Hi there!
(For working links, please see my original post here:
http://www.chewtheword.com/?p=510 )
I was reading an article the other day that really got my panties in a twist. This is what it said:
“In 2003, Jett was named in the Rolling Stone greatest 100 guitarists of all time at number 87.[12] She was one of only two women in this list. The other was Joni Mitchell at number 72″
Really? REALLY?!?!?!?! TWO women on the WHOLE LIST?????
um. HELLOOOOOOOOO!
yeah, so I got annoyed. I mean, Bonnie Rait, Joan Baez, Charo (really!) and all the ladies in these videos, are amazing guitarists!
I mean, seriously?!?!??!?!
I think I’ve made my point.-have I? I’ll keep going anyway.
These are not huge anomalies. Women in rock might be less promoted (I only really knew of female pop singers that got anywhere when I was a kid), but they’re there nonetheless. Really good musicians that too few people know of. This took merely a few minutes to search, so Rolling Stone?
suck. my. ovaries.
Look, when it began, RS was full of music info, and politics, and had people who made music on the cover. Crazy! I know. NOW-it’s full of music info and reviews (good), politics (cool), and-ladies on the cover who might have never have sung ever, but look super good licking ice cream. ARRRRRRGH!
When there are so many awesome musicians of both genders that could be promoted, WHY is the damn cast of Gossip Girl on the cover of my music mag!? What is Megan Fox doing on there? People pleeeeeze! RS isn’t the only one, but it’s the one that ends up in my mailbox, so that’s my target at the moment. Are men exploited too? Absolutely-that werewolf kid was on there too-(I’ve honestly ripped the covers off a lot of them lately, ’cause I want to read them, but get so annoyed.) But I’d like to know when the last time a woman who wasn’t sexualized in some way, or young and pretty, got a cover. ‘Cause the older, respected, less than beautiful men gracing covers are plentiful. They’re on the covers as music legends, and deserve it! But when did Patti Smith last get a cover? Famous for her prolific songwriting and influence of many who came after her, male and female, Patti was last on the cover, if my research is correct, in 1978. 78. 78! ok, maybe I’m wrong. I mean, Keith Richards was on the cover a couple years ago! And, I’m sorry, but it’s probably not because he’s super hot looking.
Do this search. Google ‘Rolling Stone covers’, and hit images. Britney? ladies licking things? AC/DC guys? Convicted male gang members? all there. Normal looking women in music? even SUPER famous ones? uh…no. ugly men? yes.
To be clear-I’m not anti-female sexuality. I’m not even anti sex industry! (It’s in the details.) But I am anti-list makers discounting women in this century, when these things can easily looked up and verified. There’s no reason to be that tiny minded anymore, and clearly? Some women can rock.
Conversely, and yeah, I gotta say it: It is also very sexist to push female groups simply because they’re all female. Gimmick or not, if the music isn’t great, don’t support it.
If you are in the minority, you can only really break barriers being as good as, or better than, the majority. If you wouldn’t listen to the exact same thing played by men, you shouldn’t support it simply because it’s played by women. Support your lady friends, absolutely! (support ALL your friends’ artistic endeavors!) BUT don’t support them simply because they happen to all be women. That’s not helpful. Basically, once we all recognize that some are good, and some are ok, and some are crap, (just like in everything), we’ll be on an equal playing field. No one gets better without constructive criticism.
Soooooo-find cool music and support it! Male or female led, old or young, black or white, or asian or whatever! Support good music, and we can, as a nation, push out the crappy crap that has taken over.
so, #1-If a female musician is good, and happens to be hot, more power to her, but can’t she be on the cover clothed? I mean, for the music mags anyway-take this to playboy! geeze
Christina Aguilera can really sing-and yet......
#2-being hot doesn’t make her talented, or her music good. Example below: (yeah, it’s entertaining, but….sigh. she’s not really a singer, is she? She’s a dancer!-people are mad now, I can tell!)
and finally-
#3 I dunno. can’t we just judge the music on it’s own merit? It should be a bonus if you get turned on too, right? Some music is so great, and the the person performing it is so into what they’re doing, they seem more beautiful than they’d seem otherwise-and that’s when the magic happens.
to wit:
with musical passion,
-Lea
I promise next time, I’ll try to minimize the linkage, but I love sharing my discoveries! Please share yours as well if so inclined.
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