section outfits that were obviously purchased by their management, or the queerbaiting in several of the videos, the comments were majority opprobrium. Take the video of them singing along to the lyrics of their newest ‘hit’ “I’d Rather Die,” a song primarily about hating straight white men, despite that fact that one of them is married to a straight white man: Video. In addition to the ironic lyrics, criticisms were also made about the undertones of rape and misandry in several parts of the song:
“I don’t know how you think we’re gonna f*ck when you can’t get it up” and
“And then when you’re finally in the mood, it lasts like one or two seconds…”
being some of the most concerning lyrics. These lines read as cheap, insensitive, and tone-deaf—which is not surprising based on some of their other choices on social media. With several comments about how their dyed hair resembles the color of the bisexual pride flag, they made videos encouraging this idea, despite the fact that only one of them identifies as queer—note the hashtag “#bipride” in the caption (Link). The incessant need to be relatable and young becomes ever-so visible in the lyrics of one of their most popular songs, “1-800-Miss-Ur-Guts.” The beginning of the hook causes me genuine, physical discomfort and embarrassment: “Just a Tumblr girl and a skater boy…” Considering that the oldest member is almost 30 years old, lyrics reminiscing on a high school relationship is just a bit out of touch, especially when it seems like they chose the three most popular buzzwords in music for teenage girls in 2013 and decided to write based off of those.
Artistic and media-based complaints aside, a much deeper problem is rooted at the base of this discourse. People of color asked countless times for an explanation of the band’s apparent attempt at distancing themselves from their whiteness, pretending as if being women was enough to excuse them from any sort of criticism. As a response, a hasty, irresponsible, and blatantly immature Notes-app “apology” was posted to their Instagram in addition to an awkward Tiktok that was very obviously unscripted. Unsurprisingly to those who have witnessed hundreds of these mediocre apologies before, it began with the words, “We see you, we hear you” which is code for We see all of the comments asking us to explain our ignorance, but we’ll choose to deflect and absorb this criticism and Girl-Boss it up to fuel our white-liberal feminist brand.
The only time that the irony of their hatred for white men was addressed was when the elected spokesperson of the trio, Marisa, said “We realize that we are white girls and we are not trying to remove ourselves from our whiteness. We realize that there is privilege that comes with that. We don’t take that lightly.” This blanket statement honestly explains nothing about their contribution to the recurring issue of white-centered, narrow-visioned feminists that see feminism as primarily a way to get back at men that they’ve had poor hookups with. It was blatant ignorance to intersectional feminism and the broader scope of issues that face those in situations far more important than a guy who can’t last in bed. We see this again in the name of their self-owned label, “Make Tampons Free.” Ah, yes, more trigger words that have no real societal effect and are being used purely for aesthetics and branding.
Despite what Tramp Stamps might believe, they are not the first to bring together feminist ideas, punk rock music, and love songs. Countless women-led bands and genres have traveled this route before, all doing it with infinitely more talent, societal-consciousness, style and individualism. While some millennials may buy the over-produced Dolls Kill-outfitted bonanza that the band is putting on, this major blow to their career seems to be permanent. With no word from the band since April 17th, we are expecting one extreme or another: either “We’ve decided to take a break” post or a lame attempt at a Reputation-era comeback à la Taylor Swift. Either way, they have become a sad example of a truly innovative and unique genre that is dominated by other, more deserving bands.
If you’re looking for women-ran indie, rock, and emo music, check out this playlist for unproblematic and unbelievably talented artists that won’t use feminism and punk culture as a costume for profit—All credit to Georgia Miller on Spotify.
Special thanks to the following creators for providing fair and detailed opinions on this topic from their own unique perspectives: