Thu 3 Nov 2011 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Controversial hip hop collective “Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All” appear to have had the Big Day Out welcome mat pulled out from under their feet, after intervention from Auckland Council, which owns Mt Smart Stadium. Lauded by critics and picking up a cult following across the globe, Odd Future are seen as the future of music by some, while others despise them for their homophobic and misogynistic lyrics which discuss sexual violence against women and include constant use of the word 'faggot'. After he heard they would be visiting New Zealand for the annual music festival, gay Wellington man Calum Bennachie set off a chain reaction when he wrote to the Big Day Out promoters expressing his concerns and putting forward a strong case for his argument that: “lyrics such as those played by Odd Future increase the societal discourse against lgbt people, a discourse that encourages bullying and violence”. Bennachie cc'd the email to a number of people, including the Chair of Auckland Council's Parks and Heritage Forum Sandra Coney, who quickly found she agreed with the writer. “I approached the CEO of Regional Facilities Auckland John Brockies with Calum's concerns and my own having watched Youtube,” she says. “After a discussion with BDO organisers this group will no longer be appearing in BDO in NZ.” Brockie confirms this is the case and says the Council has an excellent relationship with the Big Day Out's promoters. ”We passed on some concerns that had been expressed locally back to the Australian owners of Big Day Out and the outcome of the joint consideration of that was a change in line up for the event.” He says, adding, “We want all New Zealanders to have a fantastic time at Big Day Out.” The Big Day Out's promoters are yet to comment. You can read Bennachie's full letter below: I understand that the group Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (Odd Future) is to perform at the Big Day Out, despite the fact their songs contain extremely homophobic, misogynistic and hateful lyrics. It is through lyrics used by Odd Future that “Whole cultures may be induced, invited, or permitted to hate people or ideas they fear, or who are perceived as threats to their dearly held values” (Whillock Fergusson, Horwood, Ridder Petrie and Brook, 1992; Rosenhan and Seligman, 1985: 342-343). The effects of these lyrics on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender emerging youth could be enormous, stigmatising them, resulting in low self-esteem, and possible subsequent consequences, such as suicide, and personal verbal and physical attacks. All these are certainly injurious to the public good. Furthermore, stigmatised groups are less likely to retain safe choices in regards to a variety of factors, including safer sex In terms of societal hatred, Greg Herek (2004: 14) points out that “First, hostility exists in the form of shared knowledge that is embodied in cultural ideologies that define sexuality, demarcate social groupings based on it, and assign value to those groups and their members. Second, these ideologies are expressed through society's structure, institutions, and power relations. Third, individuals internalize these ideologies and, through their attitudes and actions, express, reinforce, and challenge them”. This is not a new idea, but also dates back to Allport (1958: 152), who stated that minority members develop coping methods to deal with stigma directed at them, including “intrapunitive” measures, directed inwards: “one's sense of shame for possessing the despised qualities of one's group” as well as “repugnance for other members of one's group because they ‘possess' these qualities”. This internalisation of hatred and stigmatisation affects people in various ways. Self esteem suffers under such an assault, and is often deemed necessary for ensuring that safe sexual decisions are made. However, NZ research seems to controvert this – self esteem levels in themselves are not indicators of safe sexual decisions (McGee Preston D'Augelli, Kassab, Cain, Schultze, Preston, D'Augelli, Kassab,
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 3rd November 2011 - 7:11pm