The Rolling Stones are many things, but examples of feminism probably aren’t one of them. The band has a history of speaking in a derogatory way to women, which has often left a bitter taste in listeners’ mouths.
The three pillars of rock music have always been sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Rolling Stones persistently championed all three of these ideologies, but they especially leaned into the sex side of things. They were constantly sleeping with different people and were renowned for being some of the biggest ladies’ men in music. This attitude was reflected in their sonics, as the band wrote some songs about their adoration for women; meanwhile, others came across as a bit more insulting than that.
Who could forget songs such as ‘Under My Thumb’, a track so seemingly controversial with its lyrics that record companies only allowed the band to release it in non-English-speaking countries. The song sees Jagger play the role of a chauvinist dominating a range of women who remain unnamed.
Defending the track, Jagger said that it wasn’t supposed to be interpreted as anti-feminist and was instead supposed to be a joke. “A bit of a jokey number, really,” he said, “It’s not really an anti-feminist song any more than any of the others”. Keith Richards offered a slightly different view on the track, as he admitted it was based on real life, saying the track was “All a spinoff from our environment… Hotels, and too many dumb chicks”.
‘Some Girls’ was equally a track met with a range of controversy, not just because of its sexist tones but its racist ones as well. The line “Black girls just wanna get fucked all night” was met with protest from civil rights groups, but The Rolling Stones continued to assert that the reason they wrote the song was to highlight ignorant attitudes rather than play into them.
“It never occurred to us that our parody of certain stereotypical attitudes would be taken seriously by anyone who heard the entire lyric of the song in question,” said the band in a statement, “No insult was intended, and if any was taken, we sincerely apologise.”
Because of their history portraying sexism within their lyrics, many will be surprised to hear that their song ‘Beast of Burden’ wasn’t just one of their biggest hits but was also one of their only songs that treat women as equals. When Jagger sings that he doesn’t need a beast of burden, he is using the phrase to mean a woman who solely exists to benefit a man. Essentially, the song sees the Stones treat women with more respect than their other numbers, as they acknowledge them a more than just a sexual object (it may not seem like much in the feminist movement, but the bar is pretty low with The Rolling Stones).
“That’s another one that just came very naturally in the studio,” explained Ron Wood, “And I slipped into my part and Keith had his going. It may have appeared as though it was planned. We can pick it up today, and it will just naturally slip into the groove again, with the guitars weaving in a special way. It’s quite amazing really.” Whether to chart a new course or to counter the controversies, an effort was made to raise a groovy white flag.