Where the Girls Should Be
"It took seeing Babes in Toyland and Bikini Kill to truly throw on the lights, to show me that there was more than one place, one role, for women to occupy, and that our participation was important and vital—it was YOU MATTER writ large.I don’t want these front row girls to miss that. I don’t want girls leaving clubs denied of encouragement and potential. As lame as punk rock can be, as hollow as all of our self-serving claims ring—that the culture of punk is truly different somehow than that of median society—at its gnarled foundations still exists the possibilities for connection. There is still the possibility for exposure to radical notions, for punk rock to match up to what many kids dream, or hope for punk DIY to mean. But much of that hinges on the continual presence of radicalised women within the leagues, and those women being encouraged—given reasons to stay, to want to belong—rather than diminished by the music which glues the community together. Us girls deserve more than one song. We deserve more than one pledge of solidarity. We deserve better songs than any boy will ever write about us." - Jessica Hopper : Where the Girls Aren't
Ouch. This is a damning, scathing, and wholly accurate look at songs written by boys and men alike. I feel just a touch a shame having just read it. I want to say 'I have done better than this.' But you know, I need to look back at my own work with new eyes and perhaps think twice. I've always believed that The Punk Rock Ethic and The Hacker Ethic (See Linus Torvalds) were very much one in the same. That punk and it's offshoots weren't about a sound but instead about an ethos - and that even the ethos itself was open to interpretation... 'Open Source' if you will. Punk Rock belongs to no one. It's possible that the boys have mostly betrayed it's fundamental spirit, but it was never ours to begin with. Whether you define yourself as a girl, woman, or lady; mother, wife, lover, or other. I encourage you to take it out of our hands and show us what you would do with it. Kick out the jams girls. I'll be front row.
