HDoubleG

You’re Pretty Goodlooking for a Girl: Jack White and sexual politics

godiminbadshaperightnow:

I never really thought much about Jack White.

I don’t mean that in a “That guy? What a ballbag!” way. I never thought of him as the auteur that a lot of my friends who resided in southeastern Michigan during the resurgence of the Detroit music scene in the early Aughts did, either. To me, he has always been that guy from the White Stripes. No more, no less.

When I moved to Detroit in 2006, everyone I met wanted to talk about Jack White to me: “His brother lives there,” “This one time, I saw him and Renee Zellweger eating sandwiches; she was really tiny,” “I used to see him at [INSERT NAME OF A BAR THAT NO LONGER EXISTS].” I’d hear debates about whether or not his move from Detroit to Nashville was some kind of turncoat commentary on the city. Didn’t think much of that, either—I believe Detroit has some kind of unofficial exchange program with mid-South cities like Louisville and Nashville. Detroit got me and Nashville got White; you can decide for yourself if Detroit got the raw deal.

Honestly, I hadn’t thought about Jack White since “Icky Thump” and the subsequent dissolution of the White Stripes. I didn’t care about the Dead Weather; I never sought out the records he produced because his name was affixed to them.

So for all of my not caring about Jack White, I’ve had a lot of people ask about my thoughts on his New York Times feature and his first solo record. And I still didn’t think much after I read the feature; I summarized it to my friend Tim as thus: “Eccentric egoist has issues with women: film at 11.”

Then Jessica Misener published her take on White’s issues with women and I took notice. Here was lyrical evidence laid out for me and it got me thinking: I’ve changed my tune on Jack White. I’ve switched my hit from indifference to distaste.

There is usually one or two things I read or see daily that I pick to be outraged about. I was livid over Katie Roiphe’s Newsweek cover article since it made the ludicrous assertion that feminism and women’s higher professional station has brought about a resurgence in women desiring domination, basing the trend piece on nothing but the popularity of some book and citing scenes from a HBO show that everyone is telling me that I should care about even though it isn’t a real representation of me as a Latina. Never mind that it’s one of the most boring old sexual tropes that successful MEN like to have leather-clad, stilettoed women walk on their balls or be told they are bad, bad boys that mama has to spank; women want to be submissive sexually? HOLD THE PHONE FEMINISM IS A FAILURE!

I thought it was ludicrous until I remembered how many of my girlfriends shared that Jack White Times piece extolling how amazing he was. That Times piece where he comes off as the world’s biggest control freak and says shit like “I’ve always felt it’s ridiculous to say, of any of the females in my life: You’re my friend, you’re my wife, you’re my girlfriend, you’re my co-worker. ‘This is your box, and you’re not allowed to stray outside of it.’”

If it’s just sex where women want to be submissive? I can deal with that. However, the idea of a man like Jack White being some kind of trophy turns my stomach. The idea of a man chastising a woman for being too meek is too much for me. Now looking critically at White and his discography, I can’t help but see all of these weird things that make me extremely uncomfortable about him.  

One of my favorite White Stripes songs was “Passive Manipulation.” I loved that simple ditty, not even a minute long, telling women to look critically at themselves and their relationships. “You need to know the difference between a father and a lover,” Meg sang. What good advice: you DO need to know the difference! But the fact that Jack wrote that and had Meg sing it is a kind of mindfuck that I can barely process as it seems he always held the reins of the duo (in that way, the song’s title now makes complete sense). “Get Behind Me Satan” is also rife with Rita Hayworth references—a woman who publicly noted she was treated as a vessel for men’s basest desires and fantasies, who suffered horrific relationships and abuse at the hands of controlling men who were considered auteurs. “Icky Thump”deals with women not knowing what love is, just blindly doing what they are told, but also simultaneously revamps the old “Conquest” trope that women have all control over the relationship sphere because they control sex.       

I don’t want to count how many conversations people have tried to start with me about Chris Brown and what an awful person he is for what he did to Rihanna. However, this is what I wonder: is my generation so confused that we think that it’s OK to consider a controlling man a genius but flog a man like Chris Brown who was bold enough to denigrate a woman in a way that is clearly labeled as “too far” and “wrong” by the majority? I’m not defending Brown, and for once, I’m not even talking about race. I’m wondering what today’s modern woman will accept from a man, and honestly, what we will accept from men in a public station. Clearly, we won’t stand to be hit; but have we shifted back to “it’s okay for him to tell me what to do and think”? If that’s the case, then “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)” is having more of a resurgence than I imagined.    

I dated a guy who was obsessed with Meg White in college. Maybe obsessed isn’t the right word, but he loved the White Stripes and was extremely fond of Meg. We didn’t date for very long—we worked together and he was in the middle of the most stressful year of business school, so he had little time for me. The little time that I enjoyed in between all of my projects, I wanted to be with him, however. Bad timing, bad match. It does make me wonder: what do we know about Meg White? Not much, other than she is fond of whiskey, cigarettes and possibly playing the drums. I do not say that derisively at all; I feel as if Meg has control of what her narrative is and she wants the public to know nothing about her. And that’s fine; but much like how Rita Hayworth lamented that men always fell in love with Gilda but woke up with her, it’s the projections of men like the guy I dated that are troublesome. I have thought critically about my relationship with that person, and I’m pretty sure I was little else than a dark-haired girl he spent time with. I could have been anyone. Could the White Stripes have been the White Stripes without Meg? I’m being insensitive here by saying yes—and Jack White, in his derision of her musical skill might agree. He could have made those records with anyone, but bequeathed the crown on Meg, or that’s how he made it seem.   

Women aren’t empty vessels. They’re more educated than you. They are working every day to break a glass ceiling that still very much exists. Do working women want to be dominated in the bedroom? I don’t care; a little role-playing never hurt anyone. I care if they want to be dominated in their relationships; I care if they are being dominated in their workplace. And more importantly, I care that no one thinks to call out a controlling man when they see one. It disconcerts me that ironic racism is permissible and that casual misogyny is A-OK in indie rock fandom culture, hipster culture, or whatever you want to call it.

Remember: a man may be a genius but that does not mean he is good.