People weren’t mocking Pearl Jam for their lyrics, they were mocking Eddie Vedder for pioneering yarl (“Jeremy spoke in, claaaass todaaaaaay-arrrl”) Even in Singapore the DJs would fade out the song and yarl along at the end. Of course, Pearl Jam was more or less eclipsed in yarldom by the likes of Bush and Creed. Here in Canada there was much shame and mockery for Nickelback as well, a stain that lingers to this day.
I remember Tori Amos and Alanis Morissette being hugely influential as well, although, yes, a lot of them had a ton of misogynistic mockery directed at them. And it was so satisfying to see Alanis sing the F word on the grammies. And regardless of how you felt about it, we did get Lilith Fair as pushback against the male dominated festival lineups… the first festival I attended. So many great artists, Sarah McLachlan, The Indigo Girls, Paula Cole, Shawn Colvin, Sheryl Crow and a new artist named Fiona Apple.
I also remember Lilith Fair being subjected to much misogyny as well. People calling it an estrogen fest. I even remember Tori Amos not joining the festival. Even then the circular firing squad existed. And it was so hard for MacLachlan to get that festival off the ground too, just due to industry pushback against the very idea of female headliners, let alone an all female lineup.
I’d say the 90s was amazing time for music but there was lots of terrible shit that had been going on for ages and really limited many female acts from getting their due (Neko Case, Sleater Kinney, Bikini Kill… the list is long).
