Pat benatar love is a battlefield literal version

Chapter 1

Introduction

I was musically deprived as a child, a trauma in my childhood inflicted by well-meaning parents upon a little girl who just wanted to hear some rock and roll music. I grew up in a small isolated rural area with little radio reception which left me at the mercy of my parents’ musical choices. My parents meant well; however my mother’s idea of some good music was Tony Orlando and Dawn or some Christian gospel standards. My father favored Sinatra and if he was really looking for fun, listened to polkas. I can appreciate the idea of tying a yellow ribbon on a tree in remembrance, or dancing to a rousing polka, but they only can do so much for your soul. I remember my mother presenting me with my first record. To my utter disappointment it was Marie Osmond’s Paper Roses. Watching the Donny and Marie Show was a family routine, so I should not have been surprised at my mother’s musical choice for me. I asked my mother why Marie was a little bit country and not rock and roll like Donny. She told me that girls do not sing rock and roll. It was unladylike. Her objections became clear as I entered my teen years. I wasn’t allowed to listen to women rockers, and I found my own way of rebelling by annoying my mother with posters of a shirtless, sneering, sexy Billy Idol. Still, she persisted in presenting me with albums of women who sang sweetly. The albums quickly gathered dust. I had to listen to the cool music at my friend’s house, enjoying the liberation of Pat Benatar, the power of Ann Wilson, the freedom of Cyndi Lauper.

My experience of being musically limited by my parents as a teenager shaped my research agenda for this paper. I wanted to know why there were so few women in rock music in the 1970s and 1980s, and if the women who did enter the music industry faced limitations imposed by authority figures much as my mother had with me. I was a teenager who felt that I had no voice in my home, limited by my parents. It was vitally important to me to give these women a voice in my paper and use their words as the foundation for the paper. My goals were to ascertain how women perceived their treatment in the industry, how many women were willing to play into the male fantasy in order to gain commercial success, and how the women reacted to the pressure of being in a predominantly male industry.

The first generation of women in rock and roll included Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, and Cass Elliott. This group of women began their careers in the 1960s. Historians have written about this group of women and concentrated upon their treatment by the press and male musicians. They found that the women encountered a boys only club in rock, were marginalized by the press, were cast into male constructed categories and subjected to a different set of behavioral rules than the men.

Historians have written about the first generation of women artists in the rock music genre and focused upon their treatment by the press. Historian Lisa Rhodes asserted that magazines used clichés when describing women and paid disproportionate attention to female artist’s physical appearances to marginalize them. Rolling Stone magazine referred to Janis Joplin as an “imperious whore” and Grace Slick wore “…one of her bitch costumes…”[endnoteRef:1] When Janis Joplin died, her death was covered very differently in the press than that of Jimi Hendrix. Both were talented musicians at the height of their careers when they died of drug overdoses. Rolling Stone reported on the particulars of where and how Hendrix died and details about his career. According to Lisa Rhodes, when Rolling Stone wrote about Joplin, the reporter wrote about what she was wearing at the time of her death instead of giving her recognition as “the most powerful woman in rock music.”[endnoteRef:2] The magazines did not speak of men in clichés or focus upon their clothes. [1: Lisa Rhodes, Electric Ladyland: Women and Rock Culture (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005), 50] [2: Ibid.]

Women in rock music were cast into male constructed categories as a method to marginalize them according to historian Sheila Whitely. Women were categorized as either the “subservient earth mother,” a “romanticized fantasy figure,” or the “easy lay.”[endnoteRef:3] These women were never cast as rock stars; they were always put into a male created role that the press used in magazine articles and reviews. The group the Mamas and the Papas had four members, two men and two women. The women were very different. Michelle Phillips was a thin beautiful blonde and Cass Elliot was a full-figured woman who was not as beautiful as Phillips, but Elliott was the best vocalist of the group. The press focused on Phillips as the “fantasy figure” and Elliott was referred to as Mama Cass thus relegating her to the non-sexualized “earth mother” role. [endnoteRef:4] According to Whitely, Phillips was never referred to as Mama Michelle and the press focused upon what she was wearing and how she was positioned on the stage and Elliott was spoken of as “large and lovely.”[endnoteRef:5] [3: Sheila Whiteley, Women and Popular Music: Sexuality, Identity, and Subjectivity (London: Routledge, 2000), 23. ] [4: Ibid.] [5: Ibid]

In the 1960s paternalistic society, women were expected to be demure with a delicate appearance. Janis Joplin had a reputation for drinking and partying with the men in the band. Men in rock were expected to live the lifestyle of having promiscuous sex, doing drugs and drinking to excess. When Janis Joplin lived the same lifestyle as the men, she was harshly criticized and cast as the “easy lay.”[endnoteRef:6] There was no male equivalent category to “easy lay” because it was accepted and expected for men in rock to behave this way. Whitely stated that Joplin said in an interview that the press focused upon her lifestyle instead of her music.[endnoteRef:7] [6: Ibid., 54.] [7: Ibid., 68.]

Female artists found a way to be successful by writing songs that women would like because women focus on song lyrics. According to historian Judy Kutulas, women became singer-songwriters and changed the way women were portrayed in lyrics by going from being the object in songs to the subject.[endnoteRef:8] Kutulas looked at song lyrics by men and women. In “Let’s Spend the Night Together” by the Rolling Stones, the woman in the song is there to be a sexual object. There was a shift between songs sung by the girl groups in the 1960s where the women sang about waiting for love to the music of the late 1960s and early1970s where women became assertive. In the song “Jessie” Janis Joplin sings about wanting her man home in her bed. Her wants were paramount, not his. Carole King was another singer-songwriter who used “I” instead of “me” in her songs.[endnoteRef:9] She firmly put herself in the lead role, and women found those types of songs very relatable. [8: Judy Kutulas, “Women’s Music from Carole King to the Disco Divas.” In Disco Divas: Women and Popular Culture in the 1970s (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press ,2003), 177] [9: Ibid, 179.]

The first generation of women in rock encountered a boys only mentality and were marginalized by the press by being cast into stereotyped roles. Women asserted their independence and found their voice through songwriting. They changed the role of the woman in the song from being an object to being the subject. The three historians focused upon song lyrics and magazine articles; however, they did not have any interviews with the female artists. The research did not address whether the next generation of women artists experienced the same level of discrimination in the industry or their personal views on gender discrimination in music. This paper will extend the research by inserting the voice of the female artist, examining how many of these female artists accepted the imposed limitations of their gender, and explaining how women were able to find success in the music industry in the 1970s and 1980s.

The women artists in the next generation also encountered a boys only club in the music industry. They were viewed with curiosity, treated as novelty acts and were limited by rampant sexual discrimination. The experience of three groups of women will be used to support this argument. The first group consists of three women who found success in the music industry and performed with major bands but were never household names. I conducted telephone interviews with vocalist Laurie Beebe-Lewis, bassist and vocalist Shaaron Hancock-Schuemaker, and lead-guitarist Roni Lee. These interviews will support a post-structural and role analysis of the gender discrimination that women encountered. Lewis has sung lead vocals with her band Pitche Blend, The Buckinghams, and has sung as a vocalist in the New Mamas and the Papas. In addition Beebe-Lewis has toured with Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, and Ted Neugent. Lee has played lead guitar in Venus and the Razor Blades and has opened for Van Halen, DEVO, Loverboy, and The Motels. Bass guitarist and vocalist Shaaron Hancock-Schuemaker was one of the first female bass players in San Diego. She has toured with Jimmy Buffett and has concert credit with ZZ Top.

The second group of female artists is Joan Jett and Cherie Currie from The Runaways. The Runaways were an all-girl teenage band in the 1970s that were known as jailbait rock. The treatment of Currie and Jett is different than those of the other groups of women. Currie and Jett are referred to as girls because they were minors and were in a liminal position. Liminality is a term that implies marginalization. A liminal figure does not hold power in a relationship. The information obtained from Cherie Currie’s memoir Neon Angel and from the 2004 documentary Edgeplay: A Film About The Runaways will support a structural and post-structural analysis of how males in the music industry asserted power through the use of demeaning labels and sexual exploitation. The lyrics of songs written by Jett will be used in a textual analysis to illustrate the reaction of women to gender discrimination in the music industry.

The third group of women, Pat Benatar, Belinda Carlisle of the Go-Go’s, Cyndi Lauper, Deborah Harry of the group Blondie, and Ann and Nancy Wilson of the group Heart, were extremely successful, and had many top ten hits on the radio. The memoirs of Benatar and of the Wilsons will be used in a post-structural, textual, and psychological analysis of the limitations women faced in the rock music genre. The memoir of Belinda Carlisle will be used to show how different a career in the industry was if women were in full control of a band. Cyndi Lauper’s memoir will be used in a post-structural and psychological analysis to illustrate how men asserted power in the music industry and how through song lyrics a female artist could create an anthem for women. In addition Rolling Stone magazine covers will be used in a textual analysis of the language used on the covers to show that a gender bias existed. Evidence from a book on entertainment awards by Don Franks will be used to illustrate the separate categories that women were in for the Grammy Awards.

Many women artists discovered their passion for singing at an early age. For Ann and Nancy Wilson, Cyndi Lauper, and Pat Benatar, the Beatles had a significant impact upon their desire to be musicians. In 1964 the Beatles appeared twice on The Ed Sullivan Show with an audience of over 70 million viewers.[endnoteRef:10] The Beatles looked and sounded unlike any other band of their era and had a significant impact upon pop culture. Significantly they also wrote their own songs which were inspirational to young girls who dreamed of being like the Beatles. Ann and Nancy Wilson wrote about their desire to be like the Beatles in their memoir, devoting an entire chapter to the influence the Beatles had on their lives. Ann Wilson wrote of seeing the Beatles on television for the first time when she was fourteen years old and her sister Nancy ten years old. “Who we were, and more important, who we imagined we could be, shifted forever on that day; we never turned back.”[endnoteRef:11] While their friends dreamed of becoming the bride to one of the Beatles, the Wilson sisters dreamed of being a Beatle.[endnoteRef:12] Their interest in the Beatles was not a romantic fantasy; it was a journey of expression. The Beatles through their music gave these young girls a dream, a passion. As young girls, Cyndi Lauper and her sister dressed up and sang the Beatles’ songs for their family.[endnoteRef:13] Pat Benatar related in her memoir that she had the music of the Beatles playing all the time on her radio that she received for Christmas in 1964. [endnoteRef:14] The music of the Beatles transcended gender roles and inspired some of the best female artists of the 1970s and 1980s[endnoteRef:15] [10: "The Beatles | Bio, Pictures, Videos | Rolling Stone." Rolling Stone | Music News, Politics, Reviews, Photos, Videos, Interviews and More. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/the-beatles/biography (accessed March 1, 2013).] [11: Ann and Nancy Wilson, Kicking & Dreaming: a Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll (New York: ItBooks, 2012), 41.] [12: Ibid. 43-44] [13: Cyndi Lauper and Jancee Dunn, Cyndi Lauper: a Memoir (New York City: Atria Books, 2012), 10.] [14: Pat Benatar and Patsi Bale Cox, Between a Heart and a Rock Place: a Memoir (New York: William Morrow, 2010), 24.] [15: Susan J. Douglas, "She's Got the Devil in Her Heart." In Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media (New York: Times Books, 1994), 119-120.]

The music and image of David Bowie was inspirational to Joan Jett and Cherie Currie of the Runaways. David Bowie in the 1970s was a chameleon changing his hair, appearance, and sound frequently. His androgynous look was unlike the long haired rock singers of the 1970s and his music resonated with Cherie Currie particularly. Currie had a difficult time in high school fitting in with the other teens. She even cut off her hair to look like David Bowie in a defiant endeavor to prove that she did not care what the other teens though about her.[endnoteRef:16] Currie stated that, during a concert by Bowie, “…an electric flash…when I felt I was truly invincible-that’s how I wanted to feel all the time.”[endnoteRef:17] She never wrote about wanting to date Bowie. She wanted to be like him. His music brought Currie a new experience, one of power that drove her to become a musician. [16: Cherie Currie and Tony Neill, Neon Angel: a Memoir of a Runaway (New York: !t, itbooks, 2010), 41.] [17: Ibid.]

Male dominated rock music was the norm in the 1970s and “cock rock” became the epitome of male sexual power. The quintessential “cock rock” group of the era was British hard rock group Led Zeppelin. [endnoteRef:18]Led Zeppelin had a large following and was very successful commercially selling over 100 million records. [endnoteRef:19] This type of rock was arrogant and driven by the guitar. Jimmy Page was the lead guitarist for Led Zeppelin. His stance with the guitar, hips thrust outward, drew attention to his electric guitar that was a phallic symbol. The lead singer, Robert Plant, wore pants so tight that nothing was left to the imagination and worked his microphone stand as another pseudo phallus. The song most associated with “cock rock” is Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” which is all about sex.[endnoteRef:20] Plant sings “I’m gonna give you every inch of my love” which is not a reference to his heart. These songs were not designed for women. Their core audience was men and “Cock rock” was a celebration of male-dominated sexuality with the ideal being sex without commitment.[endnoteRef:21] Led Zeppelin influenced many bands, including Heart which played Led Zeppelin covers when they began as a band with Ann Wilson singing lead. [endnoteRef:22] [18: Steven Michael Waksman, "Every inch of my love: Led Zeppelin and the problem of cock rock." Journal of Popular Music Studies (1996): 5-25. Music Index, EBSCOhost (accessed March 15, 2013).] [19: "Led Zeppelin | Bio, Pictures, Videos | Rolling Stone." Rolling Stone | Music News, Politics, Reviews, Photos, Videos, Interviews and More. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/led-zeppelin/biography (accessed March 16, 2013).] [20: Steven Michael Waksman, "Every inch of my love: Led Zeppelin and the problem of cock rock." Journal of Popular Music Studies (1996): 5-25. Music Index, EBSCOhost (accessed March 15, 2013).] [21: Simon Frith, Sound Effects: Youth, Leisure, and the Politics of Rock'n'Roll (New York: Pantheon Books, 1981), 227.] [22: Ann and Nancy Wilson, Kicking & Dreaming: a Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll (New York: ItBooks, 2012), 94. ]

When MTV aired its first video on August 1, 1981 it changed the music industry by combining marketing mixed with visual art. This target audience was aged twelve to thirty-four “baby boomers” who had been born after World War II. [endnoteRef:23] This was a demographic that had money to spend on albums. The strength of a music video in the 1980s could make a career or break one. [endnoteRef:24] Popular videos translated into record sales. The videos in the early 1980s featured strutting males such as Billy Idol, Rod Stewart, and the men of Duran Duran surrounded by women who were usually scantily clad models who were there for the voyeuristic needs of young males. These early videos showed men living out a fantasy of having luscious, beautiful women available to their desires. The male rock stars in the videos lived the fantasies of adolescent males where women were mindless objects. There were artists such as Madonna who created videos to fulfill the expected role of a woman as a sexual object, using the medium as a way to market themselves; however, there were women who used MTV as a platform to speak to other women. Women artists in the 1980s took control of their videos and some such as Pat Benatar and Cyndi Lauper used the medium to spread messages of female empowerment. Benatar and Lauper were savvy in finding a way to promote their music and to appeal to the female viewers in more than just a visual manner. [23: Lisa A. Lewis, Gender, Politics and MTV: Voicing the Difference (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990), 19.] [24: Saul Austerlitz, Money for Nothing: a History of the Music Video, from the Beatles to the White Stripes (New York: Continuum, 2007).]

Women artists from 1975 to 1985 only accounted for 27% of the 249 songs that reached the number one position on the Billboard Top 40 Music Charts.[endnoteRef:25] The peak year for women on the Billboard chart was in 1981 with 44% of the number one hits were by women or groups with women singing lead such as the group Blondie. [endnoteRef:26] Of the top 25 Hits by the Decade, only two songs were by women in the 1980s: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts which came in at number five with “I Love Rock ‘N Roll”, and Blondie with the number thirteen hit “Call Me.”[endnoteRef:27] The top of the Billboard charts remained predominantly masculine territory from 1975 to 1985. [25: Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 hits, 1955 to Present (New York: Billboard Publications, 1983), 840-845.] [26: Ibid. ] [27: Ibid. 824-825.]

Female artists in the 1970s and 1980s had to enter a boys club without female role models. These women faced discrimination, but they persisted and found a way into an industry designed for and run by men. From the music of Led Zeppelin to the era of MTV, rock was a celebration of male sexuality with women being objects. The challenge for women was to enter this male dominated industry without becoming objectified, survive the discrimination, and use their creativity in song lyrics and music videos to connect with a female audience.

Chapter 2

The Limitations of Being Female in a Rock Band

The next generation of women in rock music discovered that gender discrimination in the music industry limited and shaped their opportunities. Women were treated as novelty acts, were subjected to a different set of rules than the men were, and had their images sexualized to sell records. It was difficult for women to enter into the male dominated music industry. The 1970s was an era dominated by male bands such as Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, and Aerosmith. All these bands were showcases for male sexuality. Most rock bands were typically male and it was viewed as strange for a woman to play an instrument or to lead a rock band. Bassist and vocalist Shaaron Hancock-Schuemaker stated that bands were more of a social group and partying was a large part the band experience. [endnoteRef:28] Men were hired into bands because they got along well with the other men; however, women had to be pretty and be able to sing. [endnoteRef:29] Women were also there to visually draw the attention of club owners to the band. [28: Shaaron Hancock-Schuemaker, Interview by author. Phone interview. La Mesa, Ca, March 22, 2013.] [29: Ibid. ]

Women in rock music in the mid-1970s were viewed as novelty acts by men in the music industry. The men were looking for a novelty act to bring more attention to their bands. The women were viewed as “eye candy” or “token girls.”[endnoteRef:30] Bands would place ads in newspapers or upon bulletin boards looking for female singers to sing a few songs. Novelty acts became more popular, and in the late-1970s all-girl bands were flown into the North West territories to perform for largely male audiences.[endnoteRef:31] The band Heart had five members in the band, two of whom were sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. Ann Wilson was the powerhouse lead singer, and Nancy Wilson played rhythm guitar in the band. Heart received a great deal of attention because they had the novelty of two female siblings in the band which was a rarity. [30: Laurie Beebe-Lewis, Interview by author. Phone interview, San Diego, CA, October 2, 2012.] [31: Roni Lee, Interview by author. Phone interview. San Diego, CA, October 15, 2012.]

Being a novelty act was a way for women to enter the music industry, but it had limitations. Women were there to draw attention to the main band and not to themselves. According to Beebe-Lewis there were situations where venues would not book more female bands because they already had a girl group performing. [endnoteRef:32] If a woman could really sing, it was surprising to the men according to Beebe-Lewis. Hancock-Schuemaker stated that men would often turn down the microphone on the public address system of pretty but untalented girls so that the audience would not hear them sing. [endnoteRef:33] The women could hear themselves onstage on the monitors and were unaware that the audience never heard them. Women were there as stage decoration, according to Lee, and if a woman “…got too much attention for your music, it was bad.”[endnoteRef:34] Women in rock music were limited in the industry due to gender discrimination. Disc jockeys would only play singles by one woman artist a week, and due to this limitation, Pat Benatar’s songs received less air play than those of her male counterparts.[endnoteRef:35] There existed a bare tolerance for women artists in the industry. [32: Ibid.] [33: Shaaron Hancock-Schuemaker, Interview by author. Phone interview. La Mesa, Ca, March 22, 2013.] [34: Laurie Beebe-Lewis, Interview by author. Phone interview, San Diego, CA, October 2, 2012.] [35: Pat Benatar and Patsi Bale Cox, Between a Heart and a Rock Place: a Memoir (New York: William Morrow, 2010), 94.]

There was an unofficial age cap in the music industry that existed for both men and women. Hancock-Schuemaker asserted that thirty years old was roughly the age cap for women but if a woman looked more like Linda Ronstadt than Janis Joplin she could work longer. [endnoteRef:36] Essentially the shelf life for women was extended if they were beautiful. Hancock-Schuemaker said that this ageism myth was perpetuated by Grace Slick and a comment she had made about how no one would want to see people on stage over the age of 30. [endnoteRef:37]Men were able to work longer in the industry but they were valued as musicians and were not treated as novelty acts like the women were. [36: Shaaron Hancock-Schuemaker, Interview by author. Phone interview. La Mesa, Ca, March 22, 2013.] [37: Ibid.]

Women had a difficult time getting recording contracts because they were viewed as novelty acts that would never be highly profitable. The Go-Go’s were an all-girl group that had opened for the ska group Madness on a tour of the United Kingdom. The lead singer, Belinda Carlisle stated in her memoir that the head of Capitol Records told the band that he really liked them but would not sign them because “… no female band had a track record worth investing in.” [endnoteRef:38] The view was that women were novelties, had no lasting power and were not worth the time or money to develop them. It was Miles Copeland, the man who created IRS Records and signed the Police, who after long negotiations signed the Go-Go’s. The Go-Go’s were disappointed that they did not receive a million dollar advance when they were signed and Carlisle speculated that the band might have been given a huge advance if the band had been male. [endnoteRef:39] The Go-Go’s became the first all-girl group to write and sing all the songs on a number one album.[endnoteRef:40] Capitol Records due to their chauvinistic view of all-girl groups lost out on a very profitable group that was more than a novelty act. [38: Belinda Carlisle, Lips Unsealed: a Memoir (New York: Crown, 2010), 66.] [39: Ibid. 72.] [40: Ibid. 88.]

Not all novelty acts were the same, and one particular novelty act used the idea of illicit sex to draw men to the band. The Runaways were a band of five girls who were only fifteen and sixteen years old. The members were Sandy West, Jackie Fox, Joan Jett, Lita Ford, and Cherie Currie. Currie joined the Runaways, like the others, as a teenager. Currie was blonde, beautiful, and vulnerable because of her dysfunctional family life. The band was formed by producer Kim Fowley and their image was created by him. Currie stated in her memoir Neon Angel that Fowley used the girl’s sexuality to sell records and that he said that “teenage jailbait sex…. is the best kind of sex there is.” Fowley crafted the band as a forbidden sexual fantasy, feeding on the idea of illicit sex with a underage girls. Their audiences were primarily, according to Kim Fowley, “slime balls, horny teens, and a few girls who wanted big sisters like the girls” in the Runaways.[endnoteRef:41] The Runaways sang primarily about sex and partying. Currie became the Cherry Bomb, a character from a song written for her with the same title by Kim Fowley and Joan Jett. Cherry Bomb was a wild teenage girl who was sexually aggressive. Currie typically took to the stage in lingerie such as a bustier with garters and stockings which furthered the illicit fantasy (see figure 1).[endnoteRef:42] The Cherry Bomb image was crafted for the sexual gratification of men. The lyrics to the song “Cherry Bomb” are about primal sex with this character who is wild, the aggressor who will perform a sex act upon the male until he is “sore.” Using the word “cherry” was a play upon Cherie’s name and a euphemism for virginity and focuses the attention on the youth of the singer and played up the jailbait fantasy. [41: Edgeplay. Dir. Victory Blue. Perf. Cherie Currie, Lita Ford, Victory Tischler-Blue, Sandy West, Jackie Fox. Image Entertainment, 2005. Film.] [42: "Pictures & Photos of Cherie Currie - IMDb." IMDb - Movies, TV and Celebrities. http://www.imdb.com/media/rm525566464/nm0192947 (accessed April 25, 2013). ]

Figure 1 Cherie Currie performing “Cherry Bomb” Wilkening, Matthew. "Heart’s Wilson Sisters Cover Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ at Kennedy Center Honors." Ultimate Classic Rock. heart-led-zeppelin-stairway-to-heaven-kennedy-center-honors (accessed April 26, 2013).

“Cherry Bomb”

Stone age love and strange sound too

Come on baby let me get to you

Bad nights cause’n teenage blues

Get down ladies you’ve got nothing to lose

Come on baby let me get to you

Hello Daddy, hello Mom

I’m you ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb

Hello world I'm your wild girl

I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb

Hey street boy what's your style

Your dead end dreams don't make you smile

I'll give ya something to live for

Have ya, grab ya til your sore [endnoteRef:43] [43: "Lyrics "Cherry Bomb"." Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Offical Bad Reputation Nation Website. joanjettbadrep.com/cgi-bin/lyrics.cgi?song=CherryBomb (accessed March 2, 2013).]

The girls in the Runaways were liminal figures, girls acting like women yet not fully cognizant of the way Fowley was exploiting their images for his own profit. Liminal figures do not hold power in a relationship. Jett stated in an interview that “I didn’t realize people were putting us down and calling us jailbait rock until the end” referring to the breakup of the Runaways.[endnoteRef:44] Hancock-Schuemaker auditioned for the Runaways when she was twenty-three but was turned down because she was not underage. She stated that the jailbait concept for the band was very obvious although it was never said aloud.[endnoteRef:45] The ways of the music industry were unknown to this group of young inexperienced girls who had no idea that they were the basest sort of a novelty act. [44: Christopher Connelly, “Joan Jett Has the Last Laugh.” Rolling Stone All Access. Rolling Stone, n.d. 2 Nov..2012..< http://www.archive.rollingstone.com/Desktop>.] [45: Shaaron Hancock-Schuemaker, Interview by author. Phone interview. La Mesa, Ca, March 22, 2013.]

The press was very discriminatory when women entered into the male dominated genre of rock and roll and sought to limit their role in the industry through the use of sexist language. Ann and Nancy Wilson of the group Heart have been performing since the early 1970s. Heart released their Bebe Le Strange album in 1980, and it was reviewed by Rolling Stone music journalist Tom Carson. Carson gave them a scathing review where he called them “commercial hacks”, “cock rock without the cock” and wrote that they acted like “tough chicks.”[endnoteRef:46] Carson’s use of the phrase “cock rock without the cock” implies that a real rock star must have male genitalia. The implication of the article is that the Wilsons are female, and their attempt to be rock stars, without being male, renders them “commercial hacks.” By using the term “chicks” Carson also subjugates the women into a subordinate role. A chick is a fun girl, certainly not a woman. The review by Carson openly mocks the women when he refers to as song as a “we-is-so-ballsy-rock-&-roll-ladies.” Carson’s bad review illustrated his discomfort with women assuming an alpha role in a band that contained men, and showed his view that the women were emasculating men. Carson never mentioned the men in the band but deliberately chose to focus upon the women in the group who were assuming traditionally male roles. [46: Tom Carson, "Empty-handed Heart.” Rolling Stone | Music News, Politics, Reviews, Photos, Videos, Interviews and More. http://www.rollingstone.com (accessed November 2, 2012).]

The sexism directed at Heart in the 1980s persisted into the next century. A 2010 article in the Village Voice by Vijith Assar illustrates that as far as women have come in the struggle for equality, the boys only club of rock music still exits. Heart wrote and performed classic rock songs such as “Barracuda” and “Crazy On You”; however, they also sang ballads such as “Alone.” Assar chose to pay them a “compliment” of deeming them possibly worthy of being in the “cock rock” genre due to their aggressive guitar riffs.[endnoteRef:47] The tone of the article is derogatory especially when criticizing their ballads as the work of giving into “girly urges.”[endnoteRef:48] The author challenges their identity as rock stars; yet clearly has a bifurcated view of their identity. He alternates between a feminine “girly” identity for them and a pseudo male identity as evidenced when he refers to them as “almost cock rock.” Assar deviates between the Wilsons being girls and women attempting to assume a male rock star role. He also chose to use an androgynous photo of them in the article further illustrating his discomfort with women in the rock arena. Assar conveniently overlooked the fact that Heart did not write the “girly” songs that he complains about, in fact “Alone” was written by two men. The underlying message is that true rock, in this case “cock rock”, is a testosterone based genre that is fed by sex and aggression. The term “cock rock” persists in reviews of Heart and it implies that it is impossible for a woman to be a rock star because she is physiologically incapable of meeting the requirements and will never be equal to a man. [47: Vijith Assar, "Best of Voice Places." New York News, Events, Restaurants, Music. http://villagevoice.com (accessed September 16, 2012).] [48: Ibid.]

Female musicians were kept in a liminal role in the industry due to their gender. They were not full rock stars; they were women rock stars, always separate, and certainly never viewed as equal by men in the industry. Pat Benatar had one of the best voices in rock music and won Grammy Awards in each year from 1981-1984. When she won her first Grammy Award in 1981 for Best Rock Performance, Female; this category was not televised but the Best Rock Performance, Male award was. [endnoteRef:49] The Grammy Awards did not televise categories that they believed were not popular. [endnoteRef:50] Pat Benatar’s experience reflected the lesser status that women in rock and roll endured. Women were never directly allowed to compete with men for the same awards. Benatar wrote in her memoir Between a Heart and a Rock Place about the unwritten rules of rock and roll and the role of women in it. “They weren’t equals, they weren’t rock stars, and they weren’t players. Women were girlfriends or groupies.”[endnoteRef:51] Women were viewed as not being full rock stars, and were limited by the rampant discrimination in the industry. The separation of genders in awards shows demonstrates the male constructed view that women are incapable of competing with a man for an award. [49: Pat Benatar and Patsi Bale Cox, Between a Heart and a Rock Place: a Memoir (New York: William Morrow, 2010), 98.] [50: Don Franks, "Grammy Awards." In Entertainment awards: a music, cinema, theatre and broadcasting reference, 1928 through 1993. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1996. 167.] [51: Pat Benatar and Patsi Bale Cox, Between a Heart and a Rock Place: a Memoir (New York: William Morrow, 2010), 98.]

The use of pet names and male constructed labels were used in a derogatory manner to keep women in a less powerful role in the music industry. Pet names keep women in a liminal state, and change the balance of power because these types of names are usually used with children. Names such as “cutie”, “honey”, and “sweetie” were used when speaking to female artists.[endnoteRef:52] Beebe-Lewis stated in an interview that she was told by a supportive man in the industry not to allow men to degrade her by calling her such names because “You are not food. You are a person.”[endnoteRef:53] The Wilsons wrote in their book that it was commonplace for promotional men in the industry to call them “girls.”[endnoteRef:54] Girls are never in a position of power, they are children. [52: Laurie Beebe-Lewis, Interview by author. Phone interview, San Diego, CA, October 2, 2012.] [53: Ibid. ] [54: Ann and Nancy Wilson, Kicking & Dreaming: a Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll (New York: ItBooks, 2012), 116.]

Even greatly successful women such as Pat Benatar had to contend with being cast into male constructed roles that were used to dehumanize and limit them. Ann Wilson sang with a band in 1970 called Hocus Pocus. She had to carefully choose how to act upon the stage because men were quick to cast her as a “dominatrix” if she appeared too powerful on stage or as a “sex kitten” if she were too relaxed. [endnoteRef:55] Benatar was labeled as a “vixen” and she struggled against this role that Chrysalis, her record label, wanted her to play. [endnoteRef:56] Rolling Stone contributor Steve Pond wrote an article about Benatar in 1980. It was titled “Pat Benatar: This Year’s Model” and openly called her a “sex symbol.”[endnoteRef:57] Vixens and sex symbols are both objects; there for the sexual pleasure of men. When Benatar was pregnant with her first child, Chrysalis did not want any pictures of her to be taken, or for her to discuss her pregnancy, and they expected her to resume her “vixen” role soon after she had her baby.[endnoteRef:58] Motherhood was not viewed as sexy, and Benatar had broken free from her assigned role as an object and became a person; a mother. Women had to endure being labeled in a music industry run by men because they were viewed as products instead of people. [55: Ibid., 74.] [56: Pat Benatar and Patsi Bale Cox, Between a Heart and a Rock Place: a Memoir (New York: William Morrow, 2010), 98. ] [57: Steve Pond, "Pat Benatar: This Year’s Model." Rolling Stone | Music News, Politics, Reviews, Photos, Videos, Interviews and More. http://www.rollingstone.com (accessed November 2, 2012).] [58: Pat Benatar and Patsi Bale Cox, Between a Heart and a Rock Place: a Memoir (New York: William Morrow, 2010), 157.]

Women in rock and roll music were viewed as eye candy and women either embraced the image or fought against it. The Go-Go’s did a cover for Rolling Stone that was a picture of the group in white underwear with the caption “Go-Go’s Put Out.” Carlisle stated that she loved the cover and laughed when she saw it.[endnoteRef:59] The Go-Go’s image was the “girls next door” which was crafted by their marketing department; however, they in actuality were a hard partying, cursing, and sexually active group of women. [endnoteRef:60] Blondie was a band that had one female in it, lead singer Deborah Harry. Harry was a strikingly beautiful blonde who had a moderate amount of talent. A Rolling Stone interviewer Richard Cromelin wrote about her “Deborah doesn’t really care if they call her a sleazy sex symbol instead of a great singer-as long as they call her.”[endnoteRef:61] Harry said in the same interview that she would “...take whatever they want to give me.”[endnoteRef:62] In a VH1 Behind the Music documentary Harry said “I wanted people to think I was hot.”[endnoteRef:63] Harry was a former Playboy Club bunny, and playing up a sexy image was probably not something that was objectionable to her. For women such as Carlisle and Harry any publicity appeared to be good publicity. [59: Belinda Carlisle, Lips Unsealed: a Memoir (New York: Crown, 2010), 91.] [60: ""Behind The Music Remastered: The Go-Go's" ( Ep. 309 ) from Behind The Music Remastered | Full Episode | VH1.com." VH1 | Shows + Celebrity + Music + Pop Culture. http://www.vh1.com/video/behind-the-music-remastered/full-episodes/behind-the-music-remastered-the-go-gos/1677708/playlist.jhtml (accessed February 7, 2013).] [61: Richard Cromelin,”Blondie: Wild about Harry.” "Rolling Stone | Music News, Politics, Reviews, Photos, Videos, Interviews and More." Rolling Stone | Music News, Politics, Reviews, Photos, Videos, Interviews and More. http://www.rollingstone.com (accessed December 2, 2012).] [62: Ibid.] [63: ""Behind The Music Remastered: Blondie" ( Ep. 311 ) from Behind The Music Remastered | Full Episode | VH1.com." VH1 | Shows + Celebrity + Music + Pop Culture. http://www.vh1.com/video/behind-the-music-remastered/full-episodes/behind-the-music-remastered-blondie/1678617/playlist.jhtml (accessed March 22, 2013).]

There were women who resisted being “eye candy.” The Wilson sisters of Heart did care about the image they were projecting. Ann Wilson stated in a VH1 Behind the Music episode that “We were not going to be sold as Cheesecake, we were going to be ourselves.” [endnoteRef:64] In the same interview Nancy Wilson stated that their music was about the music and not their image. Only during the 1980s, when Heart had their first number one singles and were making videos, did their image change. The band had signed with Capitol Records which was a very large record label. The label hired designers and stylists to come in for music video shoots. Instead of the women wearing outfits that they had either sewed themselves or bought, they had people who tried to accentuate Nancy’s body and hide Ann’s. The corporation held them tightly and for the Wilson sisters it was too late to object to their new image.[endnoteRef:65] Cyndi Lauper chose her own wardrobe and crafted her own image. She chose not to be a sex symbol.[endnoteRef:66] The choice to both play into the stereotype of sexy women and advance their career or to stand up for their own personal style, was individualistic. While some women saw the sexy image as not a problem, others realized that it was exploitation. [64: ""Behind the Music Remastered: Heart" ( Ep. 108 ) from Behind The Music Remastered | Full Episode | VH1.com." VH1 | Shows + Celebrity + Music + Pop Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb.] [65: Ibid.] [66: Cyndi Lauper and Jancee Dunn, Cyndi Lauper: a Memoir (New York City: Atria Books, 2012), 148.]

Language was used by men to reinforce the imbalance of power in the manager/talent relationship. The most egregious abuse of power was by Kim Fowley in the derogatory treatment of the girls he managed in the Runaways. The girls in the Runaways were kept in submissive roles and demeaned by Fowley. They were constantly reminded that it was his band and that they were replaceable.[endnoteRef:67] They were subjected to being called “dogs,” “dog shit,” and “dog piss” by Fowley, and Currie stated that the girls did not understand that it was not acceptable for them to be treated that way. [endnoteRef:68] Due to their age and lack of experience, they naively believed that this was the norm in a rock band. Fowley explained this treatment of the girls in a documentary by stating that he had a love of the military and wanted to run the band like a boot camp.[endnoteRef:69] The difficulty with Fowley’s explanation is that these were minor children not Marines. Fowley’s incessant use of the “dog” labels dehumanized them and emphasized his alpha position as “master” in the relationship. [67: Cherie Currie and Tony Neill, Neon Angel: a Memoir of a Runaway (New York: !t, itbooks, 2010), 81.] [68: Ibid.85.] [69: Edgeplay. Dir. Victory Blue. Perf. Cherie Currie, Lita Ford, Victory Tischler-Blue, Sandy West, Jackie Fox. Image Entertainment, 2005. Film.]

Fowley used his position of authority to intimidate and abuse the girls, Currie in particular. In the 2004 documentary Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways, Jackie Fox stated that Fowley “abused Cherie mercilessly.”[endnoteRef:70] The girls spoke in the documentary of getting used to the abuse so much so that they no longer recognized it as abuse. According to Currie, this man was their manager, he was a father figure to them, and used them for his own profit.[endnoteRef:71] Fowley granted an interview to Crawdaddy Magazine in which he told the interviewer that the best thing that could happen for the band, because of Currie’s ego, would be if Currie “hung herself from a shower rod and put herself in the tradition of Marilyn Monroe” and he used the “dog” reference when speaking of her.[endnoteRef:72] These were girls in a position where they were vulnerable due to their age and the imbalance of power in the manager/band relationship. [70: Ibid.] [71: Ibid.] [72: Cherie Currie and Tony Neill, Neon Angel: a Memoir of a Runaway (New York: !t, itbooks, 2010), 190.]

There were unwritten rules for behavior in rock and roll music which were devised to keep women in a submissive role. The most egregious role violation that women could make was to play lead guitar in a band. The lead guitar role is the testosterone driven alpha role within a band with the electric guitar being a symbolic phallus. If a woman assumed this role, she effectively emasculated the men in the band. Roni Lee is a phenomenal electric guitar player. It took years for her to be able to obtain a job other than a roadie. Lee was allowed to play with the men backstage but never onstage. Lee stated that it was acceptable for a woman to be a “chick with a pick,” meaning the girl who sweetly sang and strummed an acoustic guitar. [endnoteRef:73] Even today, in order for Lee to be considered for a job as a lead guitar player, she has to play better than the men to be considered equal.[endnoteRef:74] Lee stated that there was a stigma with being a “girl guitar player.”[endnoteRef:75] As phenomenal as Lee is, she is typically told that she “plays good for a girl.” [endnoteRef:76] The classification of “for a girl” limits her accomplishments by implying that women are not equal to men in that role. Men choosing to use the word “girl” instead of “woman” places women in a pre-adolescent liminal state which has less power, and removes the threat of direct competition. [73: Roni Lee, Interview by author. Phone interview. San Diego, CA, October 15, 2012.] [74: Ibid.] [75: Ibid.] [76: Ibid.]

Established female artists in successful bands hesitated to violate the unwritten rule that the lead guitar player in a band be a man. Nancy Wilson of Heart was the rhythm guitarist for the band. When the band fired Roger Fisher, their lead guitarist, she refused to assume the lead guitar position because it would be a distraction from the music and put a spotlight on the fact that a woman was assuming a male role. [endnoteRef:77] Lee knows Wilson, and stated that Wilson was the “chick with the pick,” too shy to assume the lead role, and too easily intimidated.[endnoteRef:78] Wilson encountered male discomfiture with a female playing guitar early in her career in the 1970s. She also often received the backhanded compliment of being “good for a girl” but also had men question if she had remembered to plug in her instrument. [endnoteRef:79] Men viewed Wilson as a sexual object, not a competent musician who would plug in the guitar. Per these unwritten rules of rock a woman could only strum an acoustic guitar: be sweet and non-threatening, but could never powerful. [77: Ann and Nancy Wilson, Kicking & Dreaming: a Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll (New York: ItBooks, 2012), 140.] [78: Roni Lee, Interview by author. Phone interview. San Diego, CA, October 15, 2012] [79: Ann and Nancy Wilson, Kicking & Dreaming: a Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll (New York: ItBooks, 2012), 5.]

Women artists often had to contend with blatant chauvinism as part of an unspoken rule in the industry that said this was acceptable behavior. Females could be vocalists in bands but they struggled to be taken seriously as artists because of the chauvinism they encountered. There was a dichotomy in that women were expected prove themselves by partying with the men off stage by drinking as much as the men did and doing illicit drugs; yet be feminine in dress and have perfect makeup and hair once they took the stage.[endnoteRef:80] The expectation that vocalists fill these dual roles of feminine singer and partier elucidates that men were still using constructed categories for women artists. [80: Laurie Beebe-Lewis, Interview by author. Phone interview, San Diego, CA, October 2, 2012]

Female artists also encountered chauvinism and were expected to perform domestic duties for men in their band and for other bands on tours. Ann Wilson lived with the other members of Heart when the band first formed and was the only female in the band at that point in time. Wilson was expected to be the cook and housekeeper for the band due to her gender. [endnoteRef:81] After Nancy Wilson joined the band, Heart toured with Lynyrd Skynyrd. Artimus Pyle, the Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer, dropped off his son in the middle of the night to be babysat because “Y’all are women.”[endnoteRef:82] The Wilsons were viewed as automatic babysitters because of their gender and the male expectation that women were natural nurturers.[endnoteRef:83] Men expected these same women to drink heavily and use drugs with them; yet they trusted them to watch their children. Women were viewed by men as cooks, maids, and babysitters, merely caretakers and not in position to be creative or important. [81: Ann and Nancy Wilson, Kicking & Dreaming: a Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll (New York: ItBooks, 2012), 95.] [82: Ibid. 129.] [83: Ibid.]

The opportunity to be in a band was limited for females because of gender discrimination. Shaaron Hancock-Schuemaker stated that it was viewed as odd for women to play an instrument when she began her career in the 1960s and it continued into the 1970s.[endnoteRef:84] When Cyndi Lauper was starting her career, she had an agent tell her that she needed to have men in her band with the reasoning being that if they married the band would remain together.[endnoteRef:85] Cyndi Lauper was managed by Dave Wolf. She requested females to be in her band while she was on tour but Wolf refused her request because he claimed that the women were not as good musically as the men were, a claim Lauper asserted as false.[endnoteRef:86] This was during the 1980s and the idea that women were not competent musicians persisted. Even with Lauper being the solo act with her band backing her up, the men in the band only listened to Wolf, the male manager.[endnoteRef:87] Chauvinism limited the opportunities for women to join bands due to the fallacy that they were not on the same technical musical level as their male counterparts were. [84: Shaaron Hancock-Schuemaker, Interview by author. Phone interview. La Mesa, Ca, March 22, 2013.] [85: Cyndi Lauper and Jancee Dunn, Cyndi Lauper: a Memoir (New York City: Atria Books, 2012), 21-22.] [86: Ibid. 144.] [87: Ibid 148.]

Sexual harassment was common in the industry and was viewed as acceptable behavior towards women as part of the unspoken rules of rock and roll. Women were supposed to quietly accept this treatment. The sexual harassment came from audiences as well as from men in the music industry. Ann Wilson, as the only female member in a band in 1970, endured the degrading experience of being subjected to catcalls, sexual slurs, and even having her body pinched by men in clubs.[endnoteRef:88] Sexual advances were common even for women who had top-ten hits on the radio. Benatar recounted numerous times disc jockeys or program directors at radio stations would make sexual advances at her, often with them “patting” their laps for her to come and sit on them. [endnoteRef:89] Once Benatar even had a program director ask her to sit on his lap and discuss how to get her record played to which she told him to go away by using an expletive. [endnoteRef:90] Benatar discovered that she had violated another unspoken rule of rock which was that men could curse at anyone in the industry and women could not. [endnoteRef:91] Women could not tell a man in power to leave them alone especially in a vulgar way; however, men were allowed to do so without censure because it fit the rock and roll image of the rebellious and powerful man. When a woman asserted herself by using profanity, she was reduced to being a disrespectful girl. [88: Ann and Nancy Wilson, Kicking & Dreaming: a Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll (New York: ItBooks, 2012), 74.] [89: Pat Benatar and Patsi Bale Cox, Between a Heart and a Rock Place: a Memoir (New York: William Morrow, 2010), 93.] [90: Ibid.] [91: Ibid.]

Some of the girls in the Runaways were subjected to sexual harassment and exploitation. Currie was labeled as the “Cherry bomb” and her image was not only overly sexualized but she was sexually exploited to further the career of the band. Currie was pressured by Fowley to go home with a famous adult male and have sex with him for the sake of helping the band. Currie kept refusing to go with the man, but she gave in because she was afraid not to go when she saw the volatile look on Fowley’s face that she knew meant that she was in danger.[endnoteRef:92] The Cherry Bomb went from being a figurative sexual fantasy, to being literal and available in fulfillment of the jailbait fantasy, for the advancement of the band and an increased profit for Fowley. Currie was not the only Runaway to endure sexual harassment by their manager. Fowley, on New Year’s Eve 1975, brought Currie and Sandy West into his room along with the two men from the road crew, one of whom was the band manager, and forced them to watch him have sex with a drugged woman as a lesson in how to have sex “the right way.”[endnoteRef:93] Two teenage girls in a motel room with three adult males, two of whom were in positions of authority, was an egregious abuse of power and firmly established the authority they held over these girls. Currie found the courage to leave and stormed out of the room ignoring Fowley’s command to stay. She rebelled against being a commodity, a pet, a non-human, and a witness to the violation of another human-being. [92: Cherie Currie and Tony Neill, Neon Angel: a Memoir of a Runaway (New York: !t, itbooks, 2010), 115.] [93: Ibid.134.]

The Runaways were particularly vulnerable because they were minors who were in an adult arena and they were taken advantage of by their management sexually. Scott Anderson was the band’s manager when they went on a European tour in 1976. He had a sexual relationship with every one of the minor girls except Jackie Fox.[endnoteRef:94] Anderson purchased and supplied drugs and alcohol for the girls on the tour.[endnoteRef:95] Inebriated and drugged girls would not be able to exercise good judgment. Anderson was, according to Currie, around seven years older than the girls. Currie lived with Anderson for a period of time. After the tour she discovered that she was pregnant by him.[endnoteRef:96] Currie did not tell her father about the verbal abuse in the band or the drugs because she was afraid of his reaction and the possible loss of her own position in the band. [endnoteRef:97] Anderson knew how naïve the girls were and used it to his advantage for his own sexual needs. [94: Ibid. 159.] [95: Ibid. 123.] [96: Ibid. 198-199.] [97: Ibid. 184.]

There were instances where men asserted power through sexual assault. Cyndi Lauper was a strong, outspoken artist who reached the top of the charts in the mid-1980s with songs such as “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” “True Colors,” and “Time After Time.” Lauper was sexually assaulted by a man in her first band. The band had difficulty finding a manager and they did find one man interested in representing them; however it came with a stipulation that the band’s line up had to change. The manager demanded that Lauper sing lead vocals instead of backing vocals, which meant that she would replace the male lead vocalist. The band signed with the manager, but the change in lead singers changed the dynamic of the band. At a party, the former lead singer had his girlfriend and another woman hold Lauper down while he raped her with a sex toy. [endnoteRef:98] Lauper stated “I realized that maybe it was because this guy had started the band, and then the power slipped away from him, and it had come to me. So this act was a like a very animalistic act to dominate.” [endnoteRef:99] By Lauper assuming the lead vocalist position in the band, she emasculated the male former lead singer. It was a psychologically castrating event for the man, and he chose not to rape her with his penis, but a phallus instead. Lauper astutely realized that the rape was not about sex, it was about power and degradation. [endnoteRef:100] Lauper refused to leave the band despite the rest of the band not believing that she had been assaulted. She would not let her rapist take any more power from her. He had her under his power for a limited amount of time during the rape, but he had to play back up for her every night while she was in the alpha position in the band. All eyes were on her every night they performed with her rapist relegated to a secondary position in the background. Lauper was ultimately fired from the band for unknown reasons. Lauper stated that she saw the man years after the rape and after she was a big star. He congratulated her on her success, and she refused to acknowledge that he had hurt her in any way. [endnoteRef:101] He had taken her power away once and she never allowed him to do it again. [98: Cyndi Lauper and Jancee Dunn, Cyndi Lauper: a Memoir (New York City: Atria Books, 2012), 63.] [99: Ibid.] [100: Ibid. 64.] [101: Ibid.]

Record labels wanted their female stars to be seen as sex symbols. They wanted these women artists to be single because it played up the fantasy of the available sex symbol. Deborah Harry of the band Blondie was in a serious relationship with her band mate Chris Stein. Their label, Chrysalis, wanted to have the couple break up and they also wanted to have Harry become a solo artist.[endnoteRef:102] Pat Benatar was also signed with Chrysalis Records. She was dating her guitarist Neil Giraldo and Chrysalis did not want this relationship to continue. Both Benatar and Giraldo were contacted by the label and told that their relationship could ruin their careers.[endnoteRef:103] The label had concerns that the band could break up if the relationships did not work in addition to the underlying issue of wanting Benatar to be viewed as an available sex symbol. Benatar wrote in her memoir that “They tortured us about it, convinced that we were on the road to ruin.”[endnoteRef:104] Giraldo was also Benatar’s writing partner. After the label learned of their relationship, things changed in the way Giraldo was treated. Benatar stated that all of a sudden he would not be paid on time, his name would be the only one in the band left off of announcements, he was left out of meetings, and the biography for the band did not list him as a song writer.[endnoteRef:105] The label attempted to strain the relationship by stressing Benatar’s importance even though her wish was that they would be seen as a band instead of her being the solo artist.[endnoteRef:106] Image was everything to the label and female stars were valuable only as visual available objects. [102: ""Behind The Music Remastered: Blondie" ( Ep. 311 ) from Behind The Music Remastered | Full Episode | VH1.com." VH1 | Shows + Celebrity + Music + Pop Culture. http://www.vh1.com/video/behind-the-music-remastered/full-episodes/behind-the-music-remastered-blondie/1678617/playlist.jhtml (accessed March 22, 2013).] [103: Pat Benatar and Patsi Bale Cox, Between a Heart and a Rock Place: a Memoir (New York: William Morrow, 2010), 71.] [104: Ibid.] [105: Ibid. 92-93.] [106: Ibid. 92.]

Women had their images sexualized by their record labels and the press to sell records and magazines. Rolling Stone cover titles from 1975 to 1985 used salacious titles combined with sexy pictures of women artists to sell magazines (see figures 2 and 3).[endnoteRef:107][endnoteRef:108] Titles such as “Heart Attack: Rock’s Hot Sister Act,” “Go-Go’s Put Out,” and “Madonna Puts Out” were published on the covers of the magazine.[endnoteRef:109] Typical covers titles featuring men were “Men at Work Out to Lunch” or “Billy Idol Sneer of the Year.” [endnoteRef:110] The textual evidence demonstrates that Rolling Stone portrayed women as sexual objects, not people, there for the sexual gratification of men. The repeated language of “puts out” suggests that these female artists were promiscuous. In stark contrast, the language used in the titles with male artists reinforces stereotypical role of a strong manly worker and of the rebellious male rocker who scoffs at authority. A sexual fantasy was used to sell magazines, casting women into the category of promiscuous women and ignored their value as artists. [107: "Pop Divas on the Cover of Rolling Stone Pictures - The Go-Go's | Rolling Stone." Rolling Stone | Music News, Politics, Reviews, Photos, Videos, Interviews and More. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/pop-divas-on-the-cover-of-rolling-stone-20100804/the-go-gos-62535067 (accessed April 26, 2013).] [108: "Pop Divas on the Cover of Rolling Stone Pictures - Pat Benatar | Rolling Stone." Rolling Stone | Music News, Politics, Reviews, Photos, Videos, Interviews and More. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/pop-divas-on-the-cover-of-rolling-stone-20100804/pat-benatar-45502384 (accessed April 26, 2013). ] [109: “Rolling Stone All Access | Subscribe and Access the Complete Archive Online." Rolling Stone | Music News, Politics, Reviews, Photos, Videos, Interviews and More. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2012. .] [110: Ibid.]

Figure 2 Go-Go’s on a 1982 cover Figure 3 Pat Benatar with Neil Giraldo

Record labels often exploited the images of their female artists to sell records. Blondie’s first record label was Private Stock. The label had a poster made of lead singer Deborah Harry in a see-through top. Harry was the beautiful blonde focal point of the band which had five men in it. The label chose to cast Harry as a sex symbol and use that to sell records. The band felt that they were being marketed as Harry being a “turn-on for dirty old men.”[endnoteRef:111] This led to the band leaving the label and signing with Chrysalis. Benatar discovered that her label, Chrysalis, had altered a photo of her from a cover shoot she had done. Chrysalis published a full page ad in Billboard magazine to promote Benatar’s Crimes of Passion album.[endnoteRef:112] The photo in the ad had been airbrushed to make Benatar appear to be nude and with enlarged breasts.[endnoteRef:113] Benatar, without her consent, had been sexualized to sell records. When the time came to make a music video, a marketing executive from the label asked Benatar what she was “going to wear” in the video, licking his lips in a suggestive way as he lingered on the word “wear.”[endnoteRef:114] Benatar’s tremendous vocal talent was ignored by Chrysalis for the pursuit of a male fantasy which equated to greater profits. [111: Jammie James, “Platinum Blondie: A Tough Rock Group Rises Above the New Wave with the Disco Beat of : ‘Heart of Glass’ so What’s Wrong with This Picture?” Rolling Stone All Access. Rolling Stone, n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2012.< http://www.archive.rollingstone.com/Desktop>.] [112: Pat Benatar and Patsi Bale Cox, Between a Heart and a Rock Place: a Memoir (New York: William Morrow, 2010), 89.] [113: Ibid.] [114: Ibid.]

Women were expected to be thin in the music industry especially in music videos. Belinda Carlisle wrote in her memoir that the press used the words “pretty and plump” or “cute and chubby” to describe her when she was with the Go-Go’s. [endnoteRef:115] She was singled out as the chubby one in a group of thin women. After she had slimed down and became a solo act, the press then cast her into the sex symbol role, which was perfect for her music videos. Making music videos of a talented but overweight female rock star, for a target audience of young men, was not what the label wanted to do. [115: Belinda Carlisle, Lips Unsealed: a Memoir (New York: Crown, 2010), 139.]

Ann Wilson’s experience was the opposite of Carlisle’s. Wilson started out her career as a young, beautiful and thin woman. She did not dress sexy or play into the prescribed “sex symbol” role that many women in rock did. Her voice was the way to mesmerize audiences not her figure. Band mate Roger Fisher called Ann “a star” and said when she joined the band it was “instant magic.” [endnoteRef:116] Ann was hired due to her vocal talent; however, when she got older and gained weight, her talent became secondary to the image of a larger woman on stage especially in music videos. Her inability to be thin was a point of contention within the band and Capital, her record label, was very dissatisfied with her weight gain as well especially when the band made music videos. Even Nancy Wilson, who was always thin, had a video director comment that she had “huge thighs” but other than that she was perfect.[endnoteRef:117] MTV pushed music into the background with the focus being on thin women as sexual objects even in their own videos to satisfy a male audience that would never be gratified with an overweight woman. [116: ""Behind the Music Remastered: Heart" ( Ep. 108 ) from Behind The Music Remastered | Full Episode | VH1.com." VH1 | Shows + Celebrity + Music + Pop Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2013. .] [117: Ann and Nancy Wilson, Kicking & Dreaming: a Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll (New York: ItBooks, 2012), 176.]

If a woman is not a sex object, she intrinsically has less value to her music label. This ideology existed in the music industry in the 1980’s when music videos became the major marketing tool for albums. Ann Wilson of the group Heart had gained some weight but was far from obese. The video “Alone” features Ann’s beautiful voice but the images of her in the video reflect the studio’s dissatisfaction with her weight (see figure 4).[endnoteRef:118] Ann wore a neck to toe black outfit and was shown from a distance briefly, but most of the footage of Ann was on her face as she sang. [endnoteRef:119] The shots of her body include her standing on a riser to make her look extremely tall and not overweight. The shot of both Wilsons singing onstage allows ample footage of Nancy’s posterior but only a small portion of Ann’s leg is shown. In contrast, thinner sister Nancy was given more footage of her body including her writhing on the floor with the guitar and an odd sequence with her riding on a horse that focused on her bouncing breasts.[endnoteRef:120] As the thinner sister, Nancy was the sex object and Ann was someone to be hidden. The music video era fed the visual pleasures of men with women becoming objects instead of the subjects of their videos. [118: "Heart Monger Blog: Ann Wilson Recalls Heart’s Music Videos: “We Look Like Show Ponies!”." Heart Monger Blog. http://heartmonger.blogspot.com/2012/09/ann-wilson-recalls-hearts-music-videos.html (accessed April 28, 2013).] [119: Ibid.] [120: Ann and Nancy Wilson, Kicking & Dreaming: a Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll (New York: ItBooks, 2012), 173.]

Figure 4 Ann Wilson in the "Alone" video

Women had a difficult time entering the boys only club of rock and roll. They were treated as novelties, objects, and second class citizens. Women were subjected to a different set of rules that only applied to them. The mantra of “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” was part of the boys club and women entering this domain were expected to bring attention to the men and not themselves. Rock and roll music essentially was a celebration of male sexuality and women entering this scene were a challenge to their masculinity.

Chapter 3

Making the Music Their Own

Music is a passion that feeds the creativity and emotional needs of musicians. For the women of the second generation of rock and roll, the music kept them going in an industry that treated them as second class citizens. When faced with discrimination there were the options of doing nothing, reacting verbally or physically, refusing to comply with orders, or using the music to make a statement. The song-writers found a way to make their music meaningful and realized that once the music was produced it was there for the world to enjoy. The lyrics and videos of some female artists took them beyond the “sex symbol” or “vixen” roles and the messages in the songs made it clear that they were true musicians, not novelties or eye candy.

Psychologically there was a great deal of pressure for women in the music industry. They were in the minority and in an industry that was resistant to their joining. The limitations of their gender and the stress of being treated as novelty acts, sexualized, and dealing with chauvinism, took a toll upon the female artists. Shaaron Hancock-Schuemaker stated that there was a great amount of psychological pressure in the industry, pressure to not expect to get paid as much as the men because women were seen as “second class citizens.” [endnoteRef:121] Pat Benatar was signed with Chrysalis for ten years. Her contract required her to produce new music every nine months or she would not get paid her royalties.[endnoteRef:122] Between creating new music, touring and interviews, Benatar was psychologically exhausted. She discovered that her management had misused her money and roughly half a million dollars was missing. [endnoteRef:123] Chrysalis had tried early in her career to break up her relationship with her guitarist/writing partner and future husband Neil Giraldo. If not for the support and encouragement of her husband, Benatar would have stayed with her plan to quit making music.[endnoteRef:124] Being viewed as a sex symbol was equated with having to be perfect and could possibly be the cause of the problems that Belinda Carlisle had when she became a solo artist. Belinda Carlisle’s insecurities and need for control manifested in an eating disorder. [endnoteRef:125] The pressure of being overweight and so harshly criticized for it led to panic attacks on stage for Ann Wilson. Wilson had never had stage fright in her career but she succumbed to the pressure of bad reviews that concentrated on her weight and felt a need to be perfect when she performed. [endnoteRef:126] As the lead singer she was the focus of the band. In her memoir she wrote “I wanted to flee form the humiliating criticism, and from the pressure to personify the MTV sex goddess image in real life.”[endnoteRef:127] Joan Jett had a series of hits with her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. When she toured Italy with the Scorpions, the male audience screamed obscenities at her, spit on her, and violently attempt to take her from the stage.[endnoteRef:128] She refused to leave the stage and knew that she had been in a situation where the audience wanted to sexually assault her which resulted in her crying at night from the stress of it for the two weeks she was on tour there.[endnoteRef:129] In a male controlled industry that treated women as second class citizens, women felt the pressure and isolation of being female because those in control did not acknowledge the discrimination. [121: Shaaron Hancock-Schuemaker, Interview by author. Phone interview. La Mesa, Ca, March 22, 2013.] [122: Pat Benatar and Patsi Bale Cox, Between a Heart and a Rock Place: a Memoir (New York: William Morrow, 2010), 111.] [123: Ibid.179.] [124: Ibid. 191.] [125: Belinda Carlisle, Lips Unsealed: a Memoir (New York: Crown, 2010).] [126: Ann and Nancy Wilson, Kicking & Dreaming: a Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll (New York: ItBooks, 2012), 185.] [127: Ibid.] [128: Evelyn McDonald, ""Joan Jett on 20 Years as Rock's Toughest Woman"." Rolling Stone All Access. www.rollingstone.com/music/news/joan-jett-on-20-years-as-rocks-toughest-woman-19971113 (accessed January 15, 2013).] [129: Ibid.]

Some female artists examined the labels and backhanded compliments that men used for them and turned these labels around to mean something else. Roni Lee experienced the difficulty of being a female lead guitarist in a male dominated industry. Even in 2013, she is still is told that she “plays good for a girl.” Her answer to the limitations men imposed upon her was to start her own record label Play Like a Girl Records. Lee stated that there is humanity in music, which triggers emotions. A woman can cry when she plays, if she is moved by the music, which is something men will not do because they feel ashamed of the emotion.[endnoteRef:130] For Lee the phrase “play like a girl” came to have a positive connotation for her. She refused to accept the limitation that is implied with those words and instead takes pride in being female. For Lee the phrase means that she plays passionately, can multitask, and is strong. She is known to turn back to the male guitarists in her band and tell them that they play like a girl.[endnoteRef:131] She serves as an example to young women that the electric guitar is not sex specific. Her slogan is a bold message to young women that it is great to play like a girl, and a message to men that she will not be demeaned by those words. [130: Roni Lee, Interview by author. Phone interview. San Diego, CA, October 15, 2012] [131: Ibid.]

Women had to be assertive to keep men from verbally abusing them or taking over. Lita Ford of the Runaways had an aggressive personality and did not tolerate being verbally abused by manager/producer Kim Fowley. “Lita abused him back so he left her alone” stated Jackie Fox about how Lita escaped the verbal abuse that the other girls suffered. [endnoteRef:132] Even Cherie Currie who bore the brunt of the abuse in the Runaways would scream at Fowley. During a fight she protested to him calling her a “dog” and demanded that he treat her as a person.[endnoteRef:133] Vocalist Laurie Beebe-Lewis stated that there was pressure from managers to dress sexier to get more men to come to the shows, a request that she refused.[endnoteRef:134] Cyndi Lauper believed that men viewed her as scary because she was so vocal in protesting chauvinism. [endnoteRef:135] These women did not fall into the preconceived notion of the passive and incompetent female. They were smart, assertive and able to handle the pressure asserted by men. [132: Edgeplay. Dir. Victory Blue. Perf. Cherie Currie, Lita Ford, Victory Tischler-Blue, Sandy West, Jackie Fox. Image Entertainment, 2005. Film.] [133: Cherie Currie and Tony Neill, Neon Angel: a Memoir of a Runaway (New York: !t, itbooks, 2010), 194.] [134: Laurie Beebe-Lewis, Interview by author. Telephone Interview. 09 Oct. 2012.] [135: Cyndi Lauper and Jancee Dunn, Cyndi Lauper: a Memoir (New York City: Atria Books, 2012, 149.]

Female artists demonstrated their anger at being sexually harassed both verbally and at times through violence. Benatar had the head of marketing for Chrysalis call her “naïve” for her belief that people came to see the band and not her body; for this insult she threw him out of her house.[endnoteRef:136] She slapped another executive for a similar comment. Although it was not always successful, Benatar frequently complained about her image to Chrysalis executives. Benatar refused to pose in a sexy way or have electric fans to move her hair in the video for “You Better Run” and was able to have the video shot her way. [endnoteRef:137] When a lecherous executive asked her about what she would wear in a video, she chose to use “reserved indignation” followed by a long silence which caused the men to apologize. [endnoteRef:138] Benatar moved past the stereotypical hysterical female that the executives expected and behaved professionally. [136: Pat Benatar and Patsi Bale Cox, Between a Heart and a Rock Place: a Memoir (New York: William Morrow, 2010), 87.] [137: Ibid. 107.] [138: Ibid. 112.]

Cyndi Lauper took vocally objecting to chauvinism to an extreme. Lauper was known for her eccentric dress and style as well as not having a censor button. She was influenced by the music of the Beatles and she took inspiration from a John Lennon song “Woman is the Nigger of the World.” Lauper grew weary of men telling her to do as she was told, that there were already enough women on the label, and she angrily told a producer “…but you see this nigger over here? I ain’t doing it, go find some other ones.”[endnoteRef:139] Lauper admitted that she used an inappropriate word. She stated that “You can spit to the bottom of the barrel, and on the bottom are women and children.”[endnoteRef:140] She used a racist term, but her meaning was that women were treated in the music industry as if they had no value. [139: Cyndi Lauper and Jancee Dunn, Cyndi Lauper: a Memoir (New York City: Atria Books, 2012), 89.] [140: Ibid.]

Women learned to be savvy about the industry and control as much of their music as possible. Shaaron Hancock-Schuemaker was a band leader in addition to being a musician and vocalist. She did payroll, booked their gigs, and formed a band called Koko Loco. She used the trick of turning the microphone down on a man in her band who was wonderful with the audience as far as speaking but had a poor voice.[endnoteRef:141] The Go-Go’s were an all-girl group who had a female manager. Having women in charge of the bands lessened the discrimination that they faced. [141: Shaaron Hancock-Schuemaker, Interview by author. Phone interview. La Mesa, Ca, March 22, 2013.]

For some female rockers, their sexuality, and the male imposed double standard became fodder for song lyrics. Roni Lee, in addition to being a guitarists and vocalist, is a songwriter. Lee co-wrote a song with producer Kim Fowley called “I Wanna Be Where the Boys Are.” The song was featured in the 2010 movie The Runaways.

Hot love hear, I got the drive

Neighbours been bugging me I gotta hide

I am the bitch with the hot guitar

I am the air, the sun and stars

I wanna be where the boys are

I wanna fight how the boys fight

I wanna love how the boys love

I wanna be where the boys are[endnoteRef:142] [142: "I Wanna Be Where The Boys Are Lyrics - Runaways." Lyrics, Song Lyrics – LyricsFreak.com. http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/runaways/i+wanna+be+where+the+boys+are_20119822.html (accessed January 17, 2013).]

The song indicates that women want to have the same equality as men. There is the inclusion of the word “bitch” in the song, which has an ambiguous meaning. A “bitch” is aggressive, sexual, and unafraid. The image plays into the male rock star identity of being sexually uninhibited. Shaaron Hancock-Schuemaker is a member of the band Queen Divas of the Universe with Lee and Beebe-Lewis. When she was asked about what she thought the word “bitch” meant in the song, she stated that Roni Lee probably used it to set herself apart as having talent from those who had none.[endnoteRef:143] The lyrics illustrate that Lee wanted to have the same freedoms as her male counterparts. [143: Shaaron Hancock-Schuemaker, Interview by author. Phone interview. La Mesa, Ca, March 22, 2013.]

Ann and Nancy Wilson responded to sexual harassment they experienced by writing songs that expressed their anger and frustration. They also had each other to turn to for support. The Wilsons frequently had disc jockeys and radio programmers come up to them and ask questions that were sexual in nature. Their record label, Mushroom Records, took out an ad in Rolling Stone with the caption “Heart’s Wilson Sisters Confess: It Was Only Our First Time!” over a picture of them that made them appear topless.[endnoteRef:144] The inference was that they were incestuous lesbians. There were many men in the industry who would ask her “where her lover was” not meaning her boyfriend but rather her sister. Ann Wilson was so frustrated that she wrote the song “Barracuda” in response to all the misogynistic men in the industry. “Barracuda” rails at the men who made up lies about them and sexually harassed them to sell records, and how their art was turned into something sleazy just to make money.[endnoteRef:145] [144: Ann and Nancy Wilson, Kicking & Dreaming: a Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll (New York: ItBooks, 2012), 118.] [145: Ibid.]