For more than 40 years, Lita Ford has been rocking out.
Ford is considered one of the greatest artists in hard-rock history, and her career longevity — including her upcoming show on Aug. 9 at the Heavy Montreal festival — is in and of itself is an impressive feat.
Moreover, by being a member of the Runaways, the world’s first all-female rock band, and one of the first women in rock to have a prominent solo career — which included hits such as “Kiss Me Deadly” and “Close My Eyes Forever” — she not only brought us some classic music, but also helped blaze a trail for women in rock. And in doing so, she has shown women a path to overcoming sexism, and given all of us a lesson in confronting bias and discrimination.
When Ford was growing up, men dominated the landscape of hard rock, punk and heavy-metal music. To be sure, there had been prominent women in rock previously. But for every Janis Joplin, Grace Slick and Tina Turner, there seemed to be 10 Jimmy Pages, Ozzy Osbournes and Iggy Pops. Further, many of the prominent women in rock did not play the type of hard-edged music that became Ford’s signature sound.
Complicating matters further was that while women were often not playing hard-rock music, some of the women involved in the hard-rock scene were viewed exclusively as “groupies” — female fans who were stereotyped as being primarily sexual partners of the male musicians. More, our culture applied and arguably still applies a double standard to male as compared to female sexual behavior; We often implicitly condone, and in some cases celebrate, the sexuality of men and male rock stars, and yet female sexuality is a taboo subject.
The seeming imbalance in terms of prominent musicians and attitudes toward sexuality between men and women contributed to an insidious cycle that sent a very clear implicit message: Girls don’t rock.
The preponderance of male rock stars may in part be why Ford’s role models growing up were men. “My role models on the lead vocals were Mick Jagger for his attitude and cockiness,” she told me. “His pronunciation, he could sing the yellow pages, and it would sound good. On guitar, it was Ritchie Blackmore for his picking technique and Tony Iommi, the heavy-metal riff master.”
In the backdrop of this cultural landscape, Runaways manager Kim Fowley exploited these biases and has been accused of engaging in a range of sexist behaviors and the sexualization of the Runaways. Perhaps the most benign accusations were that he exploited the sexuality of the young girls in the band by forcing them to dress up in provocative ways and sing sexually explicit songs such as “Cherry Bomb.”
Ford recalls how Fowley used sexuality to promote the Runaways. “The Runaways got a lot of that. Kim was trying to sell sex. Sex sells,” she said. “ … Teenage jail-bait sex a la punk-rock style. He was teaching us choreography and attitude.”
But there are many accusations that Fowley’s sexualization of the Runaways went far beyond their image. As an example, Runaways singer Cherie Currie said that Fowley would force the band to watch him having sex with a woman to “teach” the band about sex. And most recently, Runaways guitarist Jackie Fuchs accused the now-deceased Fowley of sexual assault.
Sexism can be exhibited in different ways, but all forms appear to be harmful. Even in its most benign form, stereotypes about women appear to be damaging. For example, the stereotype that girls are not good at math may represent a stereotype threat that can undermine academic performance. But in its more extreme forms, including sexual harassment, discrimination and sexual assault, it can result in psychological and physical health problems that can last a lifetime for its victims.
Ford certainly felt the stereotype threat. She perceived the pressure that the audience would sexualize the band, regardless of what they did or wore. “[W]e wore risqué wardrobe for our first two years. When Cherie quit the band, we changed our clothing. But it didn’t change the way people looked at us. We could have worn overcoats and got the same reaction,” she said.
By embracing the “sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll” persona of the Runaways, it would be easy to dismiss the Runaways as simply “caving in” to stereotypes. From one perspective, Ford and the other members of the Runaways embraced the stereotypes and sexism, and ran with it. “But we were teenage girls wearing corsets and really short shorts. We presented ourselves as teenaged jail-bait punks. A lot of fun,” she said.
But from another perspective, one could conceptualize Ford and the Runaways’ sexualized look as a confrontation of gender norms and biases about female sexuality, rather than simply a capitulation. In fact, Ford explains the Runaways were engaging in the same behavior of male musicians, and even some female musicians of their time. “Drugs have been in the music industry for decades. The ’70s, ‘White Rabbit,’ ‘Puff the Magic Dragon.’ Nothing new, the Runaways’ approach. Sex was also a big part of rock ’n’ roll. The Tubes. The Stones,” she explained.
Later in her career, Ford also confronted gender norms and sexism when she decided to cover an Alice Cooper classic, “Only Women Bleed.” Ford felt that the song, which seems to address the life of a woman in an abusive relationship, would be powerful if sung by a woman.
“It is one of rock’s best songs ever written. One night I heard it on the radio and thought, ‘What if a woman sang it?’ That woman had to be me,” she said. “I had come out of an abusive relationship, so I could relate to the lyrics, which you can read about in my book, due out in spring 2016. I also loved Dick Wagner’s guitar parts on that. What a challenge to try and learn them. But he helped me over the phone, and I think, with the help of Mike Chapman’s production, we owned it. Alice is one of my all-time favorite performers, too.”
But for Ford, while she was willing to embrace some of the perceptions of female sexuality, she would in no way bend on her staunch belief that the “women can’t rock” stereotype was a lie. For explained: “I never listened to how people tried to tell me to live my life. It’s my life. Not theirs. And they didn’t know me. Why should I put down an instrument because of their discouraging beliefs?”
Part of the reason why Ford would not abide by this stereotype is that music was such a strong part of her identity. “I loved playing guitar. It’s in my blood, and a God-given gift,” she said. “Later came teaching myself to sing. Which was a task in itself,” she said.
This passion often involved the cathartic aspect of music. Research suggests that music can be effective in managing emotions, such as anxiety, as well as improving health and well-being. “Isn’t that what music is all about? You get married, fall in love, so you write a happy song,” she explained. “You have a death in the family, so you write a song for the loved one lost.”
Ford’s commitment to her music is conveyed in the professionalism with which she approaches the work. “I try to take rock ’n’ roll one day at a time. Everyday calls for different needs,” she said. “The self-confidence is knowing your parts and knowing your approach on stage — know you look good or sound good. Have confidence in those in your team and the people around you, too; that they always have your back should you fall.”
The idea now that “women can’t rock” seems laughable. At the time Ford was making her mark on music, several other female rock artists were doing the same, including fellow Runaways band-mate Joan Jett, as well as Pat Benatar, Patti Smith, Debbie Harry, Doro Pesch and Heart. As the years went on, women developed prominent places in all genres of music. The current landscape is filled with prominent female musicians in pop (e.g. Beyonce’), hip hop (e.g. Nicki Minaj), rock (e.g. Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), punk (e.g., Pussy Riot) and heavy metal (e.g. Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy).
This is not to say that sexism doesn’t exist. One needs only to examine the cultural landscape to see how prominent female athletes — such as tennis star Venus Williams and Ultimate Fighting Championship brawler Ronda Rousey — are accused of being “masculine” and realize that things are far from equal. Movements such as the #YesAllWomen are taking on sexual harassment, and #ILooklikeanengineer is challenging stereotypes that women are not good at math and science.
Ford takes pride in the fact that she, along with other female artists of her time, paved the way for a new cultural landscape. “I believe I helped carve the path for others to be accepted in the rock world. Even now, there are only a few females that truly rock. But they had a leader, whereas I only had men as my leaders,” she said. “But that fine, too. It made me strong.”
And she has a message for all musicians and people whose dreams are discouraged. “I always tell young musicians who have a vision, is follow your heart and dreams. Only you know what they are. Don’t let anyone guide you in the wrong direction,” she said.
“Follow your heart and dreams. Don’t let anyone shoot them down.”
