Janis Joplin protest - Contextual research

Researching into famous musical feminists led me to discover Janis Joplin, Being well known for her protesting nature. "Janis Joplin was dubbed the first queen of rock 'n' roll, and her voice is singular. She was rough around the edges, vulnerable and charismatic, and she paved the way for countless women in rock." Her rough around the edges approach was something I must harness moving forward from this research, strength in the cause such as Janis preached was an aspect which I must carry forward to my designs.

Janis Joplin protest

"Janis Joplin was dubbed the first queen of rock 'n' roll, and her voice is singular. She was rough around the edges, vulnerable and charismatic, and she paved the way for countless women in rock."

"Mid-1960s San Francisco was a mecca for counterculture musicians. Many became megastars, including Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead and Santana, but Joplin and her female peers found many doubting they could play with the boys. Singer-songwriter Tracy Nelson says it wasn't easy in 1966."
[http://www.npr.org/2010/06/07/127483124/janis-joplin-the-queen-of-rock]

Janis Joplin, feminism and sex

"The summer of 1968 is a time every generation afterward has tried to recover. It was a summer in which Janis Joplin grooved to Cheap Thrills and Jimi Hendrix asked the world if it was experienced. Paris was revolting, Vietnam burning, and the hippies of the (first) world flocked together for free lovin’ and live music. They finally reached saturation point during the Woodstock Festival of 1969, by which time the revolution was dead and gone. All that was left was decadence, and that festival has been immortalised in film and memory."

"The self-styled ‘sexual revolution’ had its inevitable drawbacks. It created a culture which ignored consequences, as the AIDS epidemic and the failing family in later decades were to prove. A friend and I were commiserating about the fate of Delhi’s slutwalk when she pointed me to this excellent conversation between three British feminists (including the erstwhile Belle Du Jour — the internet’s most famous whore). They talk about the politics of appearance, and what it means to live within the cyber world’s ‘intensely sexualised’ environs. 'Sexual liberation', having solved one set of crises, fashioned a new series of fissures. No one grasped this better than Janis Joplin, who lived and died by the mores of her time." 

Janis Joplin: The Hippie Blues Singer as Feminist Heroine

"The women’s liberation era was treacherous for all heroes and heroines. The 1960s and 1970s shook up culture more than politics, and the cultural terrain moved even more quickly than social foundations. Amidst this rapid change, young people had difficulty finding heroes and models in the traditional fields of politics, business, and sports."

"The new 1960s heroes were increasingly activists or entertainers, especially musicians and singers. Because American women had seldom found heroines in politics and business, and precious few in sports, the change seemed less revolutionary for the new aggressive feminist heroines. Most feminist heroines were activists, yet some were just actors or singers."

"At first glance it seems odd to see Janis Joplin as a feminist heroine. Although few would deny her credentials as a countercultural figure, she seems somewhat ludicrous in the company of feminists such as Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan. Janis was not a card–carrying member of any feminist group, nor did she lend support to specific feminist campaigns. Her feminist influence was indirect and subtle, but also powerful and long-lasting. Joplin did have a clear stake in feminist issues"