s time few women made the top charts. Douglas writes about her love for the Supremes and the Shirelles, who were the first female group to break the number one spot. Music was extremely important during this time. Douglas asserts that the music spoke powerfully to the youngsters because the singers spoke of the very feelings that so many had. And not just women, but men as well. They were, in a way, the spokespeople for the youth. It is in this context that Janis Joplin becomes important, as she was one of the few women who were able to compete in a male-dominated music industry. Moreover, she expressed free love and open sexuality, and nonconformism, and many people, particularly women, heard her messages loud and clear. Douglas states in her book that “a few women broke through, most notably Janis Joplin, who, when I saw her, drank about three quarts of bourbon onstage, cursed the security guards, and sang her guts out” (Douglas, 150). Actually, it was most probably a bottle of Southern Comfort that she was drinking. Rock music was becoming political and attacking things like materialism and sexual repression. In a way, music and the media were tide, as it was the media who helped “hype” up the Sexual Revolution, and all the movements of the era. Consequently, the media, in various ways, promoted the music simply by showing it and talking about it on the air. Throughout her book, Douglas demonstrated the importance of the media on her and to “millions of others” as well. However, other than participating in “ban the bra” where she talks about her wearing men’s shirts braless in support of the Miss America demonstration, she remained mainly non-active or passive during this time of the movements and demonstrations. This is in sharp contrast to Janis Joplin who almost from the start was one of the women who Douglas would see and read about, and who was getting inspired...
