Women In Rock And Roll Music

Have women in rock music become more empowered since the 70s?

Intro:

Women, especially in the first decades of rock’s development, were pressured to stay “in their place”, and really that was quite odd for a music culture that emerged as a reaction to the rigid boundaries of the 1950s. It’s tough to determine exactly how vital women have been in the development of rock and roll, and it’s certainly impossible to know what music would sound and look like, had women never become involved as either musicians, singers, songwriters or fans.

Women of course, have filled all these roles and asserted themselves in numerous complex ways in rock and roll culture. Along the way they’ve tackled hurdles like sexual aggression, exploitation, unfair pay,

Janis Joplin, perhaps still the queen of rock, had one of the most exciting yet tragic music careers of all time. Her raspy tones leading her to deliver legendary rock classics like “Try (Just a Little Bit Harder), and “Piece of My Heart”. Joplin often engaged in a war with herself by trying to beat the boys at their own game. It was her way, to be the toughest, to shout the loudest, to drink and smoke the most, but most importantly, to rock the hardest. She got herself heavily addicted to drugs and alcohol and her friends say that’s when she lost a sense of herself and it all got too

Because of this control, performers such as Annie Lennox, Cyndi Lauper, and Madonna were able to use the medium of video to their advantage, further enhancing a career they were in charge of. Women in the business side of the industry were also helping to change perceptions by bringing in new attitudes and proving their self-sufficiency by starting their own companies if the corporate environment turned out to be too restrictive. But along with the advances women were making, there was also a growing respect for the achievements women had made in the past. It was a recognition that not only helped renew the careers of a number of female performers, but also helped all women working in the industry to gain a sense of their own history. And by the end of the 80s, the achievements that women had made in the music business in the past and the present would be acknowledged on a scale that had never been experienced