Amanda Palmer Laments Media's Fixation on Women and Glam

Whether it's stomping her way through the Dresden Dolls' Brechtian odes, performing solo or co-fronting this year's Evelyn Evelyn project, Amanda Palmer is a strong presence. Oddly, though, the unstoppable Ms. P, who also took on a role as the MC in the American Repertory Theater's fall production of the musical 'Cabaret,' says that growing up her role models, at least musically, were men.

"I didn't have a lot of strong female role models, which is interesting in itself," the singer and pianist tells Spinner. "A lot of my old favorite bands were male -- like the Cure, the Legendary Pink Dots, Nick Cave and Robyn Hitchcock. I look at my CD collection from back then and it's men, men, men with the occasional Bjork CD," she laughs. "I didn't connect with women singers. They were in my collection, but I didn't worship them like I did say Robert Smith and Leonard Cohen. There's something interesting in that."

"Female role models are a really interesting question, period," Palmer continues. "Women in the media fall into boxes. You're in this box or this box. But men seem to do what they want. They don't seem to have to play the same games."

Is this a general trap women fall into culturally? "It's not even culturally," Palmer says assertively. "It's an ingrained game everybody plays. If you're a woman, if you're not glamming, then you are deliberately not glamming. You're making a statement if you're just doing plain -- you're making a statement even without doing anything. If you are a guy, it's different. There is this giant cultural agreement that women shall glam."

Clearly, this predetermined glamour role was not meant for Palmer, as she preferred to listen to guys. "For sure," she agrees. "I identified a lot more with what these guys were saying, much more than what women were saying."