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Have Joan Jett news to report? Email us at jettfc@aol.com, and please include the source of the information so it can be validated. JOAN JETT Wants To Smash The Stigma Of Women On The Open Road from: forbes.com Joe Sills
JOAN JETT remembers other girls at her Long Island elementary school playing Beethoven and Bach. She remembers how they were encouraged to master the violin and the cello, and she remembers the words her guitar teacher said to her, words that sounded nothing like the phrases other girls were hearing. "He told me girls don't play rock n' roll."
From that day on, Jett has been defying stereotypes about what society says women are and are not supposed to do. She grew from a little girl plucking the strings of a department store guitar to a rock music icon with her own line of axes by Gibson. Along the way, she picked up a slot among Rolling Stone's 100 greatest guitarists of all-time and a Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame induction.
"I knew what he meant, and I knew he was wrong." Jett says of the teacher that kickstarted her music career. "He meant rock 'n roll was sexual, and girls can't sing about sex because nobody is comfortable with it. He wasn't telling me I couldn't play acoustic guitar or folk music; he was saying I couldn't play rock music specifically, because it was sexual."
Jett is right about that. Sex and rock n' roll go together like peanut butter and jelly, but there's another ingredient of that recipe that's been lingering in the background since the dawn of the genre, a forbidden fruit that society has long cast an uneasy eye towardsÑmotorcycles. Elvis Presley began riding a Harley-Davidson around Memphis as soon as he started cashing checks from Sun Records. Bob Dylan famously wrecked a Triumph after releasing "The Times they Are A'Changin'". Prince sat atop a Honda on the cover of "Purple Rain."
The front woman of The BLACKHEARTS is no exception to the rule. She can be found perched atop flaming HarleysÑclad in black leather and fringeÑthroughout the magazine and video collections of rock n' roll. But though she conquered the spotlight and her sexuality with her guitar, Jett has a secret: she hasn't actually owned a motorcycle until now. Surprisingly, Jett describes herself as a shy person. Sure, she's used to singing at sold out arenas and stadiums around the world, but when it comes to motorcycles, she admits the learning curve associated with them as kept her from reaching her full potential.
"Through the years, I have had a lot of friends that owned them," Jett adds. "But I have always ridden on them. I haven't been the driver."
Jumping the learning curve
Now, Jett says she is taking over the front seat to conquer her fear of bikes. It's a fear that stems from a lack of protection and control that she's eager to kick to the curb. "I look at my own fear and know that I can do this," adds Jett. "The reason I wasn't comfortable driving before was because I didn't know how to shift. It was because I didn't feel like I could trust other people on the road and because I felt like on a two-wheeler, you don't have a lot of protection around you other than a helmet."
To bolster her confidence, Jett is lending her name to Can-Am, a Montreal-based motorcycle maker that's tailor made for entry-level riders looking for immediate independence. In conjunction with Guyanese rapper SAINt JHN, who took home two Grammy's this year, Jett wants to show new riders that you don't have to be an extra from "Easy Rider" to control your own destiny on the highway.
Jett believes Can-Am is capable of smashing the sexist stigma of women and motorcycles by giving them the confidence to grab the handle bars and take control of the front seat, exactly as she's doing. Unlike traditional motorcycles, Can-Am's flagship models feature a three-wheeled layout that provides a stable platform at rest. Jett's bike, the Can-Am Spyder, was launched in 2007 and has since sold more than 100,000 units. Its off roading cousin, the Ryker, is seeing rapid adoption among women riders, who account for nearly 40% of new owners.
Jett isn't concerned that established motorcycle society might view a three-wheeled bike differently than one with two. She prefers to be associated with an industry outlier. "To be an outlier is to challenge the status quo by carving your own path. In life, you need to be bold, unafraid and unapologetic of who you are."
If numbers are any indication, Jett has a legion of outsiders at her back. Last year, Can-Am's Women's Mentorship Program challenged its members to log 20,000 miles on the open road. They ended up piling on more than 100,000.
"This is the perfect bike for women to get out and explore," she says. "I think the three-wheeled layout bring a sense of safety. It allows you to get comfortable and opens a lot of doors. You can take this from Point A to Point B, ride it to work and road trip. Maybe it allows you to get confident and the Can-Am becomes just one of your bikes."
A few weeks after her first ride on the Spyder, Jett is already dreaming about escaping her quarantine hangout on Long Island and joining her biker friends on the open road.
This time, Jett says she will be the one with her hand on the throttle. And for the first time in her career, she'll be sitting atop a bike with the same confidence she commands on stage. "Confidence is everything," she concludes. "That doesn't just go for music. It goes for everything in life."
