dandywolves:

youarenotyou | boyqueen:

Yeah, absolutely! I’m just gonna post this publicly cause it’s something I’ve been meaning to write about/compile pretty much since I started a tumblr. 

So I guess to start, I’ve been a huge fan of the Dresden Dolls since I was 13 and they were super influential in my gender formation and my formation as an artist and musician.  That said, there have been some bread crumbs of problematic shit piling up over the years into a big loaf of badness that makes me super sad.  I can’t remember everything, but these are some of the things I do remember.

1. First is her side project w/Jason Webley “Evelyn Evelyn” in which the two perform as a pretend pair of conjoined twins.  The back story goes that Amanda and Jason “discovered” the twins and rescued them from a history of sexual abuse and circus exploitation by giving them a musical career.  Here’s a couple really good articles on that:

Amanda “Ableist” Palmer? The Evelyn Evelyn controversy

Evelyn Evelyn: Ableism Ableism?

How Amanda Palmer Lost a Fan <— this one is mostly about Amanda (and her fans’) responses to critiques.  She made some really awful non-pologies and then went on Australian TV to say some really fucked up stuff about feminists with disabilities.  The video is at that link, but I warn you it’s really bad and makes me feel nauseous to watch. 

2.  Then there’s that time that she and Margaret Cho staged a fake onstage rape of Katy Perry while performing “I kissed a girl”

On Rape Culture, Amanda Palmer, and Disappointment

3.  Then there was that time she made an offhand ~funny~ tweet about the KKK

WTF Amanda Palmer?

How Amanda Palmer Killed Amanda Palmer <—- this post is kind of a round up of her behavior as of late and includes her responses to people upset about the KKK tweet

4.  And that time she recorded a song with the n-word in it (though I’m sure she would argue it was okay for her to use because of ~*~context u guize!~*~)

Guitar Hero Video

5.  And that time she made a song called “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help your black ass” and other bizarre little bread crumbs of racism/appropriation throughout her work (like that other time when she wrote a song with the line “I’ll drive that cherokee straight off it’s trail of tears”).

6.  Then there was that time she made a song that is supposed to be empowering for folks who love their bushes, but includes a passage where she compares women who choose to shave with 8-year-old boys

Map of Tasmania video

Anyway.  There’s just been a lot of things.  Probably as upsetting as seeing her do all of this fucked up and oppressive shit, has been seeing her completely fail to respond or to change in ways that are constructive.  All of this public critique has really illuminated her as just another white hipster artist who can safely hide behind her cries of “it’s just music!” and “my fans know I’m not like that!”

Which is such a bummer because she’s been a magnificent artistic influence in my life and I’ve always downloaded every new track and gone to every show when she was in town but… I just don’t think I can do it anymore.  She’s fucked up too big, too often, and with no remorse or change.

she’s also tried to blame her being bipolar for her being a total douchebag which, like, no. shut up.

i used to love her and the dresden dolls but she has crossed way too many lines way too many times. ugh.

I have nothing to add to this except fuckkkk Amanda Palmer for real. I watched the Evelyn Evelyn shit go down in real time, and like… the project was offensive enough to begin with, but the way that she responded so childishly to people who were being perfect reasonable made me just lose all respect for her. I was a really huge fan of her before all of this, and I think part of the reason why I was/am so angry about it is that I felt kind of personally betrayed? This was someone who I had gone on record as saying that I thought was brilliant and awesome and one of my heroes, and all of a sudden it turns out that she’s a horrible person and kind of always has been.

yeah I stopped listening to her music and supporting her as an artist around the time of the KKK thing. there is lots of amazing music out there, lots of amazing bands. i listen to them instead and i buy tickets to their concerts and i don’t miss her. despite all the times i saw Amanda or the Dolls live (I think six or seven total?) and for all that Girl Anachronism is the anthem of a particular time of my teenage years filled with bdsm clubbing and mattresses in vans and cigarettes and skipping school.

sometimes i don’t know shit about the people i’m giving my money. but i knew a lot about Amanda fucking Palmer. she puts so much of herself out there, after all, it’s part of the image of honesty she perpetuates, that makes her fans feel like she is their fun artistic friend instead of this person trying to sell them something. Amanda Palmer has done some amazing things for teen mental illness and for feminism, but intersectionality is key, and in the end her continual refusal to acknowledge or apologize for her bs was just a dealbreaker for me. i just couldn’t stand to see and hear her demonstrate disrespect to those fans, who have built her up and allowed her to work independently from her label and tour and make albums.