Misogyny in Rock Music: How Songwriters Have Failed Women

All Visuals Created by Evonne Johnson // @itbeevonne

I grew up on rock ‘n’ roll. From my mom’s undying love of 1980s hair metal and new wave to my dad’s affinity for British alternative rock to my own rediscovery of grunge in middle school, my life has been defined by loud guitars and powerhouse vocalists for as long as I can remember. Rock music represented total freedom: it pushed boundaries, blended genres, and honestly, made for some really great hype music as a kid. It’s still my favorite genre of music, and, as it has evolved over the years, I’ve found more reasons to appreciate it.

When I was a kid, I remember my favorite album being the Arctic Monkeys’ Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. My mom was a huge fan of theirs from day one, and I have fond, vivid memories of singing along to the album on my way to and from school, and jumping around to it at home. One of my favorite songs off the album was “Still Take You Home.” I realize the irony of a five-year-old listening to this song; to be fair, looking back, I just really liked the heavy guitars.

Listening to the song some fourteen years later, however, I have more of a sense to pick up on the lyrics, and I cannot help but notice the misogyny that Alex Turner is spewing. Here’s how the song opens:

Well, it's ever so funny / 'Cause I don't think you're special, I don't think you're cool / You're just probably alright / But under these lights you look beautiful / And I'm struggling / I can't see through your fake tan… / But what do you know? / Oh, you know nothing / Yeah, but I'll still take you home...

At five years old, the lyrics never registered as “misogynistic” to me; I simply liked the sound of the guitars and Turner’s voice. But I couldn’t help but think about what it meant for me to have listened to a song like this from a young age, and whether or not it takes away from the song as a whole. Even today, I must admit it remains one of my favorite Monkeys songs—but is it wrong that it remains a favorite?

What does it mean for a young, female rock fan to be exposed to lyrics that blatantly hate on women? The music industry has been riddled with misogyny from its inception, and rock music is no different. Misogyny in rock culture has an unfortunately deep history that is too dense to detail here, though it can be seen from virtually every aspect: the erasure of female vocalists, the belittlement of female instrumentalists, the act of male musicians taking advantage of female fans and - the focus of this piece - misogyny in songwriting. I would be remiss if not to state that I do believe the industry has gotten more progressive in highlighting female musicians, but I must say that the hatred of women from lyricists has persisted, and its prevalence makes it feel as though it may never stop.

Nostalgia often plays a role in shaping one’s music taste. Especially in this current, unpredictable age, many have turned to listening to songs from their youth in hopes of regaining a sense of familiarity. It’s jarring, then, to see how so many of these songs have not aged well through the lens of modern culture.

I was raised in the early 2000s, when rock music was still a major part of mainstream culture, with subgenres like garage rock, nu metal and pop-punk being considered “popular” music. I remember loving artists such as All Time Low, Panic! At the Disco and Blink-182, to name a few: groups who embodied the sort of free-spirited rocker energy that drew me to the genre in the first place. Yet it’s disheartening to see the sexism that was completely normalized in this era of quintessential rock music. Between sexist lyrics, objectification of women in music videos and a toxic masculine agenda that was upheld within the culture, women seemed to only be represented when they were at the brunt of an insult.

And unfortunately, female songwriters projected this image as well. Let’s take Avril Lavigne, for example, and her pop-punk hit “Girlfriend.” Truly a classic song (and yes, I still listen to it from time to time), but as catchy as it may be, it still pits women against each other in pursuit of a man. The song details Lavigne’s dramatic plot to steal the boyfriend of a girl she deems “unworthy,” with a music video that contrasts the “preppy” girl with the “punk” girl through campy theatrics.

I remember watching the music video on MTV all the time growing up, coerced into rooting for Avril Lavigne as she shouted, “Hey, hey, you, you, I don't like your girlfriend!” without realizing the damage a song like this may have caused. With an audience that mainly consisted of young girls, what kind of message was Lavigne’s music really perpetuating? While we believed we were just listening to a fun rock song, we were actually consuming internalized misogyny; suddenly, it was normal to compete with women and judge them based on their looks and status.

I am focused on music from my, and presumably many others’, youth because it is just so perplexing to think that sexism and misogyny were so ubiquitous throughout mainstream culture available to such young audiences. With music, precedents are set that carry across generations; it is no wonder, then, that we can still find innumerable instances of misogyny in contemporary music. 

So, what happens now? Do female fans stop listening to the music that defined our adolescence, in an attempt to distance ourselves from negative imagery? Do we try to ignore the realities and listen in secret? Does this make us “bad feminists”?

I have to admit, I find it difficult to listen to some of my once-beloved songs without criticizing their lyrics, but I also think that “cancelling” artists is not the solution. I’d like to say that accountability is the first step for rock music, going forward. Artists need to recognize where their misogyny is being projected and why it is so harmful. Without open and honest conversations, no progress can be made, and rock music will be stuck in a sexist, male-dominated cycle. I do think there is hope for change as women take over contemporary rock culture. Artists like Miley Cyrus, Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless and Haim are dominating the rock music scene at the moment, owning their autonomy and paving the way for more women in rock in the process. Acknowledging the music you consume is half the battle, but with a focus on growth, rock music can become a more inclusive, positive space.