Rolling Stone: Stevie Nicks Sees Women's Rights Slipping

[bluecalmsea]

Opinionated comments section! http://www.rollingstone.com/music/ne...te-it-20130315



Dan Rys
March 15, 2013 10:55 AM ET
"The true rock legends truly changed the game," said NPR's Ann Powers by way of introduction Thursday at SXSW Music. "Stevie Nicks definitely changed the game."

Powers conducted a Q&A with the very busy Fleetwood Mac singer – in addition to performing with Dave Grohl's Sound City Players at SXSW, she has a new tour and is set to release a new solo album. The talk ran down the story of Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joining Fleetwood Mac, her regimen for keeping her voice in shape even at the age of 64 and her myriad performing influences. But it opened and closed with a discussion about feminism – not only in the largely male-dominated world of rock & roll, but in society today.

"We fought very hard for feminism, for women's rights," Nicks said in response to a question from the crowd. "What I'm seeing today is a very opposite thing. I don't know why, but I see women being put back in their place. And I hate it. We're losing all we worked so hard for, and it really bums me out."

Nicks and bandmate Christine McVie were strong female figures in an industry where many male musicians were hero-worshipped by fans across the world, and Nicks said they worked to change the perception of women within the rock & roll circles of the Seventies. "I said to Chris, we can never be treated like second-class citizens," she explained. "When we walk into a room we have to float in like goddesses, because that's how we wanted to be treated. We demanded that from the beginning."

Nicks also recalled her days in San Francisco in the late Sixties and early Seventies, when she and Buckingham opened for headliners from Janis Joplin to Jimi Hendrix. "Flamboyance and attitude from Janis, humbleness and grace from Hendrix, and a little bit of slinky from Grace Slick," she said. "Those were the three people who I emulated when I was on stage."

And while it's been more than 30 years since she took up her place in Fleetwood Mac, her voice – bolstered by a vocal coach she has worked with since 1997 – isn't letting her down yet. "Opera singers sing into their 80s," she said. "I don't plan to be doing [hundreds] of shows when I'm 85, but I do plan to still be out there singing when I'm a seriously older woman."

[FierySequences]

Originally Posted by bluecalmsea

Op

Powers conducted a Q&A with the very busy Fleetwood Mac singer – in addition to performing with Dave Grohl's Sound City Players at SXSW, she has a new tour and is set to release a new solo album. ."

this is nice, thx for posting!

Is this a misprint or is this the "tribute" album SN referred to shortly after her mom's death?

Could this be the reason Stevie doesn't want a new FM album out now?

[elle]

what a crock of sh*t.

putting down every other woman especially from the current generation, while putting herself on a pedestal of fighting for women's rights?? pleeeeeease.

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by elle

what a crock of sh*t.

putting down every other woman especially from the current generation, while putting herself on a pedestal of fighting for women's rights?? pleeeeeease.

Your decidedly strange fascination (that you will never admit) with Stevie aside, why do you feel such venom for a woman who speaks her mind? And how, exactly, is she "putting herself on a pedestal" for simply voicing an opinion (that I happen to agree with). And it doesn't negate the fact that, yes, in a number of ways, Stevie blazed a trail for women in rock music. She was a female singer/songwriter and co-leader of a rock and roll band at a time when women in music were, for the most part, given songs to sing and told to fall in line behind their male songwriters, producers and musicians. Stevie was part of a small elite group of female musicians (Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, Grace Slick, Ann/Nancy Wilson, etc.) who actually had independence and clout in a man's world. And it seems that Stevie was singular in her ability to be a strong woman who did not give into the peer pressure to display stereotypically masculine mannerisms, e.g., Joan Jett. IF Stevie wanted to put herself on a pedestal as a pioneer as a woman in rock and roll, she has certainly earned that right.

[MikeInNV]

Originally Posted by elle

what a crock of sh*t.

putting down every other woman especially from the current generation, while putting herself on a pedestal of fighting for women's rights?? pleeeeeease.

I guess when you hate someone, you'll interpret their words in the worst possible light. I didn't see her putting herself on a pedestal just because she said she and Chris had to fight for their place; I've heard the same thing from the Wilson sisters and other female rockers from that era. I also definitely didn't hear her put down "every other woman." If anything, the comment about "women being put back" is a slam against the current industry's men.

[elle]

lol. i was waiting for all these reactions from the guys.

wonder how Christine McVie feels if she ever reads any of these statements from Ms Nicks.

[redbird]

Stevie isn't putting herself on a pedestal above other women, she is saying that the industry is taking advantage of women and not giving them the rights that she and others like her fought for in their generation.

In Stevie's generation, all women had to be fighters, why Stevie shouldn't count as one of them is beyond me (it's not like she said "I fought, and I was the only one", she said "WE fought"). She has always included Christine McVie as her ally in this fight.

[johnnystorms]

Originally Posted by elle

lol. i was waiting for all these reactions from the guys.

wonder how Christine McVie feels if she ever reads any of these statements from Ms Nicks.

so you PURPOSELY try to antagonize Stevie fans to "wait" for our reactions? what fun!!!

[BrownEyedGirl26]

Originally Posted by elle

lol. i was waiting for all these reactions from the guys.

wonder how Christine McVie feels if she ever reads any of these statements from Ms Nicks.

Elle, haven't you heard the phrase, "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all"?Better still, just stay on the Lindsey section then we won't have to read all of your negativity day after day!

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by elle

what a crock of sh*t.

putting down every other woman especially from the current generation, while putting herself on a pedestal of fighting for women's rights?? pleeeeeease.

I gotta say, your initial comments sure seem like you popped off (early) & jumped to assumption here, perhaps due to your apparent disrespect, and/or weary views on Ms. Nicks. Because after reading this interview, clearly Stevie never said anything that should be construed to assume she herself (only) put herself on THE said pedestal, or put down any other women.

I have not meticulously read through every nuance of everyones responses here, but I don't think that anyone has touched upon what I believe to be Stevie's potetial mindset of the question posed about women rights being stripped away today. There is currently a not so subtle assault (particularly from the Republican right wing factions) on all U.S. womens health reproductive rights, ranging from Planned Parenthood attacks to outright vitriol about overturning "Roe -vs- Wade" and a womens right to choose. I think its entirely possible that Stevie does not entirely live in a rock n' roll bubble, and is very aware of this current women's rights political hot potato being regurgitated 40 years later. Stevie clearly had the right to choose and allegedly did so, and I'm sure this is a passionate subject for her and her generation of women.

[elle]

Originally Posted by Christopher

I have not meticulously read through ever nuance of everyones responses here, but I don't think that anyone has touched upon what I believe to be Stevie's potetial mindset of the question posed about women rights being stripped away today. There is currently a not so subtle assault (particularly from the Republican right wing factions) on all U.S. womens health reproductive rights, ranging from Planned Parenthood attacks to outright vitriol about overturning "Roe -vs- Wade" and a women's right to choose.

i agree with this and thought that's what she actually must be talking about after i cooled down a bit.

i haven't looked at any statistics and am not sure whether what's upfront in political debate and on tv is paralleled or completely unrelated to what is happening jobwise - whether things like pay inequality, number of high positions held by women, women with children going back to workforce, etc went down, up or stayed the same over the last few decades.

[QueenStevie]

Originally Posted by Christopher

I have not meticulously read through every nuance of everyones responses here, but I don't think that anyone has touched upon what I believe to be Stevie's potetial mindset of the question posed about women rights being stripped away today. There is currently a not so subtle assault (particularly from the Republican right wing factions) on all U.S. womens health reproductive rights, ranging from Planned Parenthood attacks to outright vitriol about overturning "Roe -vs- Wade" and a womens right to choose. I think its entirely possible that Stevie does not entirely live in a rock n' roll bubble, and is very aware of this current women's rights political hot potato being regurgitated 40 years later. Stevie clearly had the right to choose and allegedly did so, and I'm sure this is a passionate subject for her and her generation of women.

Well, I don't agree. Hopefully, in one of her IYD screening Q&A's, Stevie gets asked about that, so that we would all know for sure what she meant there!

[WildHearted]

Originally Posted by QueenStevie

Well, I don't agree. Hopefully, in one of her IYD screening Q&A's, Stevie gets asked about that, so that we would all know for sure what she meant there!

Out of curiosity, why do you disagree?

I tend to think she was talking more about women's role in respect to their careers and general value in society, but I don't necessarily think it impossible that she might have been talking of more political aspects too. The interview is pretty badly chopped up so it's hard to really understand the full context of what she was saying (and also we don't know the exact question she was responding too). Not to mention that this is Stevie, so anything she says is open to interpretation

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by Christopher

I have not meticulously read through every nuance of everyones responses here, but I don't think that anyone has touched upon what I believe to be Stevie's potetial mindset of the question posed about women rights being stripped away today. There is currently a not so subtle assault (particularly from the Republican right wing factions) on all U.S. womens health reproductive rights, ranging from Planned Parenthood attacks to outright vitriol about overturning "Roe -vs- Wade" and a womens right to choose. I think its entirely possible that Stevie does not entirely live in a rock n' roll bubble, and is very aware of this current women's rights political hot potato being regurgitated 40 years later. Stevie clearly had the right to choose and allegedly did so, and I'm sure this is a passionate subject for her and her generation of women.

We are debating many issues on the national stage right now: rape, abortion, Melissa Mayer's installation of a nursery next to her own office, while at the same time telling her employees they can no longer work from home, Sandberg's "Lean in" . . . I'm sure that Stevie's aware of all of these things, but based on the tenor of her comments, I don't think she was talking about womens' reproductive rights, although she probably has feelings on the subject. I think she was talking about career equality more than anything else. I'm aware that pregnancy/family impacts career, but I don't think Stevie's general statement was meant to encompass all of that.

Michele

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by michelej1

We are debating many issues on the national stage right now: rape, abortion, Melissa Mayer's installation of a nursery next to her own office, while at the same time telling her employees they can no longer work from home, Sandberg's "Lean in" . . . I'm sure that Stevie's aware of all of these things, but based on the tenor of her comments, I don't think she was talking about womens' reproductive rights, although she probably has feelings on the subject. I think she was talking about career equality more than anything else.
Michele

I agree, I should have included an addendum that Stevie's answer was potentially a bigger awareness of women's many current issues (which include women's reproductive choices) that are once again being challenged on the national & political stage.
Instead this thread delineated into some kind of petty competition about whom is or was the bigger woman feminist trailblazer of rock, simply because of a seemingly reactionary opinion by one that Stevie put herself on a pedestal and somehow put down other women.