Cool Slut: The politics of representation in Chastity Belt’s approach to feminism

Amber Perry (Grady MA student)

Abstract: Only minor attention has been given to musicians on independent labels, and I would like to close that gap by looking at the more creative, innovative modes used by independent bands that contrast their popularized, heavily commodified counterparts. I intend to perform a case study on Chastity Belt, an all-women alternative rock band, who released their first album “No Regerts” on Help Yourself Records and transitioned to Hardly Art Records, the independent, “sister label” of Sub Pop Records, which houses bigger alternative rock names like Beach House. According to its website, Hardly Art has only three full-time employees and claims to espouse emerging talent with varied, eclectic tastes, including Chastity Belt’s unconventional and relatively radical feminist stance.