Claire Boucher, the woman behind Grimes, has noted on several occasions that she doesn’t read her own press. If she offered that up as advice to her former touring mate James Brooks, he clearly didn’t take it to heart.
The Internet exploded two days ago when Pitchfork hiked up Brooks’ new single as Dead Girlfriends to its esteemed Best New Music status. “On Fraternity” was introduced by staffer Jenn Pelly, who hailed it as something of a cultural touchstone: “This is a song about why it is worth fighting fearlessly against a patriarchal world where women are second class citizens.
“It sounds ideal in 2013 – a white male artist with a direct feminist message that can speak freely with anyone, that will get under your skin if it’s not already there in less poetic terms.”
I’ll give you one guess which f-bomb in that summation sent the Internet into a ranting, echo-chamber mode.
Feminism’s guaranteed to be a touchy subject when engaged outside of Internet storm shelters of women’s rights. Yet the fallout in this case came largely from within the community. “On Fraternity” faced the backlash of an engaged, but often reactionary audience.
Music critic and self-identified feminist Jessica Hopper, who had previously sparred with Brooks over a post on his Tumblr, threw barbs over Twitter, while countless Internet scribes took to the blogosphere to rip the song to shreds, the main charge being that Brooks was mansplaining women on rape culture and patriarchy.
The way your heart speeds up When you notice someone walking behind you – Well, that’s why.
The way they’re all watching for your guard to drop At the end of the night now – Well, that’s why.
It’s like you have to wear black in places like this. In their opinion you were always kind of asking for it All along.
Who cares if it’s right as long as it’s fun? So if someone gets hurt and then the cops come, then No One Talks.
Brooks, who’s maintained an active Twitter and Tumblr presence since his project Elite Gymnastics, responded with a total of three deflective posts yesterday, just after the full brunt of the arguments set in. He began his last one with a thought that few took the time to analyze:
“the ‘on fraternity’ seems to be exploring a female perspective on rape thing is annoying because it doesn’t come from me, i don’t reject feminist interpretations of the song and don’t want to discourage anyone who likes the song from relating it to their own experiences but i did not send ‘on fraternity’ to pitchfork or anyone else with a missive saying ‘this is a feminist anthem make sure all the female bloggers out there in brooklyn hear this so i can get all the co-signs.’”
Internet outrage spreads like wildfire, and often without context behind it. A critic misinterpreted the intent of a song, hit post, and suddenly an ally becomes the villain. And, to be fair, Brooks drew inspiration for the name Dead Girlfriends from radical feminist Andrea Dworkin, so it put Pelly in an easy position for error.
Regardless, we have to realize that not all conversations about patriarchy denigrate women, and that its harmful reach can hurt many people. The blinders or denial associated with patriarchy exist because many men don’t take the time to consider the privilege they’re afforded simply because of their gender. Similarly, feminists, when taking on rape culture and the patriarchy, shouldn’t just take up the standard for women or immediately assume that anything relating to those subjects must be a assault on their gender.
As for “On Fraternity,” there’s been little discussion on the sonics of Stop Pretending, the kick-ass EP it appears on. Whether the cut will gain critical reception after it escapes the throes of blog fury is yet to be seen. If nothing else, the song will hopefully give pause to thinking outside of one’s individual situation before jumping to conclusions.
This article appears in July 26 • 2013.