Women who Rock at the Hall of Fame

For centuries, women have been nothing but muses — objects of desire to to be either be put on a pedestal and worshiped or thrown into a land of misplaced machismo and objectified. They’re subject of nearly all of Shakespeare’s plays and a handful of Queen songs (“Fat Bottomed Girls,” anyone?), and they litter the box where Keith Richards keeps his little black books.

In the world of rock, a woman’s role has generally been to be some variety of sex object: groupies (“band-aids”), screaming Beatles fans, or vixens dry humping the hood of a car.

Despite the success of female rock powerhouses like Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Ani Difranco, Cher, Carole King, Courtney Love, Alanis Morissette, Melissa Ethridge, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and Patti Smith, talent has always taken a back burner to sex appeal and a nice set of boobs.

Further, who always dominates the top of every “Best Music Groups of All Time” lists? The holy trinity of rock music: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. A lot of testosterone.

Well, not anymore.

Kick-ass women are taking over Cleveland because, well, Cleveland rocks! On May 13, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is opening a two-floor exhibit called “Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power.” A sister exhibit called “Girls on Film” will open today (Feb. 14), showcasing photos of women by women.

Well, it’s about damn time.

The exhibit will include all the influential women in rock music, from the 1920s through today, in what the museum is calling a “groundbreaking and provocative new exhibit that will illustrate the important roles women have played in rock and roll.”

The interactive exhibition will spotlight more than “60 artists and feature artifacts, video and listening stations, as well as a recording booth where visitors can film a short story or moment of inspiration related to women in rock.” The exhibit will demonstrate “how women have been the engines of creation and change in popular music, from the early years of the 20th century to the present.”

One of the major ideas on display will be the power of women to influence new genres of music and new sounds while fighting the “haters” who still objectified them, even after they’d proven themselves as musical forces. (Where would punk be without Patti Smith and Debbie Harry? Where would modern pop be without Lady Gaga and Madonna? What would disco have been without Cher?)

These women not only changed the way music sounded — they changed the way women thought and reacted to criticism. Women began to stand on their own. They stopped taking blows to their egos and instead stood up for themselves.

In the words of Dolly Parton, “I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb, and I also know that I’m not blonde.”

Admittedly Dolly Parton isn’t the best example of a “rock star,” but she was on to something. She had talent outside of her double-Ds, and she knew it. She was confident.

Then there’s Janis Joplin (my own personal Jesus), who called herself the “first hippie pin-up girl” and said famously, “Don’t compromise yourself, you are all you’ve got.”

Janis created a nice metaphor there. In the boys’ club of rock music, all women had was each other — the sentiment that spawned Lilith Fair and all-girl rock bands like The Donnas, Heart, The Runaways and, yes, even the Spice Girls.

Janis, Joni and Joan Jett invented “girl power.” The Spice Girls just brought it to the Millennials.

Women have only been able to vote for a little over 90 years, but they’ve been influencing society and music for far longer. The Hall of Fame will “highlight the flashpoints, the firsts, the best, the celebrated — and sometimes lesser-known women — who moved rock and roll music and the American culture forward.”

Despite the amazing women and incredible music showcased in the exhibit, the coolest part of this historical flashback is that it’s history itself. There’s never been an exhibit based solely on female musicians this large…ever.

Here’s hoping this exhibit can help redefine the holy trinity of rock and add some actual women in lieu of men with long hair and tight pants.

Photo by Rob Boudon