Female performers in hard rock music

The relationships between female performers of hard rock music versus amateur and professional critics as well as the general public and specific groups of fans has been a topic of intellectual analysis over multiple decades.

Background and commentary

A notable article by U.S. writer Jacoba Atlas in November 1971, which appeared in the pages of the American entertainment magazine Billboard, used the explicit title "There Aren't Many Girls In Hard Rock, But A New Day (And Attitude) Is Dawning". Atlas argued that popular stereotypes and other expressions of prejudice in American society focusing on gender identity warped musical production, with the writer remarking that this intellectual framework meant that hard rock's presentation as "raw, aggressive, driving, [and] electric" became forcibly divorced from "our culture's assessment of the essence of femininity". Atlas additionally opinioned that "the traditional role of the woman", which includes "sexist" expectations about how women cannot "scream and sweat" or otherwise do certain things, "have conspired to keep women... from coming to the forefront" of hard rock (or rock music generally). Although writing for a major commercial publication, Atlas criticized the music industry of the time.

Prominent examples of female hard rock vocalists include Janis Joplin, regarded as one of the most iconic women in heavy music who's "tragic" death early in life "left a void", and Grace Slick, known for rising to fame as a member of the band Jefferson Airplane. Slick has been described as like a rebellious "goddess" given how even after attaining commercial success she "has always lived as an outlaw." In addition, the musical group Fanny has been labeled "the first successful all-girl rock band".

Joy of Cooking featured female vocalists Toni Brown and Terry Garthwaite, and they've also been highlighted as "well-known hard rock singers." As recounted by the U.S. news agency KQED, "Garthwaite can’t remember every inane comment she’s received from a man who seemed threatened or confused by her." Discussing past instances of misogyny, Garthwaite later noted a time around 1970 when she had gone into a business to buy guitar strings and encountered a man who told her: "If I close my eyes and forget that there are women in the band, it sounds really good". The guitarist, singer, and songwriter opined that said social culture "was, in a nutshell, the [common] perspective" and that she'd additionally faced the "[s]ame thing with the... record companies."

See also

• List of hard rock musicians (A–M)
• List of hard rock musicians (N–Z)
• Prejudice
  • Gender inequality
  • Misogyny
  • Sexism