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RE: Male/Female Fans





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From: 	owner-thewho@mpath.com on behalf of James Marshall Boswell
Sent: 	Thursday, March 14, 1996 12:18 PM
To: 	the who
Subject: 	Male/Female Fans

In that Timothy White book from a few years back--"Rock Lives" was the
title I think--Townshend spoke at some length about the gender of The
Who's audience.  It was in this context, in fact, that Townshend uttered
his infamous remark about being "basically bisexual."  Yes, he said, The
Who's audience has been traditionally male, for which he cited (I think)
the violence surrounding the group and Roger's macho image, a pull for
male fans rather than female fans.  Then he remarked, with evident
satisfaction, how "Empty Glass" gave him an opportunity to get out from
underneath Roger's macho swagger and reveal his, Pete's, more "feminine"
side, for which effort he acquired a whole new female contingent in his
fan base. 

>Of course, all of this talk hinges on rather essentialist notions about 
>gender, doesn't it?  I.e., that males are violent and energetic and women 
>are soft and caring and empathetic.  Difficult thought constructions to 
>avoid, I know, particularly when these ideas are corroborated in real 
>life.  Still, I think one of the interesting points about The Who's 
>"male audience" that might be addressed here is the way Towsnhend's songs, 
>from the very beginnning, have questioned rather movingly all these 
>assumed ideas about machisimo and violence.  It's there in "I'm A Boy," 
>it's there (brilliantly!) in "Tattoo," it's all over "Quadrophenia" ("Dr. 
>Jimmy" being a textbook case of irony--the swaggering bits undercut by 
>that plaintive cry, "Is it me for a moment?"), while "Who By Numbers" is 
>soaked in this issue, particularly in "Dreaming from the Waist" and "How 
>Many Friends."  I would also argue that this themse sits at the core of  
>Townshend's solo work ("Rough Boys," "I Am An Animal," "Slit Skirts," 
>"Secondhand Love" etc.)  Freed from having to write anthems suitable for 
>Daltrey's powerful, confident, and traditionally "masculine" voice, 
>Townshend in his solo career has penned songs whose vulnerability matches 
>the vulnarability of his own singing voice.

>Marshall

Dear Marshall,

      Your observations are quite astute.  My feeling is, we have been forced 
into roles we don't want or need.  Perhaps men like their "vulnerable" side 
exposed while women can readily identify with the Who's violence, a repressed 
part of their lives.  Myself, I sometimes wail along with Roger in the privacy 
of my room because he says things for me -- things I'm not "allowed" to say.  
About Pete -- he may be bisexual for all we know, but perhaps he wants us to 
recognize that he is a human being, not a cardboard embodiment of machismo.

As far as how many women are on this list -- has anybody taken a headcount?

Sorry if I sound like a poor imitation of Freud.