Joan Jett
“Of course there have always been female artists who’ve barged their way through the ‘women in rock’ problematic with a kind of brazen ‘can do’ attitude.” (The Sex Revolts, 244)
Along with Suzi Quatro and L7, Joan Jett charged her way through the male-dominated punk scene with rebellion and conviction. Emulating the male “macho,” Jett followed the lead of early 70’s Quatro to start an all-girl band, The Runaways which in turn sparked her solo career. Jett embodied a defiant, but lively role with hits like I Love Rock and Roll, Cherry Bomb, and I Hate Myself for Loving You.
Jett, a relentless female figure in the punk scene, approached music with the belief that women were capable of all of man’s accomplishments. Through a mix of punk and hard-rock, Jett exhibited toughness and independence. In fact, Jett took male group, The Germs and Darby Crash under her wings and became a role model figure for them. Pat Smear, Chris Ashford, and Robert Hilburn all express their admiration for Jett and the Runaways, for they expressed intense self-confidence and independence.
Jett’s apartment (located on San Vicente and Sunset) acted as a central hub for young punks like The Germs. A safe place for youthful punks, the apartment functioned as a place for partying, drugs, and rowdiness. Jett, a mother/sister/role model figure played along with the “boys” according to Jena Cardwell by making “pissicles,” popsicles made of urine. Jett explains such fun as something she did as “...a defense against assholes.” The legendary “pissicles” are just one example of Jett’s tough girl rebel aesthetic and attitude. Joan Jett's attitude as "one of the guys" would later inspire Riot Grrrls' push to reject the tomboy rocker and rather adopt a supportive environment for woman not to assimilate.Joan would go on to produce the Germs' album "G.I.," a serious process, but one also filled with partying, drinking, and a mix of the two. Jett, from seeing the Germs live numerous times, felt that she could capture their energy, specifically Darby's, an oxymoronic contained chaos. In such a way, Jett both strove for independence, as seen through her music seeking excitement and alienation [insert example], but also remained a "maternal" figure. As an "older sister," or "mom," Jett gained respect, an unfamiliar notion in a scene filled with gender and sexual dissidence.
Jett's role as a mother is particularly important in considering ideas of reproduction, family, and queerness. As Nyong'o explains in Do You Want Queer Theory (Or Do You Want the Truth?), reproductive futurity -the promotion of a redemptive, open future- creates an idealistic fantasy in which child becomes adult. Alternatively, Jett's relationship with younger punks like the Germs as a producer, mother, and friend queers space by allowing child/adult encounters. Rather than outwardly rejecting common notions of family, Jett occupied a space that fueled off intergenerational relationships both rejecting normative adulthood by privileging perversity.
Like the punk scene itself, Jett upholds a sexual ambiguity. She states, “I’m not discussing personally who I’m doing anything with. As far as addressing sexuality, I’m singing to everyone and always have been since the Runaways. I think I’m being pretty blatant. I think anybody who wants to know who I am, all they’ve got to do is listen to my music” (Queens of Noise, 78). [NOTE THAT THE RUNAWAYS MOVIE ONLY SHOWS HER SLEEPING WITH WOMEN]. In such a way she encourages fans to watch, listen to, and feel the performance and its affective energy. Queer subcultures and Jett transmit rebellious affect (think pissicles) revolting against reproductive futurity.
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- Network Brita Loeb
