Speculation over the Love for Rock Music. Media Constructions of Groupies Between the 1960s and 1970s

Abstract

The music media have constructed the identity of groupies as sexual and passive objects, submissive, inauthentic consumers of music. The stereotype, although still present in popular culture, is criticized by both the interested parties and rock artists. This article is an attempt to discuss the role that groupies played in the creation of the myth and character of the rock god, while taking into account the preconceived assumptions held by the popular media. Narratives of groupies’ participation in the emerging rock and metal scene have also been included as the ones which created a male rock musician identity: wild, aggressive and powerful. The basis for the discussion of groupies and their role in building identity in the context of rock music is the result of a deep, rhetorical analysis of groupies’ biographies, press materials, films, scientific literature and own research.