Should You Stop Listening To The Smiths?
Recently, I stumbled upon a Spotify playlist called “Female Manipulator Music” by thaliabalak. It was pretty long, and when I scrolled through it, I found a lot of music that I was expecting but also some that shocked me.
Lana Del Rey wasn’t any kind of surprise; “Lovefool” by the Cardigans wasn’t really a song that I would’ve thought of for this particular category but seemed to fit in pretty well and “You Know I’m No Good” by Amy Winehouse was truly the song that tied the entire playlist together.
On the other hand, I did a double-take when I saw songs like “On Melancholy Hill” by Gorillaz, “So Good At Being In Trouble” by Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and “Dark Red” by Steve Lacy. Still to this day, I’m not really sure if these were fair picks.
By now, it’s pretty safe to say that everyone’s heard of the ‘male/female manipulator music’ meme that’s been going around for a few months now. According to knowyourmeme.com, the meme began on Nov. 16, 2020, with a very specific tweet (that has since been deleted) by Twitter user @shortc1rcuit, who wanted to know what “music ‘red flags’” other people looked for in guys.
Since then, it’s been decided amongst many that Radiohead and The Smiths take their place at the peak of the male manipulator music pyramid, closely followed by bands like Tame Impala, Modern Baseball, and of course, Weezer. The meme was trending for a long time, and because of its popularity, the “female manipulator music” genre was subsequently introduced (implying, of course, that only those who don’t exist in the gender binary are free from these gross generalizations).
So what is “male/female manipulator music”? And why is it so popular? According to a post published on Dec. 10 by Reddit user capnrondo “the meme has power because the caricature of a man pretending to be soft and sensitive but actually being an emotional manipulator is one that most people recognise either in others or past versions of themselves.” The music we listen to is reflective of us as people. Our liked songs on Spotify are as much of an expression of ourselves as the clothes we wear or the way we style our hair.
With this said, is it fair to judge the fanbase of any band or artist solely by our own personal experiences with a few members of that group? No, probably not. But we do it anyway. In fact, we make assumptions like these all the time. For example, Fiona Apple fans “all” have mommy issues, Hozier fans “all” have some kind of religious trauma and Mother Mother fans are “all” simultaneously questioning their gender.
These apparently unavoidable stereotypes are therefore the foundation of this joke. And unfortunately, it is pretty common to have the guy who identifies a little too much with Joseph Gordon Levitt’s character in “(500) Days of Summer”, or who wishes to find his very own Ramona Flowers from “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World”, also be the type of guy to gaslight any girl that shows any kind of interest in him.
This male-dominated indie subgenre of people who listen to The Cure, Mac DeMarco, and Neutral Milk Hotel just a little too much might just get its reputation from the overwhelming amount of sexual harassment issues in the indie scene. Although listening to indie music doesn’t automatically make someone a bad person, it is pretty shady to think about just how many of the frontmen of these bands have been accused of emotional and physical abuse. This includes Mom Jeans and even The Front Bottoms. Not to mention, The Smiths’ Morrissey, who is incredibly problematic and backs a white nationalist political party.
There’s a fine line between liking a song made by a problematic artist and supporting said problematic artist. Of course, shouting along to “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Ruined a Whole Generation of Women” by Negative XP because it sounds like any other good punk song isn’t a problem as long as you never pay attention to its undeniably misogynistic lyrics.
So, does adding “Creep” by Radiohead to all of your playlists actually make you a toxic person? Of course not. But should you start running if anyone tries to excuse Indie Rock’s sexual harassment problem? Absolutely. Get out of there as fast as possible.