Lex Lieberman, better known by her stage name Soulex, is Los Angeles-baced, fierce alternative-rock singer. Her song Black Sabbath is packed with femininity that goes to show how powerful women, especially women in the rock scene, are.
“He can ask nice, still don’t let him have it, calls me evil women but he loves my dark magic.
He wanted a fast love, keep him warm and close, hold you through the whole night, leave you in the morn, it wasn’t a habit, we just hadn’t met, now hes f***ed up on me”
“He be like what you doing can I come around, can I pick you up, drives from the other side of town, he knows what I’m doing, making him insane, but he loves ’em bad, and he knows that I’ll never change.
He likes good girls, with bad habits, keep him paranoid on Black Sabbath, He can also ask nice, still don’t let him have it, calls me evil women but he loves my dark magic, Black Sabbath”
Just the first verse and chorus of Soulex’s song express clear and strong femininity. Although it’s clear Soulex identifies as a female, the way in which she expresses it goes off the trail from what the Sex Role Theory identifies.
First of all, Soulex is not describing herself as very affectionate, in fact, it is nearly the opposite. The lyrics clearly describe a relationship she is interested in, however she is un-yielding, far from over affectionate in the way in which she describes teasing him, and plays more of a dominants and forceful role. She is not giving into whoever this man is, instead, she controls when he gets to see her and what he gets to do when he is around her. She isn’t sensitive to his desires or needs, she takes her stance as an “evil women” yet he keeps coming back to her because of the trance she has him under, or her “dark magic”
Yet another very interesting detail of the song is the title itself, “Black Sabbath” which is well known within the rock world for being an all male heavy metal band. The band is even tribute for being the “father” as you will of heavy metal. I think that especially for a female musician in the rock scene, this choice was deliberate and shifts the focus that has been on men in the industry to women, and proves that women can have the same forceful, dominant, aggressive, and individualistic qualities of men in the genre.
Looking at Soulex’s Instagram, she displays herself in a very sexual and feminine way. She dresses in very dark, sexy feminine silhouettes by wearing clothing that shows a lot of skin such as fishnets, bikini tops, corsets, and mesh tops. She keeps her dark hair very long and heavily styled, as well as wearing dark makeup that highlights feminine features like her lips, and lashes.
Overall, I think “Black Sabbath” and Soulex intentionally introduce a feminine side to rock music by reinstalling the idea that femininity is powerful and fierce.
Shared by: Em von der Ruhr
Image Credit: https://www.instagram.com/p/CF2elwqBPfZ/