| When you place yourself
on stage you are willfully placing yourself as a center of attention. As soon as
you do that it is inevitable that people will focus in on you on whatever makes
you different. For some reason it also seems to make completely ugly or plain (and no disrespect to anyone like that or myself) people have a magnetism they
never had be it men or women. They become objects to fantasise about. I don't
know what it is but as soon as we give someone a stage we give them extra powers.
Blondie was a godsend. One of the first punk artists that could be
blatantly marketed as shaggable. The first advert read "Wouldn't
you like to rip her to shreds?"...really meant wouldn't
you like to shag the pants off her. There was a record company picture disc for the
execs that had her head on a topless body. I love Blondie's music and Ms Harry is well horny but she was exploited beyond belief. Years later
Madonna and Courtney Love would travel the same route before becoming the
exploiters but that's another story. Nancy Spungeon a throwback to early
groupie times would seek her fame and fortune on the back of another with
disastrous consequences. |
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The
Exploiters and The Exploited. Which is which?
Clockwise: Cherie
Currie & Kim Fowley, Deborah Harry, Madonna, Nancy Spungeon and
Courtney Love. |
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Sex sells. Its the one
guaranteed constant. Fashions come and fashions go but flesh is always there to
be peddled. When you are famous and things go well you are strong. Women seemed
to get it from both sides though and I wonder they ever bothered as just as they
were fobbed off by the male press so they were mercilessly dissected by women
writers. Either they were trying to look too male or they were using sex to
betray the feminine side !!! It seems that sometimes it is women who have the greatest problem with other
women who want to look horny or with other women that are performers. Yet
strangely men like Motley Crue and a million other glam bands who wore
make up to look more feminine didn't have any doubts cast upon
their sexuality.
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The Slits bared their
breasts and called it ironic. A 14 year old seeing them wouldn't understand and
view it as eye candy ?? Whose making a point here and what has it achieved ???
For me at puberty my females of choice were Blondie, Joan Jett, Siouxsie &
Gaye Advert and I'm not alone there. We wouldn't understand irony we were just
in love and developing pubic hair and worrying about the bed sheets . Years
later how many young girls might fancy bands like The Offspring and so on. Just
how far have we moved on though ? You tell me ? As long as there's hormones to
manipulate there's money to be made.
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What a great picture: Chrissie
Hynde, Pauline Black, Deborah Harry, Poly Styrene, Viv Albertine & Siouxsie
| Punk,
in line with the
roles of women changing of the time, showed just so many facets of women in rock. Gaye
Advert ... reluctant pin up...and to be one of the boys....Debbie Harry...classical
object of desire and marketed as such first willingly then rebelling....Patti
Smith...artist cum intellectual.....Pauline from Penetration... part of the band
and no sexuality emphasised....Cherry Vanilla, Nancy Spungeon...women as whores or hookers...The
Slits ...loud
brash obnoxious taking over the male role....Poly Styrene...asexual.
All these women represent different sides of the same square. The freedom is the
choice in being able to choose which one or ones you are comfortable with and
not to let anyone tell you you are wrong. In real terms they all failed
bar a couple. Denied a voice or crushed by a fearful and hesitant male dominated
music industry. But whether these bands succeeded or failed is not the issue.
They aired the debate and gave the options. The rest is up to you. |
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Its 2003. Women
still adorn the front covers of records in various states of undress. Women are
still primarily singers in varying states of undress. Britney and Christina
Aguillera now appear virtually naked. Can women really play guitar ? Course they
f**king can ! But there's just not enough of them.
Did punk change
anything ? You tell me.
Endgame
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