The respondents in our study agree that there are more women today taking up more diverse positions and roles in the world of heavy metal than before. This perception is as clear as much as its consequences, meaning, and future directions remain as yet uncertain. The final empirical dimension of the interview findings relates to the fact that heavy metal fans understand that, in terms of gender and other issues, there are important variations and dimensions of continuity and change in the heavy metal subculture. This finding is not surprising given the fact that heavy metal has been around for several decades and has seen trends and fashions come and go, along with demographic and other changes, while nonetheless still identifiable as a particular form of popular music culture. With respect to these differences, the following two final themes emerged from the interview data: (1) metal fans perceive that there are more and less important differences in terms of gender across the various subgenres of heavy metal; and (2) they also argue that the conditions of the heavy metal subculture are generally changing in a positive direction for women. Both men and women interviewed in our study acknowledge these variations across metal's genres and its changes over time.

Styles of Heavy Metal

Theme 7: Important differences exist across subgenres in heavy metal. The theme of consequential differences existing across metal's different subgenres (beyond their musical aspects) emerged frequently during the interviews. These differences were raised, not so much in the questions asking to address gender issues, as in the general questions about the heavy metal community. Many participants found the general questions about heavy metal and its fans hard to answer because, they said, it depended on the specific (sub) genre of heavy metal music and its associated fans and their scene. While respondents recognized a relatively uniform stereotype of the metalhead among the community's outsiders, they were quick to add that insiders are aware of the differences and disagreements among the many metalheads across various subgenres. For example, Timothy argued that a fan being accepted in heavy metal depends on the subgenre they are trying to belong to.