Hayley Williams Reacts To People Who Consider Paramore ‘Girl Music’ And Claim She’s ‘Just A Chick Who Dances Around’

Paramore founder, frontwoman, and songwriter, Hayley Williams, recently posted a photo on her Twitter account and discussed the way that people perceive rock bands that are fronted by women and the crazy double standard in the rock scene.

As you know, Hayley Williams achieved worldwide fame as the founder and lead vocalist of the rock band Paramore. However, in 2020 she decided to also pursue a solo career and turned to indie music. She released her debut solo album Petals for Armor in May 2020, and in February 2021, she surprised her fans with her second album FLOWERS for VASES / descanos which was also well-received by both fans and critics.

Hayley Williams is a very honest rockstar who often uses her social media accounts to speak up about her experiences in the rock scene as a female musician. In fact, just over a week ago, she had praised Billie Eilish for her new song ‘Your Power’ as it boldly speaks about ‘the child grooming that takes place every day’ in the music industry, and had said that she wishes she’d heard this when she 19.

In her recent tweet, she thanked her friend Phoebe Bridgers for speaking up about the double-standard in the rock scene. During a recent interview, when the interviewer told Phoebe that she recalls a male friend saying that he’s failed to appreciate Hayley Williams’ music because he didn’t take her seriously as she was making ‘girl music,’ Phoebe said that she’s had a similar experience.

She said that when she was a teenager, she was dating a metalhead who had told her that Paramore is stupid and that Hayley Williams is ‘just a chick who dances around.’ Phoebe went on to say that wearing a stage costume and performing are highly gendered as no one minds it when Kurt Cobain or Bruce Springsteen do it but choose to dismiss a woman when she does it. Hayley agreed with her friends and said that ‘girl music was never a genre.’

Here’s what the interviewer asked:

“It’s funny because you see these musicians just now getting their due. I recently had a guy friend hit me up and say, ‘I’m not cool anymore because I realized that the new Hayley Williams record is good,’ but she’s always been good. People didn’t take it seriously when it was happening because it was girl music.'”

To which Phoebe Bridger responded:

“I was dating a metalhead when I was around 13, and I asked him what he thought about Paramore, and he said it was stupid and that Hayley Williams is just a chick who dances around.’ I also think that wearing a stage costume is so weirdly gendered, even though Kurt Cobain wore a costume too – he thought about what t-shirt he was going to wear to every single red carpet.

Bruce Springsteen is also wearing a costume – and metal? Don’t even get me started. Those dudes are wearing eyeliner, but somehow Hayley Williams flipping her hair around is not hardcore? It’s such a crazy double standard about who’s allowed to dress up or not.”

This is what Hayley Williams said in her recent tweet considering Phoebe Bridger’s recent statements:

“Public Service Announcement: ‘girl music’ was never a genre.

Fashion Phoebe Bridgers interviewed by Sloppy Jane for L’Officiel.”

You can check out Hayley Williams’ tweet below.