What led to the stereotype that fans of metal music as aggressive and anti-social?
Because, according to academic research, perhaps it's those that didn't grow up with the "ear bleeding racket" that aren't as well adjusted as those that throw up the devil horn's at shows.
Benjamin Jackson 'kuriously' looks into what led to the notions and the research to prove otherwise.
Because, according to academic research, perhaps it's those that didn't grow up with the "ear bleeding racket" that aren't as well adjusted as those that throw up the devil horn's at shows.
Benjamin Jackson 'kuriously' looks into what led to the notions and the research to prove otherwise.
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00:00This was me at university. Look at him. Deaf-toned shirt, cut off baggy jeans,
00:06spiky frosted tips, throwing up those devil horns while having a wallet chain
00:11dangling from his hip. I mean, I didn't even have a wallet at the time. Why did I
00:15need a wallet chain? It would be around this time that certain family members
00:19would often ask my mom if I was okay. I was listening to a barrage of very
00:23aggressive music. Where Slipknot or Sepultura wouldn't suffice, I'd start
00:28getting into the more extreme areas of metal. Napalm Death, Nail Bomb, The
00:32Berserker. In fact, one of my best friends at the time, Glenn, had a full
00:37sleeve of tattoos down his arm, a septum piercing, and rocked the heaviest black
00:41jacket during his black metal days. And given that me and my family were living
00:45in a small village that don't often see that kind of attire, my mother was often
00:50asked by villagers if we were okay. And the response any mother would give was
00:55as follows. They may look like ruffians, but they're lovely boys, really. So, why are
01:01the stereotype, the long-hanging stereotype, might I add, that fans of metal
01:06music are an aggressive lot beating the proverbials out of one another while
01:10trying to watch a show? Or moshing, as we call it in the business, that business
01:14being throwing down in the pit? Generally speaking, some of it has to do with the
01:20notion that music maketh the man, or woman, and that the aggressive aesthetics
01:25of the music imply that the person listening to it could be just as
01:29aggressive. Moral panics in the 80s and 90s didn't help matters either, with
01:34media coverage painting metal as a corrupting influence. Incidents such as
01:39Judas Priest's subliminal message trial in the 1990s and the association of
01:44metal with the satanic panic movement in the United States perpetuated the
01:49stereotype of violent or deviant behavior among fans. There is also the
01:55consideration that metal often aligns with countercultural movements, which can
02:00be perceived as antisocial or rebellious. That's led to broad generalizations
02:05about fans being aggressive or threatening, and while there admittedly
02:09are some subsections of the metal community where this could be true, it's
02:13tiring everyone with the same brush. Instead, I'll have you know, us metal fans
02:18are quite the well-adjusted breed. Studies like the ones published in
02:22Frontiers in Human Neuroscience in 2015 suggest that listening to extreme music,
02:27including metal, can help fans process negative emotions and reduce anger.
02:32Instead of insight and aggression, the music often provides a safe outlet for
02:36emotional expression. There was also a research from the University of
02:40Westminster in 2013 that found that metal fans tend to have a high openness
02:45to experience and a strong sense of community. They are not necessarily more
02:50aggressive, but they may be more introspective or drawn to complex,
02:54challenging themes. A 2021 study in Psychology of Popular Media analyzed
02:59stereotypes of music fans and found that metal fans are often inaccurately
03:03perceived as aggressive or emotionally unstable. But the study highlighted that
03:09these stereotypes are rooted in prejudice rather than reality. So it's
03:13your problem, not the metal community's problem. And a longitudinal study from
03:18the Macquarie University in Australia found that metal fans who grew up
03:22listening to the genre in the 1980s were just as well-adjusted, if not happier,
03:27than their peers in adulthood. This challenges the idea that exposure to
03:31metal music leads to antisocial behavior. So despite all the throwing down that
03:37happens in mosh pits, nine times out of ten, we pick ourselves up, we cordially
03:42shake one another's hand, and then discuss the finer points of what we saw
03:45at the movies, what we've been listening to, or more often than not, professional
03:49wrestling. But they are another subsection of society that unfairly gets
03:54tarnished. And that's for another time.