Cock rock is a term, typically used derogatively, to describe a style of rock music

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 that emphasised an aggressive form of male sexuality. It developed in the later 1960s and came to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s.

Use of the term

Cock rock was first mentioned by an anonymous author in the New York-based underground feminist publication Rat

Rat (Newspaper)

Rat Subterranean News, New York's second major underground newspaper, was created in March 1968, primarily by editor Jeff Shero, Alice Embree and Gary Thiher, who moved up from Austin, Texas, where they had been involved in The Rag.-Beginnings:...

in 1970, to describe the male dominated music industry and became a synonym for hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

, emphasising the aggressive expression of male sexuality, often misogynist lyrics and use of phallic imagery. The term was used by sociologists Simon Frith

Simon Frith

Simon Frith is a British sociologist, and former rock critic, who specializes in popular music culture. He is currently Tovey Chair of Music at University of Edinburgh.-Background:...

 and Angela McRobbie

Angela McRobbie

Angela McRobbie is a British cultural theorist, feminist and commentator. She combines the study of different dimensions of youth culture with a commentary on development in cultural theory and politics.-Biography:...

 in 1978 to point to the contrast between male dominated sub-culture of cock rock which was "aggressive, dominating and boastful" and the more feminised teenybop

Teen pop

Teen pop is a subgenre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards teenagers. Teen pop copies genres and styles such as pop, dance, R&B, hip hop, country and rock....

 stars of pop music

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

. Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

 have been described as "the quintessential purveyors of 'cock rock'". Other formative acts include the Rolling Stones, The Who

The Who

The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...

 and Jim Morrison

Jim Morrison

James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...

 of The Doors

The Doors

The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...

.

Since the 1980s, the term has been sometimes interchangeable with hair metal or glam metal

Glam metal

Glam metal is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene...

. Examples of this style include: Mötley Crüe

Mötley Crüe

Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. The group was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil...

, Ratt

Ratt

Ratt is an American heavy metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s. The band is best known for songs such as "Round and Round," "Wanted Man," "Lay It Down," "You're in Love", "Slip of the Lip", "Back For More", "Dance", "Body Talk", "I Want a Woman", and "Way Cool Jr." Ratt...

, Warrant

Warrant (American band)

Warrant is an American heavy metal band from Hollywood, California, that experienced success from 1989-1996 with five albums reaching international sales of over 10 million. The band first came into the national spotlight with their debut album Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, and one of its...

, Extreme

Extreme (band)

Extreme is an American rock band, headed by frontmen Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt, that reached the height of their popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s.Among some of Extreme's musical influences are Queen and Van Halen...

, Cinderella

Cinderella (band)

Cinderella is an American heavy metal band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They emerged in the mid-1980s with a series of multi-platinum albums and hit singles whose music videos received heavy MTV rotation. They were famous for being a glam metal band, but then shifted over towards a more hard...

, Pretty Boy Floyd

Pretty Boy Floyd (American)

Pretty Boy Floyd is a glam metal band from Hollywood, California formed in 1987. They are most famous for their 1989 debut album Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz and the two singles from it; "Rock and Roll" and "I Wanna Be With You"...

, Jackyl

Jackyl

Jackyl is an American rock band formed in 1990. Their sound has been described as hard rock, heavy metal and Southern metal.The band is probably best-known for its song "The Lumberjack", which features a chainsaw solo by lead singer Jesse James Dupree. On the recording, Dupree alternately revs the...

, L.A. Guns

L.A. Guns

L.A. Guns is the name of a hard rock group formed in Los Angeles, California, of which two rival incarnations currently exist due to numerous line-up changes. The first incarnation of the group was formed, by Tracii Guns, in 1983 but disbanded in 1985 following its merger with fellow Los Angeles...

, and Poison

Poison (band)

Poison is an American glam metal band that achieved great success in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. To date, Poison has sold over 30 million records worldwide and have sold 15 million records in the United States alone. The band has also charted ten singles to the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100,...

. Despite the name, many of these bands had large numbers of female fans. The spoof documentary This is Spinal Tap

This Is Spinal Tap

This Is Spinal Tap is an American 1984 rock musical mockumentary directed by Rob Reiner about the fictional heavy metal band Spinal Tap...

is an acclaimed parody

Parody

A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

 of the style. In the 21st century, there was a revival of the visual and musical style with the sleaze metal movement in Sweden, with acts including Vains of Jenna

Vains of Jenna

Vains of Jenna are a rock band formed in Falkenberg, Sweden during January 2005. They have since relocated to Los Angeles, California. They will be performing around the States with the help of and -History:...

.