My book club is reading Sheila Weller's joint biography of Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon—Girls Like Us. While the book centers on these three groundbreaking singer/songwriters who mapped out amazing careers back when women weren't supposed to be anything other than wives and mothers, it also has a strong underlying focus on women and feminism of that era in general.I am not quite half way through the book but I have already been struck by two things. One, and this may seem a bit silly, but . . . these three girls/women had amazing interactions with other famous folk and a lot of influence. For instance, Hillary Clinton named her daughter Chelsea for Mitchell's song Chelsea Morning. Simon dated novelist Nick Delbanco (who oddly enough taught a writing workshop I attended in college—of course I had no idea who he was at the time, but "back in the day" he was quite the wunderkund), as well as just missing out on a dalliance with Sean Connery, one her sister may have actually partaken of. And King was cranking out hits, such as Natural Woman for Aretha Franklin and Will You Love Me Tomorrow for the Shirelles, all by the age of 25 meanwhile serving as the inspiration for fellow student Neil Sedaka's song, Oh Carole.
And the second thing is just how much these three may have inspired other women to be strong and believe in themselves and their abilities, but how easily they all subverted their own abilities and strength for the men in their lives. Some of these men were as talented, some weren't, but regardless King, Mitchell and Simon never seemed to hesitate to put themselves in a place of lesser importance to boost the egos of the men they were currently involved with. Maybe they didn't realize it, but still how sad. And sadder still, how often does that practice continue to happen today? Women subverting themselves to salve the ego of their husbands, boyfriends, coworkers, whatever? Why do smart, successful females sabotage themselves in this way?
I am hoping that by the time I finish the book, each of these three women will have seemingly made piece with their own brilliance and have found men that respect and admire them without trying to keep them down.
2 comments:
Looks like a book I would enjoy -- I'm a big fan of Joni and Carole, and I love music industry biographies.
On a related note, I highly recommend Allison Anders' underappreciated film "Grace of my Heart," which was loosely based on Carole King's career. While it may toy with accuracy the way musician biopics are wont to do, it's very entertaining and has some brilliant performances, interesting cameos and great songs (including one penned by Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach). Lots of women involved in this movie, including Joni Mitchell, Leslie Gore, and Jill Sobule. It's probably available this evening at you're local video rental store.
Does sound like a great book. Even in my own little, narrow world, I've seen how women are forced or at least made to feel like they should put themselves in a lesser place than men. Makes me realize how far we have come in such a short time, and how long women have had to defer to men. This connects to one reason I'm glad I'm gay. It totally breaks down gender preconceptions and assumptions, and I'd like to think it helps me see beyond what reproductive organs someone has. That's my take anyway.
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