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(Credits: Far Out \/ Linda Ronstadt)<\/p>\n
Thu 12 June 2025 21:00, UK <\/p>\n
It was hard being a woman in music in the 1970s. Many of the reasons why are still the case today, but for Linda Ronstadt<\/a> and countless other women with voices in the \u201970s, navigating it was like trying to walk through quicksand: progress occasionally, but slowly, so very slowly. So slowly that, when you looked around, you could trick yourself into believing you were the only one there.<\/p>\n For many, it felt that way. As Stevie Nicks once said: \u201cI was going to keep up with the rock stars of the world that were men, because there weren\u2019t very many women once.\u201d A woman in any male-dominated place is going to feel ostracised, especially if they suspect they\u2019re not respected as much as their male counterparts. But for Nicks, Ronstadt, and countless others, it was a confusing cesspit that often made it hard to swallow your own internalised conflicts.<\/p>\n Ronstadt, of course, had a more blunt way of putting it. As someone unafraid to say what she really thinks, even when it comes to her own material, Ronstadt observed all the ways the industry was changing in the \u201970s, from the sudden country uptake to the ways women were being treated. \u201cChicks are really weird,\u201d she once mused to Country Song Roundup<\/a> when asked whether women in music face prejudice.<\/p>\n \u201cChicks in any business is really weird,\u201d she continued. \u201cWe are dealing entirely with men. I find a lot of resentment from musicians at times. If they\u2019re behind me, it\u2019s a threat to their masculinity. A lot of people in the television industry don\u2019t know how to relate to a chick at all. I\u2019m real sympathetic about it. They\u2019re all twisted over there. I\u2019m not blaming anyone, it\u2019s just very weird. They just like ya or they hate ya.\u201d<\/p>\n The weight of Ronstadt\u2019s statement endures\u2014if there\u2019s anyone equipped to expose the industry for its innate sexism, it\u2019s her\u2014not to mention how much she faced a lack of creative control when, surprise, it seemed most of the male musicians had fewer issues with such hurdles. However, Ronstadt\u2019s unabashed honesty always remained, shining a light on all the things she didn\u2019t like about an industry with more dark corners than she could count.<\/p>\n
![\"Linda](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Linda-Ronstadt-2013-Singer-Musician-Far-Out-Magazine-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still)<\/p>\n