The Rise of Girls and Guitars
The history of the guitar shows that musical instruments have been gendered. But recently, this gendering is beginning to change, and it’s for the best.
The guitar isn’t just a musical instrument laden with history, it’s also a symbol. The modern guitar is the most popular instrument in the world, and it crosses boundaries of politics, country, ethnicity, demographics, social class, and economics. Yet, the one boundary the guitar has struggled to fully break is gender. There are over 50 million guitar players in the world, but depictions of guitarists have largely been men.
Women have long been underrepresented in all parts of the music industry, but girls with guitars is something in which the industry is particularly lacking. However, this wasn't always the case. The guitar was once seen as a women’s instrument, or an instrument to be played at home, by amateurs. For critics, this meant women. The guitar was thought to be good for a woman because female musicians could keep their bodies in graceful, feminine poses while playing. Musically, the critics thought the guitar was also a perfect instrument for women because it was made for ‘simple, unpretentious music, most of all in a subordinate role as an accompanying instrument’.
@liannelahavas on instagram
However, the guitar soon came to be seen to embody masculine traits. Fast-forward a century to the rise of jazz, country and later rock, images of women guitarists became increasingly rare. Women did not publicly perform on guitar, apart from the notable exceptions of Maybelle Carter in the 1940s, often hailed the Queen of country music, and Mary Ford in the 1950s. Even then, Maybelle Carter was limited to the role of the ‘family matriarch’ for her group, and Mary Ford’s talent was only acknowledged in direct relationship to her husband, the guitarist Les Paul.
Second-wave feminism in the 1970s that carried into the 1980s allowed a breaking of gender roles in guitar playing in the rock, country, classical and folk genres. This era saw an influx of female-influenced rock and roll guitar playing, with the rise of such groups and performers as The Runaways, Bikini Kill, The Bangles, Veruca Salt Joan and The Breeders. All were musical groups with female lead guitar players, or soloists who served as their own guitarists. Other unrepresented female guitarists include PJ Harvey, who uses her guitar as an extension of herself and Chrissie Hynde and Patti Smith, the epitome of rock androgyny, both guitarists for four decades.
Joan Jett and Kim Deal of the Breeders
Yet despite this breakthrough, in their study of music ads in Seventeen magazines from 1944 to 1981, music critics noted that “girls were pictured […] standing near guitars, and watching boys playing guitars, but rarely was a girl shown holding or playing a guitar.” Recently, there has been a big rise in the number of girls playing guitar, however many female musicians still express anger at being stereotyped into the soft and gentle acoustic genre. So who are some girls with guitars you should be listening to?
Earlier this year, beabadoobee released her first album ‘Fake It Flowers’, combining grunge rock with heartfelt lyrics and offering advice to girls growing up. The band's bassist, Eliana, is also one to watch, often posting covers of well known tracks on her instagram. Bea even wrote a song about her called ‘She Plays Bass’.
Up and coming New York band’s Pretty Sick and Hello Mary also star girl rockers who express their identity and individuality through melding together indie rock, grunge, shoegaze and guitar solos under powerful vocals.
Maya Delilah, London chill-pop guitarist, has amassed a large following this year after posting covers and original tracks on her TikTok and instagram. In a recent interview she said “I think it is so ridiculous that guitar is assumed to be a ‘male instrument’, and I have had my fair share of sexist comments over time. From things such as ‘Do you want me to tune your guitar?’, or asking me if I know how to work an amp, or even nasty comments and messages about my ability. I know first-hand how these experiences can knock a young girl’s confidence when they are starting out. I want to show girls that they don’t need to listen to these stupid comments. I hate how this stereotype even exists in the first place, and I want to help and be part of this change.”
Towa Bird began posting covers to her TikTok earlier this year, and the videos of her and her electric guitar have since amassed a following of 554 thousand followers with over 7 million likes. Her work was featured on the instagram account @sheshreds_media, another great platform that showcases female guitarists, explains the history of girls with guitars and highlights the musical talent which the industry seems to be overlooking.
For a boost of happiness, check out Miumiu on instagram. At only six years old, Miumiu became a social media sensation during self-isolation after posting videos of her playing guitar to her youtube channel and instagram. When she grows up, she hopes to be a guitarist, but for now, her videos are there to put a smile on your face during these tough times.
Girls with guitars are on the rise, and for good reason. The influence of iconic riot grrls such as Courtney Love, Miki Berenyi and Joan Jett on subsequent generations of female guitar bands and artists such as Goat Girl, Du Blonde and Pillow Queens is obvious. After being ignored for generations, female musicians are finally starting to get the recognition they deserve.
Thumbnail and cover photo: Miki Berenyi of the band Lush