Janis Joplin Gender Roles

embraced her sexuality, and that specifically is what women we're drown to.The sexual liberation gave women back their self-worth and control.

Even before the counterculture there were not many women who could make a statements the way that Janis Joplin could. Gender roles were the first of many standards that Janis would defy, and in turn she set an example that other women began to follow. Further more, Janis Joplin defied racial boundaries starting in her home town which had been very segregated between blacks and whites. When Janis began to pursue a music career, she adopted the southern blues sound that jumpstarted her passion for music. What that meant for the rest of the country was that cultures were becoming very intertwined and

the past social standards were being disregarded, which for the counterculture was the primary point.
Janis Joplin was a very important part of the feminist movement because she was able to create awareness through her popularity as a performer. Ronitzky emphasized that “Joplin was a new kind of aggressive female singer who became a unique rock superstar and inadvertently a feminist heroine by crossing gender lines and raising gender issues.”(2). Referring back to the southern roots of Janis Joplin’s up bring where she originally began the pursuit to gain control over her identity by defying the social standards of males and females. In "The 1960s: Lifestyles and Social Trends: Overview” it is stated that “the dissatisfaction felt by women whose only source of fulfillment, according to society's standards, was in caring for their husbands and children”(Women’s Day par. 5).
Janis Joplin in this case became the leading example of confidence and self-esteem, and was recognized by the public for being a large influence on young women of that time. According to Ronitzky Janis “ served as an unconscious feminist symbol for younger women. Janis’s most universal influence came through her popularization of naturalistic dress and hairstyles.(4) However, behind the scenes Janis was not a very confident person at all, she was more self-conscious than anything. Humanistically, she acted out what she wanted to become, but her transformation gave what she wanted to the women who had the privilege of seeing her.
The appeal that Janis Joplin had on male and female audiences transformed her into a symbol of the sexual liberation. According to Campbell, “Janis urged women to take charge of their sexuality and to free themselves from predatory conquest”(par. 19). She had encouraged women to take control of their bodies and appreciate themselves as sexual beings. This was extremely scary for society because women in the 1960’s were expected to behave in a manner that was refined to obedience. As a result, society was very intolerant to the gay and lesbian community which was an issue for Janis because she struggled with her own personal relationships. With also supports the reasons why Janis rejected the confinements of society’s unjustifiable opinions.
Music of the 1960’s was extremely important to the counterculture, and during this time Janis Joplin was able to influence cultural diversity, indirectly support of the civil rights, and also became the first women of rock. Perone stated that “Throughout this period popular music played a prominent role in informing and reflecting the counterculture”(301). Janis Joplin was inspired by the music of her country upbringing, and also the the blues with which she combined to create a sound that had not been heard before. “Janis represented musically one of the white South's greatest fears: the explicit melding of white and black culture in the body of a white woman”(Campbell par 20). Also, Janis had gained a high honor of being the first main dominant female performer in a male dominated industry. Janis Joplin had opened the door for many people to gain success after her time in the spot light.
Janis Japan’s collaboration of culture and sound latter transformed popular music.

According to Knight a contributor to The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: The 1960s. “By the standards of the South in the 1950s, it was unusual for a white girl to take an interest in ‘black music,’”(508) The reason why this is so compelling is because it happened during the civil rights movement, in which non-caucasian ethnicities, mostly black were protesting to be treated as equals in American.The country blues sound that Janis had created not only showed creative strength, but also created more support for the African american culture. To conservative America, this meant that the inner mixing of cultures within society was certain, and that the control that they once had would be

limited.
The southern part of America was threatened by the music that Janis Joplin created because it crossed racial boundaries, and because the south used segregation as a way to control what was happening during the civil rights movement. Campbell declared that “To assault white womanhood all the more flagrantly she publicly embraced African American music.” Which is very true, she did embrace African American music because of how it made her feel. That was one of the many traits that Janis was known for. People may have been opposed to the integration of blacks and whites, however they had been even more opposed to a white person supporting African American culture altogether. However, Rodnitzky points out that Janis Joplin’s performances were personal not political, “Just as black blues had equipped generations of poverty-stricken blacks for living with economic pain, Janis’s blues singing eased her personal suffering”(6). A sad truth to about Janis was that she had her own personal demons, but to try and make things better she sang to them.
Janis is know as the first women of rock which is significant because the music industry was dominated by men at the time at the time of the counterculture. To better explain this phenomenon Cooke describes the significance of Janis Joplin’s rise to stardom, and illustrates how she was no ordinary woman. In his words she relied “only on her talents to make it on her own, and announced to the male-dominated rock world that ‘a woman can be tough’”(108). It was the kind of liberation that women hoped for at the time.Jams was a male equivalent in female form leveling the music industry so that other women would have an opportunity to follow their dreams.
Today the world is still experiencing the effects of what Janis Joplin created.

Whether it was rebellion, liberation, or changing an industry, Janis Joplin had a profound influence on the freedoms and opportunities that people have today. Many of the social norms of today where once the tabu acts that created disapproval during the counterculture. When Janis Joplin began challenging social norms it was to define who she was, and in return she set an example for others to define themselves as well. Women were expected to illustrate femininity and obedience, and in true Janis from she disregard gender roles and encourage women to take control of their image and sexuality. Janis Joplin turned the music industry into a women industry, and her rise to fame was proof that a women was a significant and irreplaceable part of society. By being different Janis Joplin was able to represent the population of people who had never experienced true

freedom.