Angels and Women

A few posts ago, I mentioned that a lot of the Hell’s Angels were actually surprisingly normal and had normal wives and families. This is true for some but, as Thompson reveals, not for others. According to Thompson, most women who had relationships with the Angels were either “Old Ladies” or “Mamas”. There is a very important distinction between these two types of women. Old Ladies are women in serious relationships with an Angel—either a wife or a girlfriend. Mamas are considered common property amongst the Angels. They entirely committed to serving the sexual needs of any male Angel whenever the mood strikes him. The gang is, unsurprisingly, a group in which the men dominate their women. The men sometimes have their Mamas tattooed, or “branded” to show that they are the “property” of a certain gang. This is a practice which the Angels claim, “gives the girls a sense of security and belonging,” (162). However, the actual reason likely has more to do with the Angels’ need for power and control over the women.

The gang members certainly never concern themselves with being chivalrous with women. Mamas never have much choice when it comes to sex. Old Ladies are generally respected, but only to avoid a fight with the Angel to whom she is committed. Women outside the gang have a stranger relationship. The Hells Angels were infamous at the time for raping women. However, Thompson points out, the majority of rape charges filed against the Angels are dropped for two reasons: first, many women who accuse the Angels of rape receive threats from the Mamas and Old Ladies and second, some of the cases are not actually rapes. On the subject of rape, on Angle commented that he had, “…never yet heard a girl yell rape until it was all over and she got to thinking about it,”(182). The truthfulness of this is in some doubt, but it is likely true to an extent. Many of the women found themselves drawn to the rebellious, tough-guy image of the Angels soon found that they were not prepared for what sex with an Angel entailed. What may begin as a drunken consensual experience with one Angel in an empty room at a party could suddenly balloon into a full on orgy, one which the girl had not expected or wanted. But once a girl has willful sex with one Angel, there’s really not much hope in stopping the others from joining in. What started as consensual sex can become rape. This is what gave the Angels their bad reputation on rape—their concept of consensual sex is radically different from society’s conception of it. If a strange woman makes an advance with one Angel, the Angels take it to mean that she is making an advance towards all of them. It is a mob mentality. When the Angels are drunk and partying, there is really no concept of compassion.

Thompson and the Angels

Thompson’s assignment to describe the actions of the Hell’s Angels for this book forced him into a strange coexistence with the outlaw gangs. Normally, the gangs hate reporters. “ ‘I don’t mind [the newspapers] calling us punks and that kind of stuff, but…Even when we pull off some really bad shit, they still get it wrong. When I read those things I don’t even recognize myself. Hell, we should probably kick your ass just for being a reporter,’”(168), one outlaw told Thompson in an interview. So why do the outlaws tolerate his presence? Thompson claims that, “…they were eager to get the ear of any journalist who might give them a boost up the status ladder,”(168). The gangs definitely want their exploits to be publicized as a means of proving their toughness, but at the same time, they don’t want to be distorted. A journalist has power over his subjects because he can twist a story any way he pleases and make his subjects appear as he wants them to. The Angels resent the very concept that a non-Angel could have this sort of power over them and that is why they hate journalists, but still are forced to tolerate journalists like Thompson who, they must assume, will paint an accurate picture of the gang.

Even more interesting is the direct relationship between Thompson and the gangs while on-location at a wild party in Bass Lake, California. This was a massive party which 200 motorcyclists planned to attend and which had the police up in arms. The locals of the area were understandably upset that the gang had chosen their region to have a wild, violent party. In this context, Thompson became useful to the Angels not only for publicity, but because he was a normal person. When the Angels needed to buy beer, they sent Thompson to the nearest store to buy it. Locals, they figured, would not react as harshly to Thompson as they would to a smelly, gruff-looking outlaw with swastikas and crosses tattooed all over him. Besides which, Thompson had a car to carry the beer. No Angel would be caught dead driving a car. This is interesting because it shows how difficult it is for the Angels to interact with normal society. They need to use intermediates, like Thompson, who are members of society but are also friendly to the Angels in order to get the supplies they need from normal society. They hate what Thompson stands for, and yet they could not have had their wild party without him.

The Angels

Hell’s Angels is a factual account of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang just as they were gaining fame in the 1960’s. Thompson rode with the gang for several years as he put together the book and became friends with many of the members. He describes them as violent, lawless men who are increasingly conflicted between the benefits of their growing fame and the non-conformist nature which makes them who they are.
Though the gang had existed long beforehand, the Hell’s Angels came to national prominence in the 60’s after a group of Angels allegedly gang-raped two young women. What followed for the Angels was a media circus which left the Angels bewildered and unsure of what should come next. Thompson describes how the Angels, previously a band of outlaws who only concerned themselves with drinking, fighting, and riding, “…developed a prima-donna complex, demanding cash contributions…in return for photos and interviews,”(39). It almost appears as if the gang was turning its back on all of its old values.
However, Thompson also stresses that these men were not only the tough, violent men people commonly envision when they think of a Hell’s Angel. Many of these men had steady jobs and supported families; they joined a motorcycle gang just as a higher-class person might join the Masons or the Kiwanis. One member, Tommy, was, “blond, clean-shaven, with a wife and two children, making $180 a week as a construction worker,”(10). Plainly, these were not men with a grudge against humanity, as is commonly believed, but men who just want to live normal lives on the weekdays and have fun and ride their motorcycles with their friends in their free time. That is why the Angels were so ready to cash in on their newfound fame, even if it meant selling out their image. They want success, just like any normal person does.
The book is going to move more towards a first-hand account of Thompson’s travels in the coming chapters, I think. It will be interesting to see how his unique outlook on life affects his relations with the gang.

Lorem

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Sed a odio quis augue pharetra ultrices. Maecenas eleifend orci. In tincidunt lorem ac nulla. Duis tincidunt. Pellentesque massa nisl, consectetuer porta, gravida vel, lobortis et, nibh. Nunc porta dolor nec ante. Quisque fermentum lacus id lacus. Sed ut nulla. Praesent ullamcorper, leo sed venenatis placerat, ipsum tortor fringilla magna, in vulputate odio orci ut orci. Proin ultrices. Ut posuere posuere ante. Maecenas quis odio vitae pede iaculis elementum.

Praesent pede sapien, commodo eget, convallis eget, iaculis non, nulla. Duis interdum eleifend felis. Morbi eget nunc. Donec quis ante nec risus pharetra convallis. Nunc eu erat ut urna sagittis nonummy. Vivamus sagittis pellentesque enim. Donec magna. Morbi sollicitudin. Nulla vulputate, mi ut lobortis laoreet, nibh mi fermentum nulla, id ullamcorper ligula ante eu diam. Vestibulum sit amet erat. Vestibulum justo. Morbi leo magna, fermentum nec, malesuada ac, aliquam sit amet, lacus. Donec ac odio. Mauris vestibulum velit a lacus. Curabitur eget sem. Sed nonummy justo. Suspendisse aliquet, quam et fermentum pharetra, nibh nisi luctus metus, in volutpat erat urna gravida pede. Phasellus dictum euismod est. Donec rhoncus, nulla sed dictum lacinia, sem lectus ullamcorper mi, eu tempor lorem mi sed ante.