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Original poster

To think Suzi Quatro rocks- gender critical thread

76 replies

joystir59 · 10/03/2017 09:32

Just seen Suzi interviewed on BBC morning TV, and she was explaining that she was able to become a successful rock star in a make dominated genre because, when she looks back on her young self, she did not consider gender- she looked at icons like Elvis Presley and said to herself- 'I want to be him'. She dressed simply and didn't wear make up- it was all about being herself and being real- and the music. It was so refreshing to listen to someone who gets it- 'gender identity' only serves to limit us and cause us pain. I've never had one myself, I'm a women who wear all kind of clothes and never lived a typical feminine role. Don't you think this attitude rocks and is exactly what we need right now?

OP posts:
ThisAintALoveSong · 10/03/2017 09:55

Forgive me for my lack of insight but I really don't understand where gender comes in.

Music doesn't have a gender which is why it's accessible to everybody.

If you are saying it's a good thing that she didn't use her femininity to advance nor hinder her success then I'd agree on that point.

ThisAintALoveSong · 10/03/2017 09:58

Conversely if she had have worn make up and dressed like a femme fatal, would that have had a positive or negative impact of her success or would it have been entirely inconsequential as she was an accomplipished singer/songwriter/bass player anyway.

ThisAintALoveSong · 10/03/2017 09:59

Grin my spelling!! Accomplished god damn it. Only on my first brew of the day. D'oh!!

Juveniledelinquent · 10/03/2017 10:00

Music has been male dominated since the dawn of time. How many classical composers, from the past, are female?

SaucyJack · 10/03/2017 10:01

That's one perspective.

Another perspective would be to say that in order to be taken seriously she had to dress like a man- and that's certainly not an attitude I aspire to or want to pass on to my daughters.

ThisAintALoveSong · 10/03/2017 10:05

She wasn't overtly sexual by any means. She was a role model for many female musicians as she broke down the male dominated barriers in the world of rock music at the time, along with other female artists.

She played and wrote music because that's what she loved to do. Good on her I say.

ThisAintALoveSong · 10/03/2017 10:07

I think this is one of those threads where she'lol be criticised for dressing 'masculine' but if she had dressed provocatively at the time to get where she is, she'd be criticised just as harshly.

Women - we're our own worst enemies. I agree with OP, Suzi Q rocks!

ThisAintALoveSong · 10/03/2017 10:09

*she'll

Fgs, I'm not with it this morning.

WorraLiberty · 10/03/2017 10:10

Another perspective would be to say that in order to be taken seriously she had to dress like a man- and that's certainly not an attitude I aspire to or want to pass on to my daughters.

This ^^ from SaucyJack

And I don't even have daughters.

Original poster
joystir59 · 10/03/2017 10:10

*Another perspective would be to say that in order to be taken seriously she had to dress like a man- and that's certainly not an attitude I aspire to or want to pass on to my daughters.

  • She didn't dress like a man- she didn't consider gender- she didn't try to conform to any stereotypical sense of 'femininity', or care much about how she looked. She didn't wear make up. She focussed on the music and just drove for success. She is a great role model, I would say.
OP posts:
Original poster
joystir59 · 10/03/2017 10:11

Another perspective would be to say that in order to be taken seriously she had to dress like a man- and that's certainly not an attitude I aspire to or want to pass on to my daughters.
She didn't dress like a man- she didn't consider gender- she didn't try to conform to any stereotypical sense of 'femininity', or care much about how she looked. She didn't wear make up. She focussed on the music and just drove for success. She is a great role model, I would say.

OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 10/03/2017 10:12

Mind you, she doesn't look much like a man here Confused

Boulshired · 10/03/2017 10:14

I do not remember her looking particularly masculine and she looked like a rocker and had her style.

WankersHacksandThieves · 10/03/2017 10:15

Maybe if as a society we stopped putting people in boxes based on their gender, ethnic background, disabilities etc then we wouldn't need these conversations?

She was a talented musician and great entertainment, as a teenage girl at the time I can't remember even thinking about what she wore or whether she had make up on. I think in that era it was easier than it is now tbh.

ThisAintALoveSong · 10/03/2017 10:15

I still don't understand what's wrong with 'dressing like a man' if that's what you feel comfortable playing in? I couldn't play bass in a mini skirt and high heels. They are heavy when you have a 2-3 hour gig set. I speak from experience.

How do people know she dressed any particular way to be 'taken seriously'. What if she just liked music, it was her passion. And that was taken seriously above anything else including looks? (Which it absolutely was btw).

I feel ashamed that women on here think she had to 'dress like a man to be taken seriously'. Says a lot about their own state of mind Angry

Klaphat · 10/03/2017 10:17

Christ, if wearing zero make-up, slim-fit jeans and a fitted leather jacket is 'dressing like a man' I am a transvestite.

Original poster
joystir59 · 10/03/2017 10:17

ThisAintALoveSong

I agree gender doesn't come into music. What I was trying to say is that Suzi wasn't put off by a feeling that only men could succeed in the genre of rock. When I was a girl I remember thinking that at some point would change and grow up into a man because men did all the interesting stuff. So I absorbed societal information that as a girl certain roles were closed to me. Suzi, from what she said, was free of this conditioning.
I did in fact grow up into a very stereotypically feminine role/expression which took a lot of years to grow out of to become the person I am now- wearing all kinds of clothes and not playing any specific gender role.

OP posts:
Original poster
joystir59 · 10/03/2017 10:19

Suzi was the first successful rock star. She herself attributes her success in a male dominated genre to her ability not to care about gender

OP posts:
user1487175389 · 10/03/2017 10:20

I get it OP. Sounds like her sex didn't even come into the equation. She wanted to be like Elvis and it didn't even enter her head that being female could be a barrier to this. That's the attitude I want my kids to grow up with.

LurkingHusband · 10/03/2017 10:22

She wasn't overtly sexual by any means

Did you grow up in the 70s ? ....

ThisAintALoveSong · 10/03/2017 10:25

Lurking - I meant with how she dressed

Original poster
joystir59 · 10/03/2017 10:26

LurkingHusband I grew up in the 70's. I would say her sexuality oozed when she performed- sexual energy is creative energy and all true creatives ooze it! But her performance wasn't centred on being a sex object. She was focussed on her music. She was, as she said this morning, real.

OP posts:
Original poster
joystir59 · 10/03/2017 10:27

user1487175389 Thank you OP- this is what I was trying to say:

I get it OP. Sounds like her sex didn't even come into the equation. She wanted to be like Elvis and it didn't even enter her head that being female could be a barrier to this. That's the attitude I want my kids to grow up with.

OP posts:
MumBod · 10/03/2017 10:28

I remember my friend's dad saying she was 'the least feminine woman I've ever seen'

yes he was a tosser

I get what she meant. She was not held back by her gender. She just chose her role model and went for it.

ThisAintALoveSong · 10/03/2017 10:32

There were other female rock stars around the same time who focussed on the music more than how they presented themselves. Patti Smith springs to mind. Janis Joplin wasn't sexually dressed.

These women have influenced my musical taste to some degree and not because of how they look

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