In the popular hedonist battle-cry of “Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll,” it is sex that comes first. But the line between being sexy and sexist is a commercial and cultural line that has been difficult to describe and contain—despite the efforts of the PMRC in the mid-1980s. In a continuing series that looks at the manner in which heteronormative sex and sexuality describes and defines the performance of gender within heavy metal culture, this presentation will focus on the self-fashioned eroticism and graphic lewdness broadcast in the lyrics, videos, album covers, and other promotional materials of such popular bands as Bon Jovi, Poison, W.A.S.P., among others, to challenges its problematic representations of sex and sexuality, as well as the specters of homoeroticism and homophobia that haunt, and redescribe, metal culture.
About the presenterMichael Stamps
Michael Stamps teaches writing and literature at Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, PA. He received his Ph.D. in English from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he specialized in Renaissance Literature. His pop culture research interests include gender/sexuality in film, horror films, and heavy metal music.