John Lennon and Women

[itsnotmymind]

It's taken for granted among most of us voyeurs who analyze the psychology of the Beatles that John Lennon liked to be dominated by strong women. Mimi, Yoko...Many people, both those who knew John personally and chose who only know him by reputation, have said this.

Comments

[itsnotmymind]

While I tend to take anything John Lennon said in interviews with a grain of salt, it is worth noting that he attributed his hostility towards women to the media (i.e., the dominant culture), while he said his earliest feminist education came from his mother and her sisters.

Another thing that sometimes gets overlooked when people discuss John's desire to be is his relationship with Paul. Yoko was a replacement for Cynthia, but she was even moreso a replacement for Paul. I don't think Paul was as dominant with John as Yoko was - the fact that Paul is two years younger and they were still teenagers when they met may have been a factor in that. But there were times in their relationship when Paul was very dominant, especially the post-touring pre-Yoko period.

And again with the taking things John said with a grain of salt, but I still find a couple quotes from Lennon Remembers interesting in terms of how he related to Paul:

Paul made an attempt to carry on as if Brian hadn't died by saying, "Now, now, boys, we're going to make a record." Being the kind of person I am, I thought well, we're going to make a record all right, so I'll go along, so we went and made a record.

Paul had told me, "Go and see Lord Beeching" so I went. I mean I'm a good boy, man, and I saw Lord Beeching and he was no help at all. I mean, he was all right.

Which makes me think that John's desire to be dominated wasn't just limited to women. Of course he did turn on Paul - but then, he turned on Yoko, too.