Women's Role in Rock

I’m Just a Girl. These words may sound familiar. Gwen Stefani, an integral member of the group No Doubt, blasted these words on the radio in her 1996 hit ‘I’m Just a Girl’.  After nearly a decade together, it was this song that was said to increase the group’s commercial visibility. It also established Gwen Stefani “as the latest in a series of female rock musicians to have attracted widespread commercial visibility as well as a loyal following of young female fans” (Wald, 1998, p 1).

Gwen Stefani isn’t the first of her kind. Long before she was introduced, women were entering into the male-dominated music industry with powerful vocals and memorable lyrics.  It was these earlier women who paved the way for the modern female rock artist such as Gwen Stefani and Avril Lavigne.

Looking back, the great rock artists have been predominantly male. In many media outlets, the ‘best artists’ are written off as male.  They’re seen as the best guitarists, with the best stage presence and the best number one hits. But, what about the female rock stars? They’ve entered new territories and made a name for themselves in a male dominated industry.

Mina Julia Carson, Tisa Lewis and Susan Maxine Shaw, authors of ‘Girls Rock!’, interviewed around 50 female musicians back in 2001 in an attempt to showcase the self-perceptions of women musicians.

In their research, they found that several women see their identity reflected in their clothes as much as in their music. Lynn Frances Anderson revealed that in the 1980s, she “had big hair and wore tall shoes and glittery, shiny clothes” in order to complete her feminine persona on stage (Carson, Lewis, Shaw, 2004, p 116).

Men can take stage wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but a major role in women artists is their look. Sociologist Rose Weitz explained that “attractiveness serves as an indirect form of power, by increasing women’s odds of obtaining the protection of powerful men – at least so long as the women’s attractiveness lasts” (Carson, Lewis, Shaw, 2004, p 116). This sense of appearance is heightened when women artists are constantly being looked at, as well as heard.

Going along with appearance, body image was also one of the first pressing issues in the history of women in rock and roll. Tina Turner knew this concept and when she performed for television shows in the mid sixties, she had to do more than sing – she had to act the part.

With the introduction of television, female artists made it big with sexy music videos.

“Early music videos with women artists were fairly innocuous, almost innocent … But when the tide began to turn, even teenage girls wanting to ‘make it’ found themselves succumbing to the pressure to sell sex” (Caron, Lewis, Shaw, 2004, p 127).

Even though the emergence of female rock stars has been a struggle for independence from the mainstream issues of appearance and feminism, there have still been a great number female legends.  To name a few – Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, Tina Turner, Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell, Patsy Cline and Billie Holiday.

Not only did these women break into a man’s industry, but they also defied the traditional norms of rock and roll. Through their own voice and style, they have created legends for themselves.

References

Wald, Gayle 1998, ‘Just a Girl? Rock Music, Feminism, and the Cultural Construction of Female Youth’

Carson, Mina Julia & Lewis, Tina & Shaw, Susan Maxine 2004, ‘Girls Rock!’, University Press of Kentucky