David Bowie and the normalization of rape culture
Courtesy of vam.ac.uk
January 22, 2016
English singer/songwriter David Bowie died January 10th, 2016. Bowie was a musical icon, able to spot trends from miles away and create music suitable enough to fit, bend, and break genre guidelines. His work in the 1970s caused him to become a cultural icon and torchbearer for weirdos and freaks alike. He was also an inspiration for the LGBTQIA+ community; never had a bisexual man been so successful. Although it is true that Bowie created remarkable work, it’s also true that he was a sexual predator.
In the early 1970s, it was commonplace for young “groupies” to fawn over much older celebrities. David Bowie was one among the many rock stars who statutorily raped underage girls. Rape culture was and continues to be normalized. Even Lori Mattix, who admits to having slept with Bowie when she was 15, has internalized the experience, failing to understand that she was raped and that these men were pedophiles who actively lusted over underage girls. Mattix spoke out on her experience in a recent Thrillist interview. When asked if she ever felt exploited, she said that she felt, “ blessed…like (she) was protected rather than exploited…(she) was very present.” She recounted her sexual experiences with Bowie nostalgically. Mattix truly believes there was nothing wrong with the way adult men manipulated her. Instead, she describes how she, “…was an innocent girl, but the way it happened was so beautiful…him looking like God and having me over a table. Who wouldn’t want to lose their virginity to David Bowie?”
It is easy to glorify celebrities when they die. Deaths of the famous and talented are met with fans professing their love for the dearly departed. While some might find it offensive to recall Bowie’s predatorial past in the wake of his death, it is even more offensive to brush off his actions just because he was a talented artist. In a recent article by The Establishment, the question of why David Bowie should be exposed further after his death was answered in one swift line, “…for the millions of rape and sexual victims…(watching) Bowie be venerated as an icon when we know he was an abuser.” Internalizing rape culture is an issue that shouldn’t only be discussed when it involves “everyday people.” It is just as, if not more, serious of an issue when it involves those who are thought of to be “icons.” While the death of David Bowie is tragic in the sense that he was an innovative artist, loving father, and vibrant soul, society shouldn’t be so supportive of a man who abused young women.
Bowie a Predator? • Feb 21, 2016 at 3:06 pm
This article cites an interview with “Lori Mattix.” While she looks back on sexual experiences with celebrities like Bowie and Jimmy Page, there is no concrete evidence that her encounter with David Bowie ever happened. While this is not an attempt to make rape “OK” (by any means), is does seem, for lack of a better word, fishy that Mattix would come out and make these allegations right after Bowie’s death.
In addition, a key argument of this particular Mattix interview was left out of this analysis. Mattix claimed that her experiences shed light on why legal age limits for sex exist- she recognized that 15 years old is too young and that no child of that age has the mental mindset to decide if they are ready for sex. This very reason is why there are statutory rape laws.
sudon't • Jan 24, 2016 at 11:28 am
I see everyone is jumping the bandwagon to apply today’s conservative values to the past. And, of course, we have to infantilize Lori Maddox because she doesn’t agree! Actually, speaking as one who was a teenager in the early seventies, I’m continually shocked at how today’s parents infantilize their children, and can see how that’s been internalized by young adults.
By today’s standards, almost all parents in the seventies were child-abusers, simply because they let their children spend their days unsupervised. Rightly, or wrongly, people simply had different attitudes then. Having sex with underage girls, (and let us not forget how widely “underage’ varied from place to place), was not quite the “big deal” it is today. To ignore that is to misunderstand the past, and people’s historical actions.