Kababae Mong Tao
Last December 8, Magpies brought zines to Kababae Mong Tao, a gig hosted by Ultraparallel in coordination with Heresy.ph, at Mow’s, Quezon City. The event had performances by The Buildings, BP Valenzuela, pcastlesss, Megumi Acorda, Teenage Granny, half-lit, skymarines, Girls in Dirty Shirts, and Joee & I --a curated lineup of female musicians and female-fronted bands. Short films by directors Margarita Mina and Mariah Reodica were also screened during the gig. Apart from the zines brought by Magpies, zines and prints from Sara Rivera and Ches Gatpayat were also available during the event, including the zine “And Their Feet Move”, a collection of comics, photographs, and texts created by 16 female local artists.
For the first time, Magpies showcased its zine archive consisting of select zines from Zine Orgy V that were made by women, about women, and for women. Despite sounding singular, the archive offered a wide array of works available for people to browse. Browsers and prospect buyers were advised to take note of the contacts of the creator of the zines of their interest for them to reach out to them personally. Alongside the zine archive, other zines by Magpies were also exhibited and sold during the event such as Nudes & Other Stories, Mommy, Los BaNews, and Pagsaulo ng Panghalip.
The magnitude of the female zines that were brought by Magpies was another testament to how immensely capable women are of greatness, of creating their own craft, and of owning up their geniuses. This is not to speak of the zines alone but also of the involved artists, musicians, and the event itself. Women have long suffered suppression of expression and/or absence of credence, if not total exclusion from contributing/creating, in a society that has long been dominated and controlled by men. Creating and putting out work as a woman already involves several leaps across hurdles towards visibility, more so is acknowledging a woman’s work as hers. As Alana Massey once put it:
“If a woman creates something that is multilayered, deep, revelatory, and complex, men often want to be the ones who explain all of those elements back to her, as if she was just thinking her magical thoughts and they come out brilliant, that she didn’t labor over them intensely.”
The event was not motivated just by celebrating women’s work in the artistic sphere but also by the perceived need to establish safe spaces --not just for women but for an audience that transcends gender, social class, race --in the music scene. With the recent surge in the sexual misconduct and misogyny accounts involving artists in the local music scene, it is of utmost necessity to finally hold those abusers accountable and work towards carving spaces that are conducive both for the creators and spectators. Although the event was bound within a rather isolated sonic community, it was still a significant initiative that culminates to the bigger picture of cultivating a safe environment in public and private places.
Photos used in this article were by Cedric Manuel. View the full album here.
