Var är kvinnorna i svensk rockhistoria?

En essä kring genusperspektiv och historieskrivning

Abstract

Where are the women in Swedish rock history?
In this essay, methodological questions concerning gender analysis and historiography are put forward.

The starting-point is a discussion of the views of Swedish rock music in the sixties as mainly dominated by male musicians, which are supplied in newspaper and magazine articles, radio and TV programmes and record re-releases focusing on the 60’s. As possible causes of this male bias are hypothetizised: 1) female wouldbe rock musicians in the sixties were steered away from music and from visible positions on the rock scene by mechanisms of denial of access to the new technology, subordination to male musicians, domestication and sexualisation; 2) other roles in rock as a social system such as being a fan are being ignored; 3) women musicians are further marginalized when Swedish 60’s rock is conceptualized as a ”oldies but goodies”-phenomenon focusing on hit records by groups rather than solo artists. The conclusions of the essay are: the historiography of musical subcultures as stated by journalists and re-release record producers should be viewed as statements of presentday aesthetics; the presence or absence of women in popular representations of music genres and styles can be used as a methodological tool making the complex system of different roles inherent in music visible.