“Now there’s a ‘female’ category because it makes it easier for the world to accept”: Lita Ford on the labels put on women who play guitar
Lita Ford has looked back on the “battle” to be able to play guitar as a young girl, sharing how people would say it was something girls just didn’t do.
Not letting the ignorance dim her spark, she used such comments to spur her determination, and it certainly paid off – her time in The Runaways is an important part of music history, which inspired other women to start up bands too.
READ MORE: “It’s good to be a little bit of a street gutter rat”: Lita Ford advises young players to do this instead of “Google guitar chords”
Despite all the time that has passed since The Runaways formed, Ford feels the ‘female guitar’ label has only come about in modern times, showing how sexism continues to rear its ugly head within our community.
Speaking to WKBN 21, she reflects [via Ultimate Guitar], “Growing up in The Runaways, I just wanted to play guitar. It’s really all I was focusing on. And people would always say to me, ‘No, girls don’t play guitar.’ And I would think, ‘Oh, they don’t? Okay. Well, I do…’ People say that to you, and it just makes you want to do it more.”
She adds, “It was a fight, it was a battle. Growing up in The Runaways’ days, 16-17-year-old girls, nobody knew what to make of us. But the truth is, we were a bit before our time, but we were badass, and we were a team.
“We were a great band, and we left our mark in rock ‘n’ roll history. So maybe they were wrong, and you just gotta do what you got to do sometimes. So I’m happy to have come full circle now, and to still be playing rock ‘n’ roll and still be doing what I’m doing. I love it.”
Of the ‘female guitarist’ label, Ford continues, “People had to start putting you in the female category. ‘Oh, she’s a female guitar player,’ and ‘she’s good for a female.’ When did that category start? I don’t know that it really ever existed back in The Runaways’ days.
“We were punk rock and that was it, but now there’s a female category because it makes it easier, I think, for the world to accept the fact that you are liking a girl or a female guitar player. We had to go through all that, play their games, and I was just happy to be in a category.”
She concludes, “I don’t really care. Whatever category you want to put me in, just put me in a category, because at least I’m in there somewhere, somehow. So you know, what are you going to do?”
Lita Ford is currently on the road – she plays at Wacken Open Air festival on 30 July. You can get tickets to see her via her official website.
The post “Now there’s a ‘female’ category because it makes it easier for the world to accept”: Lita Ford on the labels put on women who play guitar appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
