Joan Jett derides the 'appearance of equality' for women in rock

Two generations of powerful rock 'n' roll women were represented in a new Kerrang! Magazine feature with Joan Jett and Taylor Momsen.

And so, a question about the glass ceiling for women rockers was posed. 

Jett's answer was lengthy and strong in sentiment. In part, the 62-year-old frontwoman said:

"Attitudes have not changed as radically as people would like to believe. They believe, ‘We’ve come so far, women are equal,’ but if you live in this business—or I bet countless women will tell you— things haven’t changed that much. But there is an appearance of equality, the PR of ‘You’re equal’. Women and girls have a lot more tools now: social media, the internet, you can get your music out to people easier and cheaply, and you can reach the world. In The Runaways, we had no shot of doing anything like that. We were very limited.
[...]
"I think until women control the money—control the dollars and who gets them, where the money goes—that ceiling is still gonna be there. And that’s not to say that women won’t necessarily open doors for other women all the time, either. You just don’t know.”

Momsen, known for her role as Jenny Humphrey in Gossip Girl before becoming the lead vocalist for rock band The Pretty Reckless, agreed and commended Jett as "one of the trailblazers that really allowed me to do this as a profession" despite the ongoing struggles to be taken seriously.

Jett surged into the genre's U.S. mainstream conscience in the 1980s. After splitting from the Runaways, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer released her debut solo album in 1980, which boasted "Bad Reputation":