Women have made significant contributions to punk rock music and its subculture since its inception in the 1970s. In contrast to the rock music and heavy metal scenes of the 1970s, which were dominated by men, the anarchic, counter-cultural mindset of the punk scene in mid-and-late 1970s encouraged women to participate. This participation played a role in the historical development of punk music, especially in the US and UK at that time, and continues to influence and enable future generations. Women have participated in the punk scene as lead singers, instrumentalists, as all-female bands, zine contributors and fashion designers.
Rock historian Helen Reddington wrote that the popular image of young punk women musicians as focused on the fashion aspects of the scene (fishnet stockings, spiky hair, etc.) was stereotypical. She states that many, if not all women punks were more interested in the ideology and socio-political implications, rather than the fashion. Music historian Caroline Coon contends that before punk, women in rock music were virtually invisible; in contrast, in punk, she argues, "It would be possible to write the whole history of punk music without mentioning any male bands at all – and I think a lot of [people] would find that very surprising."
Johnny Rotten wrote that "During the Pistols era, women were out there playing with the men, taking us on in equal terms ... It wasn't combative, but compatible." Chrissie Hynde echoed similar sentiments when discussing her start in the punk scene, "That was the beauty of the punk thing: sexual discrimination didn't exist in that scene." The anti-establishment stance of punk opened the space for women who were treated like outsiders in a male-dominated industry. Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon states, "I think women are natural anarchists, because you're always operating in a male framework." Others take issue with the notion of equal recognition, such as guitarist Viv Albertine, who stated that "the A&R men, the bouncers, the sound mixers, no one took us seriously. So, no, we got no respect anywhere we went. People just didn't want us around."
History and context
Musicologist Caroline Polk O'Meara has written that female experience, feminism and taking a pro-woman stance empowered women's participation in punk rock beginning in the 1970s. In rock music, there has been a gendered "distinction between public (male) and private (female) participation" in music. "[S]everal scholars have argued that men exclude women from bands or from the bands' rehearsals, recordings, performances, and other social activities."Schaap & Berkers (2014) p. 104 "Women are mainly regarded as passive and private consumers of allegedly slick, prefabricated – hence, inferior – pop music..., excluding them from participating as high status rock musicians." One of the reasons that mixed gender bands were traditionally rare was that "bands operate as tight-knit units in which homosocial solidarity – social bonds between people of the same sex... – plays a crucial role." In the 1960s pop music scene, "[s]inging was sometimes an acceptable pastime for a girl, but playing an instrument...simply wasn't done."
In the UK, the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 allowed women the same access to jobs as men. Some men thought that this legislation put them at a loss and felt that women were taking away positions that traditionally belonged to them. This, and the election of Margaret Thatcher, led many young women who felt disenfranchised to the punk rock music scene.
Suzi Quatro is considered to be a major influence in the early British punk culture. Quatro refused to be sexualized by the media and indirectly dealt with the issue of sexism by embracing a tough, rocker persona while producing music that could thrive in the mainstream. Bands like X-Ray Spex and the Slits took this feminist rock culture and combined it with a more extreme, aggressive style of music. This genre reflected on social, cultural and political changes of the United Kingdom at the time, and continued to do so in other locations.
In the US, women such as Exene Cervenka and Joan Jett made contributions to the Los Angeles punk scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Cervenka's aggressive style and her unconventional looks drew more young women to the scene since it was inclusive. Many of these women sought to fight public sexual harassment and encourage body positive attitudes through their music. Leather jackets, short skirts, fishnets and choker necklaces were part of the punk style and culture, and this style made many punk women targets for sexual harassment in the streets. They often spent much time outside waiting for shows, smoking, and meeting with one another, which created a kind of vulnerability. Women punk musicians retaliated by educating the young girls involved in the scene, taking legal action, and writing songs on the matter. While punk in New York City and San Francisco emerged in the 1970s, the Los Angeles scene was at its strongest point in the 1980s, as a response to the conservative policies of Ronald Reagan's administration. Mainstream rock such as Christopher Cross or Hall and Oates did not tend to address political issues, which left a space for rebels like Joan Jett and Blondie within the charts.
The feminist ideologies of punk rock in the 1970s and 1980s persevered into the 1990s via the riot grrrl movement in the Olympia, Washington, area. Riot grrrl addressed more than the sexism of punk culture alone. Rather, the movement applied feminism on a broader scale by taking on issues such as sexual assault, systematic sexism, and the idea that sex is taboo for women. Riot grrrl began by primarily using homemade magazines, known as zines, and group meetings.
Eventually, the movement developed into a genre of music that was more aggressive than the mainstream rock of the decade. This genre reflected the same values as the zines. It was within this era that the LGBT community began to use punk rock as an outlet for advocacy as well. Groups from the early 21st century such as Pussy Riot combine feminist and queer values in their music and films.
The constant push for gender equality over three decades has resulted in a more inclusive punk rock culture that is no longer divided by sex. No Doubt is one example of this accepting culture. They are a co-ed musical group with a female singer who addresses feminist issues. One of No Doubt's songs, "Just a Girl", made it to the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 23 back in 1995. Sleater-Kinney and Le Tigre are groups known to mix feminist ideologies with other social justice themes. Following George W. Bush's administration's response to the September 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, these female-led groups offered political criticism through politicized songs. Sleater-Kinney's song "Combat Rock" was anti-war in nature and directly criticized the U.S. government's decisions regarding the Middle East.
"The rebellion of rock music was largely a male rebellion; the women—often, in the 1950s and '60s, girls in their teens—in rock usually sang songs as personæ utterly dependent on their macho boyfriends". Philip Auslander says that "Although there were many women in rock by the late 1960s, most performed only as singers, a traditionally feminine position in popular music". Though some women played instruments in American all-female garage rock bands, none of these bands achieved more than regional success. So they "did not provide viable templates for women's on-going participation in rock". In relation to the gender composition of heavy metal bands, it has been said that "heavy metal performers are almost exclusively male", "at least until the mid-1980s", apart from "exceptions such as Girlschool." However, "now [in the 2010s] maybe more than ever–strong metal women have put up their dukes and got down to it", "carv[ing] out a considerable place for [them]selves."
When Suzi Quatro emerged in 1973, "no other prominent female musician worked in rock simultaneously as a singer, instrumentalist, songwriter, and bandleader". According to Auslander, she was "kicking down the male door in rock and roll and proving that a female musician ... and this is a point I am extremely concerned about ... could play as well if not better than the boys".
Social change and activism
Rock Against Sexism (RAS) was a political and cultural movement dedicated to promoting women in music, and challenging sexism and heterosexism in the rock music community, pop culture and in the world at large. It was primarily a part of the punk rock music and arts scene. RAS began in the UK in 1978, and by the mid-1980s also had a presence in North America. It was inspired and influenced by Rock Against Racism; the two movements had many of the same participants. Note: Original essay that mentions RAR and RAS is from April, 1979. RAS has been cited as a prototype for, and influence on, the later riot grrrl movement, "giving women more access to punk subculture."
The Mexico City-based punk rock collective Hijas de Violencia (the Daughters of Violence) conduct street performances to combat sexual harassment against women. A precursor was Chavas Activas Punks (CHAPS), a women's collective that formed in the Mexico City pun community in 1987. The anthropologist Maritza Urteaga Castro-Prozo writes of their protests against the "hostility and rejection they experienced from male counterparts" that, while they had "little acquaintance with feminist theory", their lyrics and fanzine focused on gender discrimination and sexuality.
Pussy Riot's lyrical themes include feminism, LGBT rights, and government opposition. The collective considers Russian President Vladimir Putin to be a dictator, and opposes his policies.
Some women in punk rock have used their music and lyrics as platforms for feminist ideologies, and to oppose the sexualization of female musicians and societal policing of women's bodies and sexual agency. As early as the 1960s, women in rock were often considered as sex objects and their capabilities and talent were often undermined while male producers were credited for their music. Some female punk and riot grrrl lyrics called for women to challenge the patriarchy and rape culture, such as 7 Year Bitch's song "Dead Men Don't Rape". Bikini Kill expressed the need for a revolution in pursuit of disrupting the patriarchy, for example their song "Rebel Girl". Some musicians lyrics expressed themes of queer liberation, as in Gossip's "Where the Girls Are". Conventional expectations of women's roles were challenged, for example, in the Slits' "Typical Girls", that sarcastically addressed stereotypes of women as being "too emotional". Riot grrrl artists and their punk predecessors not only fought for women, but for the LGBTQIA+ community, animal rights, and human rights in general. Punk, as non-normative as it has traditionally been, has (in some cases) become a safe haven for many unaccepted individuals, including queer people. Punks and the punk lifestyle are often outside of the realm of normative culture, and the same can be said for queer individuals. The discomfort in this outcast identity may bring feelings of solidarity for people in punk scenes, queer and otherwise.
Fashion
Vivienne Westwood was a designer associated with early UK punk fashion in the 1970s who made clothes for Malcolm McLaren's boutique in the King's Road, London, which became famous as "SEX". Other designers included Wendy Gawitz and Kate Buck of "Eccentric Clothing", a shop that opened in 1980 in Collingwood, Melbourne, Australia, as well as designers Julie Purvis and Jillian Burt, and fellow Australians Kate Durham and Sara Thorn.
Pamela Rooke, also known as Jordan Mooney or simply Jordan, worked as a model for Vivienne Westwood's Sex boutique to create an iconic image of punk fashion "style" during the 1970s. She later went on to manage the band Adam and the Ants.