Is Naked Next?-An op-ed on the influence of sex on past & present female musical artists

It has taken decades for female musicians to gain respect as performers, and they’ve been fighting for this right since they clawed their way through the Rock n’ Roll scene in the early 60’s, however, it seems this type of desire for respect has been slowly slipping backwards in our current American society. It is an undeniable fact that sex sells. Sex will always sell, for women and men. However, it seems that in the music industry, women have had a more focused pressure to stress this in their work than men.

Music started out as a man’s world. Sure, there were female musical artists,but they were mostly there to please the eye: cute-figures with a pretty face, that’s all they were. Early siren-singers come to mind such as the timid and clean Doris Day or Peggy Lee. It wasn’t until rock n’ roll entered the mainstream with a man by the name of Elvis Presley, that sex began to penetrate its way into society’s music culture. You could not tame this lip quiverin' hip shakin' King even if you tried. So if a man could hold this kind of presence on stage and create this kind of reaction, why couldn’t women as well? More and more women began to ask themselves this as they watched this new sexually influenced music take over the world. By the mid-to-late 60‘s and early 70’s women began to take action in being apart of this influential musical movement from a new dominant aspect. Women were shunned, mocked, laughed at, and exploited, but all this was just the fuel for some of America’s most influential female musicians. The struggle that these women experienced to gain the respect they deserved, not only added an extra level of satisfaction on top of their performance, but also greatly influenced their career and image all together. Despite all this history, current popular female artists seem to have lost touch in everything these previous women fought for.


Here you’re presented with four female artists ranging in decade and genre, each highly influenced by one common theme;sex.

Beginning in the 1970’s we were blessed with a pioneer for people of all sorts, Joan Jett.
Joan Jett is not one to shy away from sex. (It’s obvious in most songs, such as, “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)” or “You Don’t Own Me”.) But it was mostly prevalent in the energy she radiated while on stage. However, something was different about the way she channeled her sex appeal to her audience. It was a very androgynous feel that appealed to many demographics. She played gritty rock n’ roll; the sex appeal followed behind almost unconsciously. With that being said, it never overshadowed her talent. You just can’t have rock n’ roll without a sexual connection. She embodied “sexy” in her power and dominance, in her stance and strong vocals. Jett was a woman who commanded and demanded presence on stage and delivered. That was sexy.


Madonna has always been proud of her gender. Among her many albums, the theme of being a strong and independent woman is often explored. Although she has exposed her body in videos and photographs, her nudity was never intended to be degrading. By allowing her art to synthesize with her strong female ideals, she has set the standard for outspoken women on a global scale. Taking a hard line on feminine equality is a stance that has become synonymous with Madonna's approach to her life and music. Madonna breaks barriers. She is an artist that relied heavily on sex to sell her image. Hell, it was her image. Madonna and sexuality are forever intertwined. Across various media, she has found a way to push the boundaries of what is acceptable.



Since its beginnings in the 1990s, Riot Grrrl music has aimed to empower, educate, and help women to feel less alienated by a society that can be discriminatory and harmful to them. A Riot Grrl-influenced underground female feminist musical/performance artist started to push her way through the scene with shocking imagery and vulgar feminist anthems. The artist Peaches uses sex to tell a story and make a point. There was a slight discomfort that came with experiencing her works, that the audience (mostly women) felt captivated and empowered.


What we have in this generation, carries the same ideas that the previous women have represented. However, these 21st century pop stars show a very submissive representation of women using the feminist ideologies. Saying they should be able to do these things because this is “groundbreaking” and they are women, women can do anything they want. While this is true, the impact is just not the same. Why? There are a few things that the previous female artists had in common that these new girls seem to be lacking, such as inventiveness and dominance. What Joan Jett and the artists of the Riot Grrl movement had going for them was an alpha female presence. This scared the shit out of men and women. They owned that stage and no man could take that away from them. It was an “I’m here and I’m in control!” kind of attitude. You can see that both in Nikki Minaj’s and Miley Cyrus's performances they seem to be representing the reverse, “I’m here and you’re in control, so take over!”

 “The music industry is so sexualised now. The difference is that the females are choosing it themselves, so you can’t say they are being used by the industry. Nobody is telling these women what to do, so you can’t say it’s the men sexualising them anymore. There are so many semi-naked women in videos. Is naked next? I don’t know. I am hoping it’s gone to a point where the only way is to go back again.”  -Suzi Quatro