If you're wondering why we're still arguing over the number of female acts booked to play festivals or why there aren't as many female DJs on the club circuit, know this: even in 2015, music still remains hideously sexist. That doesn't just extend to the music industry itself, but to listening audiences, online trolls and any passing rando who decides that a woman performing onstage is somehow a threat to his very existence. And there's nobody who's more willing to call that culture out than CHVRCHES frontwoman Lauren Mayberry, who has told sexist trolls where to shove it in the most articulate way possible.
Posting a screenshot of a message from one particularly gross rape threat on Instagram, Mayberry said: "My band is lucky enough to have some of the most awesome, supportive and respectful fans in the world and we are so excited to be in the studio making an album to share with them. Yet, on a daily basis, we still receive communications like this."
"These people never learn that violence against women is unacceptable. But they also never learn that women will not be shamed and silenced and made to disappear. I am not going anywhere. So bring it on, motherfuckers. Let’s see who blinks first."
The original comment is below. Trust me, there are not enough trigger warnings in the world to cover something this hideous:
In other news, Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner have described Dazed cover star Scarlett Johansson's Avengers character as a "slut" and a "whore" while on a press junket. They have since apologised, but we were kind of hoping that Lauren Mayberry could tear them a new asshole, too.
