Ah, stereotypes! They get us into trouble, no? Take for instance the recent popularity of the phrase "Neo-Nazi Skinhead" being flung around the Kansas City Music Forum. No, I didn't say on Jerry Springer, I said the Forum.

It's a phrase that makes the hair on the back of the necks of many KC residents stand up, for various reasons. On one side, people claimed that any one who maliciously attack someone else fell under the category. And though one could play the old grade school game of saying "Neo-Nazis are violent, the people attacking others are violent, therefore the people attacking others are Neo-Nazis", there's always the other side of that game that could be just as relevant to the situation (you remember, "The sky is blue, a whale is blue, the sky is a whale...it's like bad imagery from a Cure song).

Others were quick to point out that skinheads in general are given a bad name when the term "Neo-Nazi" starts getting thrown around. Though I don't claim to know enough about the situation or the people involved to take a side, I have to agree that I've been to a lot of shows where shaved-headed people have been present, and I have never been disrespected by any of them (even when, after a few Pabst Blue Ribbons I begin yelling "Oi! Oi! Oi!" to every song whatever band is playing performs. I don't know how anyone can tolerate me doing this).

The situation arose some interesting attitudes about stereotypes happening around town, not just about skinheads, but about generalizations in, well, general.

Those of you in bands, how do you see your fans? Are the majority of people your act attracts longhairs, skinheads, hardcore, punk, glam...etc.? Do you ever think to categorize them in this way?

The way I feel about it is the same basic notion we learned on the playground. As long as you plug people into little groups mentally, you're going to be putting up a little wall that says, "I don't want you and your kind near me." Whether you're onstage or off when you do it, this message carries over.

This isn't good for your band, is it? Most of the bands around KC and Lawrence I perceive to have very diverse fanbases, be it in age and lifestyle. If you basically tell a whole perspective group of people with your attitude that you don't need them, your band will suffer. Not to mention what other bands will think of you. I would hate to limit the people I could play shows with or the places that will book my band simply because people with beards creep me out.

Dana Detrick-Clark
dana@thezone.org

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For more on Dana, check out her band (Post Orgasmic Trauma) and record label (Serious Vanity).