Re: The Who Digest Vol 3 Num 74

[mleaman@sccoast.net (Mark Leaman)]

  Do you expect a woman to hear this line from Quadrophenia, "you say
>she's a virgin? well I'm gonna be the first in," shudder with disgust, and
>say "Oh how dreadful!"  Women have known for a long time that teenage (and
>adult) boys are capable of uttering something like that.  Ask any woman who
>has walked past a construction site.  It would be ridiculous for anyone,
>female or male to judge the entire Quadrophenia album based on that one
>line.  I would give the female listener of Quad some credit for her ability
>to grasp the overall story of the main character, Jimmy.

Stacey:

While we're on the subject, I've always had the feeling that no Townshend
lyric would alienate women more that this one from QUAD: "How come the girls
come on oh so cool/And when you met `em, every one's a fool..." No while I
can hardly agree with this, I would be willing to bet that at some time or
another most guys have felt this to be somewhat true (especially toward a
specific female), perhaps after trying in vain to show womanhood what a
great catch they are. This is certainly a common male adolescent experience.
Of course, it could just as easily be a common female experience as well,
with a very slight change of lyric.
Anyway, I invite you and our other female contingent to address this issue,
if you desire.

       Cheers                             ML