Where Are All the Male Groupies?

Male rock stars are notorious for their groupie magnetism—but the same just isn’t true for female rockers, Salon finds. “Ladies in bands don’t get ANY action,” Neko Case tweeted last weekend, prompting a flurry of agreement from fellow women in rock. (Case made clear later she was not complaining, just stating a fact of the business.) “I have gotten laid exactly one time on tour, and it was an ex,” added a member of Crooked Fingers. So why the disparity?

"I think guys assume ladies in bands are dating one of their bandmates," suggested one tweeter. Or it may be more complicated, involving “the power dynamic inherent in a sexual negotiation,” writes Salon's Mary Elizabeth Williams. “A female fan,” she notes, “is chasing after a male of higher status,” while “the man standing outside by the stage door, despite the boldness of his move, is rarely viewed as her sexual equal.” There’s also a practical concern: security is less likely to let a man head backstage than a woman. “A girl is simply less of a perceived threat,” Williams notes. Click for the full column. (More rock stars stories.)