Hello, my name is Olivia. My final post will be about Janis Joplin and her ‘womanly’ influence on 60s rock which was so heavily dominated by men. I will also be using Susan Hiwatt’s article to highlight challenges females faced in a masculine structured music genre.

In the article titled “Cock Rock;” Susan Hiwatt wrote which describes what 60s rock was like for her and other women at the time; as well as some of her criticisms on where “women” stood in rock during the 60s; found here.

Why Janis Joplin?

Janis Joplin is the final female artist highlighted within the text on the rock revolution from 1964 to 1970 [1]. First performing with a local blues band: Big brother and the Holding Company [3]. Together they created music with a mix of blues, folk and psychedelic rock [3]. It wasn’t until the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival where her voice and stage presence gained recognition.

After leaving Big Brother in 1968, she released her first solo album, I’ve Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama! in 1969, and toured 0extensively with her Kozmic Blues Band [3].

Janis Joplin carved a new role for women in rock [1]. She broke through the existing stereotypes of what women were “expected” to be as performers by bringing the audience a powerful, intensive and emotion filled vocal style that incorporated both blues and soul. Her delivery in her singing put her on equal footing to men in both power and presence [1].

Although Janis Joplin made a large influence on rock, she still had to work hard to be “accepted” as Hiwatt mentions as the “chick” singer where select women were allowed to exist in rock [2]. Either than that, women were excluded from both the listening audience or being recognized as a true musician on stage [2]. Instead, women had to be beautiful, groovy, a sex object or whatever role was needed to satisfy men’s needs [2]. Even though Janis Joplin sang about her experience as a women, pain, humiliation and love; she still had to fit in a masculine world where women were disrespected [2]. Stuck with a microphone, Janis could only use her body and voice in order connect with the audience [2]; and because she was a ‘woman’ she was left extremely vulnerable as a minority to the hands of men in a male dominated world.

“Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)” is a perfect example where you can hear the hardships involved living as a woman in a world dominated by men in her voice and how no matter how much effort she puts in to please them it is never enough.

Limitations

In both a society and music industry dominated by men, Janis Joplin faced many limitations especially since women were excluded from being a part of both the audience or on stage. As Hiwatt mentions, women were not supposed to understand anything about electronics because, electric guitars were unfeminine thus, were supposed to strictly stick to composing soft, gentle songs and playing with a folk guitar [2]. Many other myths existed specifically to keep women out of rock such as: women weren’t strong enough to play the drums; or women were not aggressive enough to play good driving rock [2].

Since these myths looked down on women, Janis Joplin was at the bottom of a hierarchy where men always stood above women. This put her under harsher criticism since men held power as the majority of both the audience as well as the musicians on stage. She may have been ‘accepted’ due to her unique vocal style, however she still had to please the men around her. As Hiwatt states in her article, musicians often addressed the audience as if it were all male; where women were disregarded or considered as people. Instead women were treated like objects who would easily submit to any man [2].

Janis Joplin also faced limitations on stage. Since women were not allowed to play the instruments, they were left with nothing for the audience to relate to but themselves (their physical body) and the microphone in their hand [2]. For Janis, that meant that she became a remarkable sex object; associated with whatever existing women-hating words were used to describe women (cunts, bitchy etc.) who had an extremely good voice [2].

Because of her gender, Janis was limited to what she could do in an industry filled and controlled by men. As a minority, she face many stereotypes against women which prevented her from going beyond using her voice and lyrics to talk about her experience as a woman.

Expectations

On stage, women were supposed to be sweet and pretty [2]. Women were expected to offer their bodies for sex (property of men), be beautiful, not uptight or demanding, not clingy or strong, groovy; whatever a man needs [2]. “Piece of My Heart” shows Janis Joplin’s way of fighting back and showing that women can be tough.

Taking Rock Head On

As rock could connect to its listeners through the power of the words and the messages embodied in the music [1]. Janis Joplin was able to use her voice and lyrics to convey her feelings about being a woman in her time and challenge ‘male rock’. To show this I wanted to highlight parts from the song “Turtle Blues”  which talks about how women are poorly treated have been called, and doing anything that men desire of women.

I ain’t the kind of woman
Who’d make your life a bed of ease

-I know this goddamn life too well.

Oh! Now call me mean, you can call me evil, yeah, yeah,
I’ve been called much of some things around,
Honey, don’t ya know I have!
Whoa, call me mean or call me evil
I’ve been called much of some things, all things around,
Yeah, but I’m gonna take good care of Janis, yeah,
Honey, ain’t no one gonna dog me down.
Alright, yeah. [4]

Takeaway

As I listened and read to the lyrics of the songs released by Janis Joplin, you can just hear her struggles in a male dominated music industry as well as a society. Overall, Hiwatt’s article shed light to the extent of women being disregarded as people within society who couldn’t be recognized unless they had a ‘man’ by their side. It also showed how much music mirrors the dominant culture in society. Although Janis Joplin has been called “the greatest white urban blues and soul singer of her generation” [3]; such an lavish title hides the struggles Janis Joplin as a woman had to go through to even earn any recognition as a music artist in an industry made up of predominantly men. Although she died far too soon, Janis Joplin is remembered for conveying her experience and feelings in not only her lyrics but also in the way she emotionally delivered them with her voice.

I wanted to end this post with a quote that I found by rock critic Lillian Roxon who did a very good job in describing Janis Joplin’s influence on rock:

“[Janis Joplin] perfectly expressed the feelings and yearnings of the girls of the electric generation—to be all woman, yet equal with men; to be free, yet a slave to real love; to [reject] every outdated convention, and yet get back to the basics of life.” [3]

Sources:

1. Campbell, Michael. Popular Music in America: The Beat Goes On. 4th ed.* Boston: Schirmer/Cengage Learning, 2013.

2. Hiwatt, Susan. “Cock rock.” Twenty-Minute Fandangos and Forever Changes: A Rock Bazaar (1971): 141-7.

3. “Janis Joplin.” Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, www.rockhall.com/inductees/janis-joplin.

4. Unterberger, Richie. “Janis Joplin Biography.” Janis Joplin Lyrics, Photos, Pictures, Paroles, Letras, Text for Every Songs. Accessed August 02, 2018. http://alwaysontherun.net/janis.htm.