Courtney Love photographed during Paris Fashion Week on Jan. 20, 2018. Photo by Victor Boyko/Getty Images for Balmain.

Chrissie Hynde and Courtney Love both ripped the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week for its lack of female representation, as both performers and those determining its membership.

Rendering: Adam Pardee/STAFF.

This isn’t a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame problem. It’s a rock and roll problem.

Love was probably right in saying (first on social media, then in an editorial for The Guardian newspaper) this week that just 8.48 percent of hall membership is female, which she said is about the same as the percentage of inducting membership.

I’m terrified of math, so I can’t confirm her numbers. But I do know it’s Women’s History Month and there’s obviously not a lot of women in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But that’s just a reflection of women’s role in rock and roll in general, which has mostly been to serve as sex objects instead of artists.

But, you say, there’s Joan Jett, and Debbie Harry, and the Go-Gos, and Pat Benatar and Stevie Nicks and…

But the issue isn’t just the rock hall. The issue is men still believing women don’t belong in bands and, even if they do, they should just sing and look sexy. Leave the guitar posing, the drum beating, the competitiveness and (sometimes) musical excellence and the swagger to the boys.

Love correctly laments the absence of Big Mama Thornton, Chaka Khan and Kate Bush (Bush is finally up for nomination this year). I’d argue, off the top of my head, acts including females like Lush, the Cranberries, the Bangles, Sinead O’Connor, Portishead, Sonic Youth, TLC, Fiona Apple and Lone Justice could all deserve serious consideration.

“The Rock Hall’s canon-making doesn’t just reek of sexist gatekeeping, but also purposeful ignorance and hostility,” Love wrote. “Of the 31 people on the nominating board, just nine are women.”

According to music historian Evelyn McDonnell, the rock hall voters, among them musicians and industry elites, are 90 percent male.”

Hynde was more general in her criticism: “I don’t even wanna be associated with it. It’s just more establishment backslapping. I got in a band so I didn’t have to be part of all that.”

It’s a great point. But as to the idea women aren’t properly represented in the rock hall, you’d have to assume women are already represented fairly in rock and roll. Which they definitely are not.

Though, to be fair, Hynde is a member of the rock hall. But how extraordinary did she have to be? She fronted one of the greatest bands of all time. She made it with talent, great songs, great timing, a great look and absolute determination.

Men dominated the record industry and men created the rock hall. Men have been judging other men’s abilities to play male-dominated rock and roll. It’s as much a boys club as the NFL, with almost as much testosterone.

In my limited experience, my bands and those we considered peers almost never had female members. As far as performers went, they were rarely represented in the San Francisco punk/glam/hard rock scene of the ’80s nor the Hollywood hard rock/power pop/punk scenes of the early ’90s. If they were, our attention was drawn to their looks. Any musical ability was just gravy.

My biggest band, before I joined, did have female backup singers. Who were also strippers. I did once consider suggesting a talented female singer to one of my bands when  looking for a singer, but didn’t because it would be immediately dismissed.

More recently, I’ve known talented women who have quit music over their experience of being in bands with men. They were literally told their priority was to look sexy. They weren’t allowed to write songs. They weren’t allowed to make decisions. It was infuriating; I once wanted to start a band with a very talented woman who I loved being around. But she was so beat down by previous experiences, she wouldn’t even consider it anymore.

I have a 14-year-old musician daughter who’s just getting started. And, if she asks, I’m going to encourage her to play with other girls. Because the boy musicians don’t always play nice.

Rock and roll is supposed to be a big tent and has come a long way, despite its traditional reliance on tubs of testosterone. Heavy metal fans love an openly gay singer like Rob Halford of Judas Priest, which isn’t something I thought I’d ever see. We love rock bands from other countries, of other races, even in other languages. Yes … some women. But nowhere near enough.

This year’s nominees include Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, Cyndi Lauper and Meg White as part of the White Stripes. They all have strong arguments for induction. But what we really need now is more girls being encouraged to play rock music.

Follow music critic Tony Hicks at Twitter.com/TonyBaloney1967.