“Put my head in my hands”: the real reason Joan Jett sought out male-only musicians
Beyond the legacy attached to her music, Joan Jett stands as one of the many unfortunate figures whose career was always underscored by male violence. “Things were different back then” might be the most common way to explain away such toxicities, but it will never soften the blow of never-ending harassment, gatekeeping, and physical boundary-crossing she and countless other women in rock endured during their peak years.
Although Jett landed her first guitar at the age of 13, her first foray into the spotlight occurred after she became a part of the all-female group The Runaways, formed by Kim Fowley as a means of taking full advantage of the burgeoning punk-rock movement. Despite countless accusations against Fowley by the band members, one consistent theme was the exploitation of a group of teenage girls, pushing them to their limits for profit, all while being aware that they were never truly protected in an industry that had no real way of safeguarding them against the harassment and violence women routinely faced.
On top of that, when Jett began to integrate herself more heavily into the scene, she learned very quickly that audiences acted in a way they knew they could get away with, which included yelling, intimidation, and perhaps one of the worst of all—spitting. This was fairly commonplace in dingy, punk-rock venues, with audiences spitting at acts in the haze of aggression-fuelled excitement, but it seemed to enhance somewhat with Jett in response to her being a woman.
According to the musician, the act pushed her to tears on multiple occasions, though more because she knew she couldn’t really do anything about it. “It’s difficult to get across to people what it’s like to be spat at,” she explained to The Irish Times. “After the gig, I would be dripping in spit and just put my head in my hands and cry out of sheer frustration.” To rub salt into the wound, her career felt like it had met an impasse, which was also another prong on the patriarchal fork that meant she would always have to work twice as hard.
This stress pushed Jett to alcohol abuse, faced with the constant frustration in an industry that “gave girls shit for playing guitars.” She knew she had to turn things around somehow, but things needed to be different. Knowing that the industry wouldn’t change, she took matters into her own hands when forming The Blackhearts, choosing instead to create a male-only lineup so the aggression she experienced before would soften, even if it made others judge her sudden move away from female-only anarchy.
However, she would never really be immune, not just by being a woman in rock but because her sexuality, coupled with the fact that she seemed to have deviated from her punk roots, made people question her validity. In a way, opting for male musicians made some question whether the suspicions about her being a novelty act were, in fact, true when all she wanted to do was protect herself from an industry that never really wanted her there in the first place.
She couldn’t win. Even when she gained popularity with tracks like ‘Bad Reputation’ and ‘I Love Rock and Roll’, Jett would never really come out on top. However, her internal stamina and resilience in the face of such intense criticism prove that she was always destined to be a fighter, even if the arena was filled with people and opinions that tried to quash her every attempt to prove her worth. At least she knew she wasn’t alone, even if the scrutiny almost pushed her to throw in the towel.
