Learning Feminism from Early 60's Rock 'n Roll

There's always been this conception that girl groups and female singers of early classic rock 'n roll
were all sweet, basically innocent girls sitting at home by the phone waiting for their guys to call:

"Other fellows ask me out for a date,
But I just sit and wait,
I'd rather concentrate,
On Johnny Angel..."

(Johnny Angel, Shelley Fabares)

And there was plenty of that in the music of the era. But there were other songs that showed stronger, more
independent thinking, the sort of stuff that suffragettes and other women who stood up for themselves had.
Many girls just entering their teens or pre-teens at the time were probably influenced, as I was, by songs like
"You Don't Own Me," by Lesley Gore:

'You dont own me,
Don't say I can't go with other boys,
You don't own me,
I'm not just one of your many toys

You can't tell me what to do,
You can't tell me what to say.."

Those were powerful lyrics, and a revolutionary way of thinking for some of us.

Then, there were those songs that actually encouraged thinking for yourself, making your own choices, even in the
face of authority, like my personal favorite, The Crystals' "He's A Rebel:"

"He's a rebel, and he'll never be any good,
He's a rebel, cause he never does what he should,
Just because he doesn't do what everybody else does,
That's no reason why
I can't give him all my love..
.....
If they don't like him that way,
They won't like me after today,
Cause I'll be standing right by his side..."

You go, girl! I know that that song appealed to my strong, independent side and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Even those songs about total, devoted, female, love sometimes carried a strong, fierce sense of determination and
indominatable strength, as when Little Peggy March sang:

"I will follow him,
Follow him wherever he may go,
There isn't a mountain so steep,
A river so deep it can keep,
Keep me away..."

And in a song like "He's So Fine," the girl is not sittin' and waitin' for her guy:

"I don't know how I'm gonna do it,
But I'm gonna make him mine,
Be the envy of all the girls,
It's just a matter of time.."

and just to make sure it's understood..

"But then I know he can't shy,
He can't shy away forever.."

Add to this what can happen when you do let other people tell you what to do, as in "The Leader of the Pack,"by the Shangri-La's:

"One day my dad said, Find someone new
I had to tell my Jimmy we're through.."

And the next thing you know, he roars away on his bike, crashes and dies. The message there is pretty clear, isn't it?

Follow your own heart or else!

So what did girls get from these songs? You don't own me. You can't stop me. I'm going after what I want and I'm going to get it. I won't let anyone else tell me what to do.

Is it any wonder so many of us grew up to be strong, free-thinking, women?

Our parents were right. Rock and roll did shake up the old way, and it did change our world!