Women Who Rock!

On the topic of women’s role in the history of ‘hip,’ I believe women are the driving force or momentum behind the scenes. Now I have no claim to feminism by any means, in fact I would consider myself more “one of the guys” type of girl, but it is strange that John Leland omits many important female icons in Hip: The History.

           

            The puzzle piece I’m having trouble with is the way Leland keeps referring to hip as more of a feminine movement, but then goes on to discuss the dominance of males in society.  I guess this is just another contradiction of hip. This idea is leaning more towards misogynistic because it places women in the home as domestic mothers, and men on the road, living their dreams.

            

“ For many women, especially those with children, the price of this adventure is too high. Instead of reinventing themselves on the road, they have reinvented the home and the parameters of hip within it” (Leland 243).

There is not a right or wrong side here; there are just many versions of the truth. Some women may be perfectly happy being a housewife/mother and others may want to live from one adventure to another, I don’t think that makes them less hip than their male counterpart.

Needless to say, (this is where I say it anyways), there are many female faces within the history of pop culture and I think Leland chose to leave them out. Why? Maybe he wasn’t comfortable with the subject, then again maybe his wife made him add the chapter on ladies?  Who Knows?

Hip remains a matter of opinion and it really is up to the researcher on defining what is hip, who is hip, and why it matters. 

Here is just a short list of women who were left out of this book (or didn’t get enough coverage): Emily Dickinson, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth  Hurley, Cyndi Lauper, The Staples Sisters, The Supremes, Tina Turner, Wanda Jackson, Alanis Morissette, Joan Baez, Carole King, Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell, Rosa Parks, and so so many more.