‘Women Who Rock’ Episode 3 Recap: Music Videos Help Women Take Over While Riot Grrrl Plots An Insurrection

The first two episodes of Women Who Rock documentary series covered the dawn of rock n’ roll and its many antecedents and the golden age of classic rock. Episode 3, titled “Power,” explores the new opportunities and the pitfalls of the 1980s music video epoch and how the 1990s ushered in a new generation of female artists determined to overthrow the music industry’s boys club. Produced by the same team behind 2019’s Punk series, the 4-part series airs on Sundays on Epix through the end of the month.   

MTV launched on 12:01 on the morning of Saturday August 1, 1981, famously premiering with the music video for the Buggles’ “Video Killed The Radio Star.” What’s generally less reported is the second video it played was by a female artist, Pat Benatar’s “You Better Run.” With a voice that could cut through the loudest electric guitars, Benatar was sexy and self-assured, a singer who got top billing but was also a band leader, presenting a tough new rock archetype which has been copied myriad times.

A working class New Yorker, Benatar didn’t believe there was anything a woman couldn’t do as well as a man and like other in the series says she was inspired by her hard-working and hard-nosed mother. Music videos would help launch her multi-platinum career and she says the leotards and skin tight stretch pants she wore felt like donning a suit of armor. At the same time, she was aware of the limitations of appearance over artistry and the leering gaze of the male eye and maintained a firm control over her image and career. 

Benatar was the tip of the iceberg for an impressive number of female artists who used the music video format to their advantage. Informed by punk rock’s peacocking fashion sense, artists like Cyndi Lauper and R&B veteran Tina Turner projected power and authority while Madonna turned the sexualization of female singers on its head. “She was making herself into a sexual object, so that was OK,” says former Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon approvingly. 

In a medium reliant on visual presentation, however, female musicians often had to bow to convention. Having made their bones during the hippie and hard rock ‘70s, Heart received a glam metal makeover featuring lots of cleavage and teased hair. Guitarist Nancy Wilson explains that because of the importance of music videos, labels and management now felt they could weigh in on the band’s physical appearance.

The 1980s also saw the emergence of hip hop as an artistic and commercial force to be reckoned with. As the decade wore on, an increasing number of women rose to the forefront. They ran the gamut from the streetwise Roxanne Shante to the light-hearted sexualized pop of Salt-N-Pepa, and Queen Latifah, whose “Ladies First” championed women’s place in hip hop and history. Disappointingly, no female MCs appear in the episode to present their own story, an egregious omission given their ongoing importance in not only hip hop but pop music in general.   

Likewise, ‘80s R&B is given short shrift. While the episode features segments on singer Jody Watley and percussionist turned Prince protege Sheila E, where are Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and Sade? This is the problem with using rock as an adjective and not a genre. If you’re in for a penny, you’re in for a pound. You should either concentrate on those artists who are stylistically “rock,” or include a weirder array of artists who represent the totality of female musicians operating in their respective era. If you don’t, you risk being guilty of tokenism and omission.  

As the glamor of the ‘80s gave way to the gritty ‘90s, a new generation of musicians were waiting in the wings. Raised on second-wave feminism and punk rock, the women of grunge and the Riot Grrrl movement gave voice to female outrage. Where Hole’s Courtney Love presented tales of exploitation and abuse in confrontational terms, Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna fought for women’s inclusion and safety in the often testosterone-driven underground punk scene. Oddly overlooked are the numerous female musicians that played in top bands of the era, including Smashing Pumpkins, the Breeders and the all-female L7.

At the same time, a slew of exciting new solo artists took advantage of alternative rock’s inroads and presented new and unique stories centered on the female experience. While ample time is spent documenting Sheryl Crow’s struggles to be taken seriously and gain control of her career, other artists are passed by with little more than a mention. Of course, this is the danger of covering such a wide swatch of artists but at the same time speaks to the greatness of their contribution. With one episode left, it will be interesting to see how Women Who Rock ties everything together in the new century.  

Benjamin H. Smith is a New York based writer, producer and musician. Follow him on Twitter:@BHSmithNYC.