The Ubiquitous "She"

[S.D.]

I've been thinking about this a lot recently, in trying to formulate ideas about the relationship between Journal For Plague Lovers and The Holy Bible. Is the "she" of She Is Suffering and She Bathed Herself In A Bath Of Bleach the same person or idea, do you think?

This concept of male satisfaction and the nature of the female being eternally beautiful I think is idealistic, but interesting. Is the female only callous when forced to be so by a male? --- "Beauty she is scarred, into man's soul" --- Also, consider the image of Christ being used under the lyrics for She Is Suffering in the booklet for The Holy Bible. I think this is to signify that culturally, the image of suffering embodied in Christ (though somewhat androgynous) is always male, as is God. That puts me in mind immediately of The Girl Who Wanted To Be God, in that she wanted to be recognised as the more prevalent figure of "suffering", which I think the band's canon has tried to recognise and explore repeatedly since Little Baby Nothing, Born A Girl being a good example, which I believe to be directly linked to the band's choice to cover Been A Son.

I have also noticed that in relation to the image of Christ under She Is Suffering, it appears that none of the angels featured in The Holy Bible artwork are male, all look female. I think that this is meant as commentary on the idea that women are often depicted as deities or angels (ethereal, not based in reality), but rarely as figures of pain, despite the fact that women have arguably suffered more than men throughout recorded history. Even the lyrics for Been A Son seem to indicate this; "she should have worn the crown of thorns", suggesting that like my suggestions about Christ and the angels, it is woman who should be depicted as the figure that suffers for "man's" sins (very often as the victim of them also). I also think that the band covering It's So Easy (consider the lyrics) and respecting the use by Guns N' Roses of Robert Williams' rape painting is related to this also.

Concerning She Bathed Herself In A Bath Of Bleach, the lyrics are less ambiguous, and describe "she" destroying herself to satisfy a man whose interests appear to be either carnal only, or operating under the visage of "love" --- "keep love alive and lust beside" --- Surely these words can be unquestionably partnered with the She Is Suffering lyric which notes that "she" is "a flower attracting lust, vice and sin". The whispers of love seem to indicate shame on the part of the male, or if reversed, anxiety of the female. I also believe the lyric "But salmon pink skinned Mary still caring" is another theological reference, to The Virgin Mary of course. The following line "Empty arms and an aching heart", evoke immediately the image of Mary with burning heart, a sword thrust into it:-

As you'll no doubt remember, the image of Christ's (or is it Mary's?) burning heart, with a crown of thorns wrapped around it, appears beneath the lyrics to This Is Yesterday in The Holy Bible booklet. Something I have always found to be disturbing about The Bible, is the notion that Mary was selected for what is basically forced insemination by the Holy Spirit and Gabriel. Not only that, but this occurence has always been rather suspiciously "grey" in relation to the ten commandments, given that "Thou shall not commit adultery" is rather conveniently bypassed in light of the fact that she was only engaged to Joseph at the time of becoming pregnant with Jesus.

Even 4st 7lb seems to follow this thematic of "she", because Richey was quick to clarify that whilst he publicly suffered from an eating disorder, the song itself was not about him, but was voicing the psychology of anorexia/bulimia in young girls, the protagonist of the song is clearly female. The names of models being used in those lyrics, suggests to me that as women are used as sex objects in media, so their sexuality is depleted, they are reduced to flesh (carrion?), and it is this flesh which affects impressionable minds. Eating disorders arise in some subjects because they are comparing themselves with representations of what women "should" look like in order to be sexual, when in reality, those images are created to appeal to a consumer or male demographic, and are false. "Lift up my skirt and my sex is gone" seems to reflect this in the sense that in this quest for perfection, "she" has compromised her natural sexuality.

In all these thoughts, I believe there to be a continued reference to beauty and love being characterised as specifically female, and that being simply "she" is indicative of how the woman as a person is often ignored in place of woman as an object.

Manic Street Preachers - "we all are of walking abortion"

Valerie Solanos - "the male is a walking abortion" (from a larger quote used next to the track listing for Little Baby Nothing on Generation Terrorists)

[mafiamonroe]

I think the 'She' Richey refers to is a vague and general woman rather than anyone specific.

[S.D.]

Originally Posted by mafiamonroe

I think the 'She' Richey refers to is a vague and general woman rather than anyone specific.

That's pretty much what my post suggests, did you read all of it? That's not supposed to sound rude either, I'm just curious.

[mafiamonroe]

Originally Posted by S.D.

That's pretty much what my post suggests, did you read all of it? That's not supposed to sound rude either, I'm just curious.

Sorry i sped read it. I'll read it properly later.

[Bryter Layter]

Wow, what a great post! You've obviously put a great deal of thought into it and I find your ideas quite interesting. Thanks for sharing them!

I can't really add much except to say, Richey is quoted as saying the "She" in 'SIS' refers to beauty as an ideology, not a person persay.

Btw, this is slightly off topic, but it's been botheing me for a while. Who wrote the bulk of the lyrics to 'SIS', Richey or Nicky? I've seen interviews where Nicky claims it's his piece, but many seem to believe it's Richey's. Does anyone know for sure who wrote it?

[starfucker]

As far as She Is Suffering is concerned I've always interpreted that song in the sense that "she" is the personnification of Beauty, with the line you quoted seeming to back this up.

[revolfaster]

Originally Posted by mafiamonroe

I think the 'She' Richey refers to is a vague and general woman rather than anyone specific.

Yeah I agree... I'll read through this post when I have more time. It's pretty long to read through now; have to get to work in a few.

[franny]

Never really considered this but you definitely have a point, even if it wasn't what they were getting at (and they probably were).

[4Manics]

the 'she' in she is suffering is desire.

[Bryter Layter]

Originally Posted by 4Manics

the 'she' in she is suffering is desire.

That's the quote! Sorry, I remebered it as "beauty" for some reason.

Anyway, this is what Richey claimed when asked about the meaning behind 'SIS'. Thanks for posting it, 4Manics!

[mrsmanics]

Originally Posted by 4Manics

the 'she' in she is suffering is desire.

Yes it is. Richey spoke about the fact that most religions dictate that desire is the root of suffering. If you read Buddhist texts, you'll see that the second of the Four Noble Truths is that desire causes suffering. The third is that the cessation of desire will lead to an end to suffering.

I think certainly in that song, Richey was simply personificating desire as a female to make his point more easily. The other songs I'll have to think about.

[the_soft_machine]

Originally Posted by starfucker

As far as She Is Suffering is concerned I've always interpreted that song in the sense that "she" is the personnification of Beauty, with the line you quoted seeming to back this up.

am i the only one honest enuff to admit that i only realised this AFTER Simon Price made the point in his book? *lolz

[vtn]

That is an insane post, S.D.! And I mean that in a good way. It's very well thought out, so my reply, typed directly into this box without much editing, is probably going to seem much more rambling in comparison.

A lot of Richey and Nicky's collaborative work was concerned with gender roles and society's images of femininity - purity, weakness, victim mentality, shallowness - and masculinity - violence, sexual aggression, boorishness, power. They had a very complicated relationship toward gender because while they wanted to condemn these stereotypes and tended toward "different" gender expression (more on that later), they still seemed in many ways to be ashamed of their own masculinity. I'm trying to pull lyrical examples out of thin air, but I think the very best example is the "Little Baby Nothing" text, although I tend to think that the use of 'man' in Tennesee "the white man is disease" and Faster "man kills everything" is more than incidental.

In music and in all their public statements the band did their best to undermine the female stereotype. "Little Baby Nothing", "4st 7lb", "She Bathed Herself In A Bath of Bleach" even, these are all songs about the ways that women search for power in a world that makes them powerless. In an interview, they immediately deride the suggestion that they might be worried about how effective they've been as a band if they only have female fans, because they believe that young women have always been interested in bands that are introspective and intellectual, and that it's a sign that other bands are putting women off with their skewed image of femininity. But as people, the band (by all accounts including their own) were taking advantage of groupies and even prostitutes.

As for how the band presented their own masculinity, they wore dresses and makeup, they were 'sensitive'; Nicky was domesticated; they didn't feel they were 'above' having substantial conversations with the young women who were writing to them from fanzines. But they still always represented a male culture; they were male themselves, and any comment they made about femininity had to be made from the outside.

I'm not going to comment on "She Is Suffering", because it's a lyric I've never fully understood, but here are my views on the other songs:
a) 4st 7lb stems from a couplet in a poem written by Manics fan Becky Craig, and was inspired by that and other correspondence from female fans to the band about their struggles with eating disorders, as well as Richey's research on the subject.
b) She Bathed Herself in a Bath of Bleach is about someone who was in a mental hospital at the same time is Richey. (though I can't cite a source for this other than 'I read it on FD', so I'm not 100% certain) I might even go as far as to propose that Mary was her name.
c) Of Walking Abortion uses Solanas's phrasing but I tend to think the song isn't about masculinity but rather the meaninglessness of consumer culture and the futility of one individual against a vast first-world population.

S.D., your discussion of religion is very interesting, especially considering Richey's lifelong fascination with religious symbolism. And I think you're 100% right about suffering - what the Manics wanted to show was that not just men felt alienated, felt existential despair, suffered.

[silverhalide]

Interesting insights -- but groupies are not necessarily being "taken advantage" of. A lot of them know exactly what they are doing and like it. I guess, the question is the why.

[vtn]

Originally Posted by silverhalide

Interesting insights -- but groupies are not necessarily being "taken advantage" of. A lot of them know exactly what they are doing and like it. I guess, the question is the why.

Sorry, I meant 'taking advantage' in the sense of taking advantage of the availability of groupies - as an example of buying into a certain culture. I didn't intend the double entendre :x