I thought I'd write a post about metal women around my age who totally rock, both in celebration of being immensely cool in your mid to late 30s, but also in response to those people on MFF who have particularly agist attitudes towards a certain female vocalist. The target of this agism recently turned 39, but even before this, she was accused of being "middle aged" and "a granny" and the rounding up of her age to 40 was done with derision, as if 40 is a bad age. I find this extremely offensive, to say the least. Mind you, most of these nay-sayers are in their 20s, so yeah, a woman in her late 30s might seem so dreadfully old, but fuck, people, you have a lot to learn.
So here is my list of 30-something women who are still rocking, and still as metal as hell.
1. Liv Kristine. Born February 14, 1976. Age: 34. Lead singer of Leaves' Eyes and killer solo artist in her own right. I love this woman. She is so ethereally beautiful it almost makes me want to cry, and she is sexy and talented as hell. Will she be granny-ish in a few years? I think not.
2. Cristina Scabbia. Born June 6 1972. Age: 38. Lead singer of Lacuna Coil. This is no "middle aged granny" let me tell you.
3. Sharon den Adel. Born July 12, 1974. So, she will be 36 tomorrow. Lead singer of Within Temptation. God, I love this woman. She has two little children, a wicked partner, a wicked career, does a lot of her own costume designs, which I love, and is a wicked talented woman. And she is ridiculously gorgeous. Even in 3 years, she will be no "middle-aged granny." She is just getting better and better, as far as I'm concerned.
4. Anneke van Giersbergen. Born March 8, 1973. Age: 37. Ex-The Gathering, now of Agua de Annique. I will always remember her headbanging away on stage with The Gathering, with that amazing long hair she used to have. She rocks!
5. Stephanie Luzie. Born April 6, 1974. Age: 36. Lead singer of Atargatis and Darkwell. Talk about amazing hair! I have hair envy when ti comes to Stephanie! Fucking gorgeous, fucking amazing singer, fucking amazing on stage, and pretty fucking decent lyricist. I think she is fucking awesome.
6. Sandra Schleret. Born June 26, 1976. Age: 34. Lead singer of Elis. Now, I don't know all the details, but it is well known that Sandra had a very severe illness that almost killed her at one point, but she survived with gusto, so you go and ask her how granny-like she is feeling these days! 
7. And how about Doro? Born June 3, 1964. The Queen of Metal is 46. She is the only officially middle-aged woman on this list (because, over here in my culture, middle age starts around the mid to late 40s), but is she granny-like? I think not! She still looks and sounds amazing, and she still fucking rocks.I'm sure there are others I could mention, but these are the ones I came up with on the fly. Let me know of any others you know of!
9 comments:
I think you misunderstand. The criticism against the woman you are referring to does not concern her age alone, because age, of course, is no crime. First off, although this is not her fault, she is a weird choice for an established metal band: were she younger, lack of experience would be more understandable, and were she more experienced, her age wouldn't be a problem. But as it stands, she is considerably older than the woman she replaces, but with no previous experience in the field to compensate for it. So the conclusion remains: What. The. Fuck?
Add to this that she acts and dresses like a teenager, in stark contrast to the younger woman she places.
You may not share people's criticisms, you may even vehemently disagree with them, but you need to see that they are at least in parts valid and absolutely logical and comprehensible, and NOT exclusively rooted in "ageism".
If the woman in question did not make such an effort to appear like the polar opposite of the woman she replaces, I guarantee you her age would not be an issue. She'd still not be liked by everyone but she would at least be respected, and deserve that respect.
Winterstorm, I couldn't agree more with you :D
The female pointed out here are all very nice, good and respectful vocalists. And, for as far as I know them, I liked them a lot.
"the one we don't call by the name" is a different situation. But that hasn't anything to do with her age, with an exception of what Winterstorm already pointed out..
I hope this post is ok.. and if not so.. why not?
You're fine, Sorcha!
You could have also put in Sarah Jezebel Deva (Cradle Of Filth, ex-therion, Angtoria, solo, and some others) she turns/is 34 this year :D (born 1977)
And what about .. what her name again .. Courtney love :D She's "old" and has has a recent new album :D She's born 1964.
@ Sorcha: Well, I was trying to keep it to women born in 1976 and earlier. Not sure why, becuase I could have included Tarja in this list, too, that way. Oh well! I do ADORE Sarah Jezebel Deva, though!
As for Courtney Love...Ugh. Not a fan.
How could you forget Sabina Classen! Or Lita Ford, she certainly belongs here too.
As for Courtney Love, I don't think she fits in here, even if we're being generous with the metal descriptor.
There's also Pamela Moore, Deb Obarsky, and the members of various all-female metal bands (of which Meanstreak are notable in that most band members are now married to Dream Theater members), for the US and other countries.
By the way, I never had any idea that Anneke once had long hair! I only know those newer promo photos which make her rather look like an aerobics instructor in a sports hall. :P
Whoops - "gym" is the word. But I think you all got what I meant.
I like this post. It gives these women the recnignition, respect and reverence they deserve, unlike some bloggers who just post sexist "hot or not" babe blogs.
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