November 11, 2015

"I was on a TV show, and Gloria Steinem didn’t even want to be on the stage with me. I was seen as a submissive slut."

"But I was a woman doing what I wanted to do. Isn’t that feminist? Some lady said to me, 'How could you shame yourself this way?' I said, 'I’m so sorry that you didn’t get to sleep with Mick Jagger and I did.' That shut her up."

From "Groupies, From Sex Symbols to Style Icons/When Pamela Des Barres and other backstage women came to prominence in 1969, the news media focused on their brazen sexuality. Now the focus is on their fashion" in the NYT.

34 comments:

Derp said...

I would have a lot more respect for Steinem if the complaint above had been from Hillary.

Nichevo said...

They all look defective. Their faces, I don't mean their bodies or costumes.

Rick said...

I said, 'I’m so sorry that you didn’t get to sleep with Mick Jagger and I did.' That shut her up."

How amusing she presumes the other woman envied her. The NYT tries to reinforce the sisterhood by presenting these women as simply having made different choices but can't help revealing the woman so rehabilitated doesn't share the different choices theme.

Ann Althouse said...

"How amusing she presumes the other woman envied her."

I think you're not getting her sense of humor. It was the other woman who presumed.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I served with Mick Jagger. I knew Mick Jagger. Mick Jagger was a friend of mine...

Bill Clinton, you are no Mick Jagger.

Rick said...

It was the other woman who presumed.

Yes and the NYT is supporting their being admonished for it. But the "groupies" are also presuming, being presumed upon does not negate one's own act of presuming.

damikesc said...

Is it really an accomplishment for a woman to get a man to fuck her? "Just asking him" doesn't seem that hard and would have a high success rate.

traditionalguy said...

As I recall the ways of seduction go, the man chases the women until the woman catches him.

That is from my unpublished auto-biography, Confessions of a Trophy Husband.

Female Style is extremely important. To be peak attractive the single woman has to combine a languid body language with seductive eyes and a sweet voice expressing herself with a brilliant mind.

Virgil Hilts said...

I read Pamela Des Barres' book “I’m With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie” a couple years ago and it was great fun. She knew all of the big rockers at the time. Some of the stuff (Keith Moon) is very sad.

buwaya said...

Having seen some of what went on with popular rock bands (I am a perfect square, but I had some relatives in the business), those fellows had to beat women off with sticks. So there would have been a strong element of selection. Sleeping with ordinary men is no achievement at all, as noted, but celebrities have to filter, as with the best will in the world they could not possibly keep up with the demand.
Getting to sleep with Jagger is an achievement, at least as far as making it through the filter is an achievement. Rather like college applications. It's like boasting about getting into Yale.

Roughcoat said...

Female Style is extremely important. To be peak attractive the single woman has to combine a languid body language with seductive eyes and a sweet voice expressing herself with a brilliant mind.

It helps to have big hooters.

n.n said...

The feminist folly: I'm down here.

mccullough said...

The first generation of groupies, along with the first generation of rock stars, is now reaching old age.

When old age shall this generation waste . . .

mccullough said...

Trixie Merkin is the perfect name for a groupie, although she was sorta not a groupie per se.

rehajm said...

Some fish can't bring themselves to admit they need a bicycle.

MikeR said...

"I said, 'I’m so sorry that you didn’t get to sleep with Mick Jagger and I did.' That shut her up."
Since that is not high on my list of Things to Do, it probably would have shut me up as well.
I wonder if Kristen Stewart and Jennifer Lawrence have groupies, too? Or are those called "creepy stalkers"?

William said...

Gloria Steinhem worked on Mailer's campaign for Mayor in 68 or 69. She had a one nighter with him. She claimed it was a mercy fuck.....It's all a matter of semantics. If you describe a groupie moment as a mercy fuck it's empowering.

Sigivald said...

Is it really an accomplishment for a woman to get a man to fuck her? "Just asking him" doesn't seem that hard and would have a high success rate.

Not "a man", but "a specific famous and high-status man".

And while I don't know her specific story, the "famous groupies" tended to achieve that more than once.

Rather a different proposition than "just getting some man, any man, to sleep with her".

jr565 said...

damikesc wrote:
Is it really an accomplishment for a woman to get a man to fuck her? "Just asking him" doesn't seem that hard and would have a high success rate

seriously. that has to be the easiest job in the world. WHen def lepard was out scouring the crowd for ladies to bone, I doubt many people were saying "feminism!"

But if they want that victory, I as a man will certainly let them have it, if it means I get to bone women. Do it for feminism!

jr565 said...

"And while I don't know her specific story, the "famous groupies" tended to achieve that more than once."

Pamela was not a bad looking woman. I imagine plenty of guys would want to have sex with her. And plenty did.
I think she dated Chris Hillman, maybe Gram Parsons, Jimmy Page, the guy from Iron Butterfly. Or rather had sex with them.

Its cool to be known as the person who had sex with the famous person, if you want to relay that story to friends. "Guess who I boned last night... Halle Barry! But its not necessarily a career move. After all, she's Halle Barry and I'd just be the guy that boned her one night (that was an example by the way. I don't want to have Halle Berry happen peruse this site and think that I'm telling tales)

David said...

"'I’m so sorry that you didn’t get to sleep with Mick Jagger and I did."

I doubt she said it quite that way. Substitute "fuck" for "sleep with" and it sounds more plausible.

Steinem was no stranger to celebrity sex herself, so where does she get off?

David said...

"Is it really an accomplishment for a woman to get a man to fuck her?"

That's not her point. It was something she wanted to do, so she did it. Very guy like, so in that sense it's feminist. I like her attitude.

Laura said...

Modern feminism: Shutting other women up for decades.

David said...

Some chick from Boston recently instagrammed a photo of Julian Edelman sleeping next to her. She's awake and facing the camera. Caption was "I just fucked Julian Edelman." Not sure Julian was thrilled about the message. But they apparently each got what they wanted.

damikesc said...

Again, ladies, getting dudes to fuck you isn't that much of a challenge.

Mick Jagger? If he simply noticed you, he'd probably fuck you. Celebrities aren't exactly demanding high standards (remember that best Hugh Grant fucked on the side?)

n.n said...

So, what revision of feminism does this competition represent?

Feminism 1.0 was responsible for uniform rights.

Feminism 2.0 was responsible for securing exclusive rights for women to commit premeditated murder of wholly innocent human lives (i.e. babies, Posterity)... for money, pleasure, and leisure.

Feminism 3.0 was responsible for fucking a la mode.

Feminism 4.0 was responsible for concocting prejudicial narratives about the male half of humanity.

Feminism 5.0 is responsible for recruiting women to fight hot wars to prove a point.

Feminism 6.0 is responsible for conflating male and female and others.

It seems that the war on women (and humanity) is actually being fought by adherents to different revisions of feminism. After its debut, it was a slippery slope.

madAsHell said...

There was a groupie named.....Trixie Merkin.

You just can't make this stuff up.

Anonymous said...

Well, it's not like she has an option to be a female Julian Edelman if she turns him down. Her option is to be a person with a Julian Edelman tale to tell and/or leverage - or a person without a Julian Edelman story. If she's relative pure of heart and strong of ovaries, she has the fun of having sex with Julian Edelman, or not.

Disclosure: I have no idea who Julian Edelman is. (Oh. Football player. Zzzz. )

Derp said...

That's not her point. It was something she wanted to do, so she did it. Very guy like, so in that sense it's feminist. I like her attitude.

Guys who'd never marry her but would certainly fuck her once or twice all approve of her attitude. That's fine if that's what she wants in her heart of hearts, to fuck lots of guys in her life.

damikesc said...

That's not her point. It was something she wanted to do, so she did it. Very guy like, so in that sense it's feminist. I like her attitude.

I'd also point out that the vast majority of men would find it rather gauche to brag about the women they nail. "I got some last night" is, generally, more than enough. Don't need any blow-by-blow accounts...if ya catch my drift.

Fernandinande said...

Homer Simpson voice (pre-2008): "Hmmm, submissive slut."

William said...

I'd lose all respect for a girl who had a groupie quickie with Mick Jagger. It would be different if it were someone like Tom Brady. That would show class and discernment. I'd probably marry her just to have that in common with Tom Brady.......Some here will claim that there's a hint of mint in this kind of ideation, but that's ridiculous. I was never, ever a Patriots fan.

Robert Cook said...

Who is Julian Edleman?

mikee said...

The 1960s, when "Free Love" meant no romance before bedding a young woman, and no commitment after the orgasm. The guy's orgasm, that is, as women were still documenting the discovery of the elusive existence of female pleasure in sex.

Groupies had sex with rock stars because they would gain access to the exotic fun of the rock star elite without the talent and work required to convince the public to buy a record. All that was required was the ability to please a guy in bed.

Hillary married Bill because she would gain access to the levers of government power without the talent and work required to convince the public to vote for her, an authoritarian, statist, corrupt shrew. All that was required was the ability to let other women please her guy in bed.