Don Dokken’s Apparently Bummed You Can’t Openly Objectify Women These Days

For metal bands all around the 80s, the lifestyle of a rockstar really embodied a single phrase — sex, drugs, and rock & roll. From Guns N’ Roses to Mötley Crüe to Ozzy Osbourne, life on the road was one big party.

Now, that’s not to say that sort of mentality is dead… certainly some bands out there still live that road dog lifestyle, but societal shifts in recent decades have tried to change at least one part of it — how women are treated. And according to a recent interview with Dokken frontman Don Dokken, that’s just a shame because now dudes can’t openly objectify the women in their presence, even if they wear super sexy outfits.

It all came out during an interview Dokken had with the “Fantasm” podcast (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). During the chat, he spoke about the inspiration of the band’s newest album Heaven Comes Down, saying it was all about how the world’s gone sideways. And while he mentioned a lot of the horrific shit going down like drug epidemics and school shootings, things quickly took a turn when the #MeToo movement came up.

“In the ’80s, it was all about girls in short skirts and push-up bras. Nowadays, I told the band, I go, ‘If a girl comes backstage and she’s dressed to the nines, you can’t comment and say, ‘Wow, your ass looks good in that miniskirt,’ or, ‘Wow, your boobs are hanging,’ something like that. They’ll sue you.

“I mean, this whole PC [politically correct] thing has gone too far. If women are dressed like that, you would think it’s because they want a compliment.”

Instructing your bandmates to not say those kinds of things to women in their presence isn’t a bad idea, especially if you try to gauge their consent first. But then he further goes down the rabbit hole, bemoaning the situation that came up last year involving the Spanish women’s soccer team.

“Now, look at the Spanish women’s football team [which] won the World Cup [for the] first time in history. And all the coach did is just give her a kiss, a little kiss. And she said, ‘I didn’t agree to that.’ And it’s on the news and goes to the government and they fire him.

“It wasn’t like he grabbed her ass or he stuck his tongue in her mouth. He just gave her a kiss because he was excited. They won. And I said, ‘Well, wait a minute. In Russia and France, when you meet somebody, they kiss you on the left cheek and the right cheek.’ That’s just French and Russian culture — and Spanish. So the guy was excited. They won. And the girl goes public and said, ‘He shouldn’t have kissed me. I wasn’t down with that.’ And I’m, like, ‘It was just a peck.’ And it’s on CNN every five minutes. And they fire his ass. I’m, like, for one kiss. That’s bullshit.”

For those that don’t know, Spanish soccer federation Luis Rubiales planted an unwanted kiss on star player Jenni Hermoso’s lips after the team won it all. That eventually led to his firing and an ongoing investigation against Rubiales on allegations of sexual assault and coercion.

“Everything is PC. Gotta be careful what you say. You can’t say anything to a woman or they’ll say you’re a misogynist and you’re a dog and ‘I’m gonna sue you.’ I mean, look at all these senators and congressmen that are getting sued because of inappropriate behavior. I’m, like, whatever. The world’s fucked up. So I tell the band, ‘Be careful. Don’t say anything about their butt hanging outta their miniskirt or they’ll sue you.’”

So yeahhhh that’s not exactly the best thing to take from that whole situation, Don…