RAPE CULTURE WITHIN THE AUSTIN MUSIC SCENE (TRIGGER WARNING)

The recent allegations against several leading Austin bands regarding sexual harassment and rape among female fans has created a hot button topic of conversation that needs to be discussed openly. Is Austin’s Rape Culture within the music scene given enough attention? Although when allegations come out, there is a roll out of support from the community reprimanding people and bandmates for not speaking up, but is this enough? In my opinion no, it is not enough.

An ongoing open conversation about awareness needs to be at the forefront of conversation on a regular basis. The old moniker, “If you see something, say something” comes to mind. This may sound cheesy, a PSA ad for teenagers if you will, but unfortunately, it’s not a cheesy ad for teenagers. It’s a sad reality that has plagued the Austin music scene for decades.

Female and male victims of sexual harassment and rape statistically find it difficult to speak up for themselves in fear of being victim blamed.  The recent #MeToo movement has done wonders to open up the barriers of conversation, and yet there is still a lack of awareness that is being made among the Austin music community. I can do more, you can do more, we can all do more to create a safe space and an urgent awareness for our fellow musicians and fans.  

While struggling with the idea of touching on such a delicate topic as a professional business, I stopped myself and realized right there that, that makes me part of the problem. Not speaking up instantly puts me in a category that is part of the problem.  As a business owner directly tied and working deep within the music community, a business that encourages community support and outreach, it is part of our job to use our voice and ability to speak out to raise awareness for such hot topic issues.

FullNote Records gives our word that we will do more. We will speak up and we will support our community and help raise awareness as much as possible. We are a business that prides itself on leading by example. We are a safe space and want it to be known that if anyone is struggling with knowing how to talk about sexual harassment that has affected them or anyone around them, our door is always open. We will do everything we can to lead you to the right place and people. We are here to help take care of this amazing community that we love so much. And most importantly, If we see something, we will say something.   

Now, to give everyone a refresher on what the word consent means: 

Consent - con·sent
/kənˈsent/
noun
1. permission for something to happen or agreement to do something.
"no change may be made without the consent of all the partners"
Synonyms: agreement, assent, acceptance, approval, approbation

verb
1. give permission for something to happen.
"he consented to a search by a detective"
Synonyms: agree to, assent to, yield to, give in to, submit to