If you read this blog or if you liked this blog, when it was alive, then I think you’ll like my new blog.
Check out my new blog: Forwrrrd
Forwrrrd is an activism, DIY, equal rights, feminism, human rights, riot grrrl, and women’s rights blog. If anybody wants to contribute something to the blog, email me: grrrlsvomitcandy@hotmail.com with the subject “blog” or “contribute”. Contributions must be activism, diy, equal rights, feminism, human rights, riot grrrl, and/or women’s rights focused. Any and all contributions will be appreciated and credited. Thanks!
You can also email me, but just remove the NOSPAM part of the email address.
Feel free to email me: links, riot grrrl chapters, information, articles, submissions, contributions, etc. for the Riot Grrrl Online website or for the Forwrrrd Blog. Thanks!
It’s true. I know this may be confusing. For some reason, I’ve consistently been questioned by why I do not like her. She has a vulva, so we must have things in common, right? Actually, not much more than that 2nd X chromosome. Here are a few things that I know about Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin:
- Elected as Governor in 2006 and previous political history includes being mayor of her hometown of about 6,700 people (Wasilla)
- Youngest person and first female to become Governor of Alaska
- Strongly opposes abortion, even in cases of rape, incest and when the woman’s life is in danger
- Has a lifelong membership with the NRA
- Enjoys slaughtering animals for sport and helped Alaska to sue over polar bears being declared endangered because it would “cripple offshore oil and gas development”
- Supported Alaskan legislature that would allow wolves to be hunted from airplanes
- Believes marriage to be solely between one man and one woman
- Free market capitalist
- Part of the Alaskan Independence Party, who would like to secede from the United States
- Chief achievement in any office was 2006 award from the National Arbor Day Foundation
- Currently under investigation by state lawmakers over the dismissal of a public safety commissioner, who allegedly did not fire her ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper who is currently in a custody battle with her younger sister
- Married to a BP oil field production operator
- Claims to be unaware of Wasilla policy on treating rape victims that would charge them up to $1200 to be able to obtain a DNA evidence kit in order to put their attacker to justice
- Lies about Alaska supplying 20% of U.S. energy
- “When asked last month about the vice presidency, she said, “I still can’t answer that question until someone answers for me: What is it exactly that the VP does every day?” When asked about Iraq, she said, “I haven’t really focused much on the war in Iraq.”" [Source]
Palin’s gender has nothing to do with her political background. I thought Obama’s rep was meager until I heard about this woman. She is wholly inexperienced and has never dealt with big issues such as foreign policy. There is no doubt that she will attempt to work with McCain in order to achieve his dream of overturning Roe v. Wade as well as making sure that gay rights are not synonymous with civil rights. She is an animal killer who is married to a fucking oil field producer; think the situation about renewable energy will get any better? She openly admits to not knowing anything about what the VP even does! Have we ever elected a male as president who has done the same?
It is blatantly obvious that she was chosen as a running mate to give McCain one last headliner over Obama as well as attempt to win over Hillary supporters. His choice of Palin was purely positive discrimination. McCain was surrounded by plenty of experienced politicians and yet, he picked the girl just to give his ticket some good ol’ diversity as well. McCain is not progressive or a political “maverick”. His campaign is sexist and just struggling to adapt to the standards that Obama’s nomination has set. Even the National Organization for Women is endorsing Obama!
I am a hardcore feminist but I rue the day that this woman steps foot into the White House.
This is an essay I was asked to write for a WS class last semester.
Throughout my entire life, my gender has played a huge role. It has determined what kind of things I should be interested in, what expectations are placed upon me and what point of view I have on certain issues. It has affected me for the better and for the worse. In this essay, I will focus on the worse; negative aspects and experiences that I have endured simply because of my reproductive ability.
There are numerous challenges and contradictions of being a woman in American society. One of the most prominent contradictions I see has to do with body image. Because of influences from the media, women are taught that being thin is an ideal body type. This may be difficult enough to deal with for women that are naturally curvy but it is complicated because of the culture we live in as well; American society also stresses over-indulgence and “the bigger the better” mentalities, including in the realm of food. It seems as if women are tempted to indulge in the smorgasbords but if so, they will be ostracized for not keeping up with society’s ideal body image. Women must also deal with other societal expectations for physical appearance such as having long hair and wearing makeup. Both are seen as “feminine” attributes and may cause women to believe they are more masculine or less beautiful if they do not yield to these expectations.
Education is another area in which I see complications for women. From a very young age, American children are taught that education is the solitary most important tool needed for success in life. The reasoning behind this being that the more intelligent one is, the more career opportunities one may have. This seems to be ineffectual for women. Importance on our education is severely undermined because of the ideal female job; housewife. Being able to find a rich husband seems to be a much more necessary skill for women. Because of this, women are not taken seriously in high-end jobs and receive much less pay for equal work overall; about 78 cents to the male’s dollar. It seems as if no amount of education could convince men that women are on an equal intelligence and capability level as them in careers. I see this as somewhat of a double-edged sword; whereas it may be more acceptable for women to be somewhat less intelligent, it’s also somewhat expected. If a woman has no desire to further her education after high school, she is automatically thought to choose home keeper as her eventual day job.
Women’s sexual freedom has also been subject to several contradictions. Perpetuated by the media’s representation of the ideal woman as well as what the typical man desires, women are seen as quintessential if they are somewhat promiscuous. This also includes their choice of dress, such as low-cut shirts or short skirts. This also can go the other way if a man finds a woman ugly or is generally displeased with her; she may then be known as a slut or a whore for the way she looks. Women struggle with having to fit within the stigma men have for their outer appearance or run the risk of being referred to as undesirable terms. This is also affected by the ideal that women should save themselves for marriage, something men do not have thrust upon them. It is almost as if men are expected to be unbridled but if women exhibit the same tendencies than they are easy and cheap.
These ideals that women struggle with on a daily basis are somewhat contributed to our upbringing and socialization. Girls are raised with the principals such as being quiet, physically presentable, soft, dainty and passive. If we deviate from any of these, we may be seen as bitchy, annoying, ugly, abrasive or manly, all of which are very negative for women. Young boys are inoculated with a very different set of morals; being strong, independent, assertive, aggressive or brave are all ideals that they are taught to strive for. If a woman would exert any of these characteristics, she would most likely be seen as any of the aforementioned unfavorable adjectives.
Political involvement also has somewhat of an influence in women’s lives. Affirmative Action is seen as necessary in order to put women on the same level playing field as men. This is a very bittersweet because women should not have to be backed up by a piece of legislation in order to achieve equal status to their male counterparts. Another huge aspect of political legislation in regard to women is the touchy debate over abortion legality and rights. Politicians have found it to be their own business in the issue of control over women’s reproductive abilities. This is contradictory along with education because in many cases teens altogether are not taught satisfactory safe sex practices which lead to women’s desires for abortion in the first place. It’s like teaching a child to steal and then later imprisoning and punishing them for being a criminal; how can we expect anything different from uneducated young women?
In some cases I believe women’s emotions can be extremely contradictory and difficult to deal with. Specifically, their fear. In our heterosexual-preferring society, women are taught that men are our natural other halves yet at the same time very dangerous predators. The thought of a daughter walking home alone in the dark, or alone anywhere, could make a mother cringe with worry and concern. Women are somewhat expected to always need protection and never be alone in public situations or else we would be subject to devious sexual predators, which is perpetuated by both genders, not just other women. This reinstates the belief that women are primarily seen as sexual objects by men and their reproductive organs hold their only redeeming value. Because of this, women are generally distrusting and insecure about men in general.
As an American woman, I find many issues of importance in our society. I am concerned with the current state of equality between the sexes in all aspects of life and in all cultures of the world. I think our society needs to be taught more understanding and tolerance of outsiders’ opinions and experiences. I dislike our current ideals of self-centeredness and “every man for himself”; there needs to be more collaboration and collective effort among both genders to be able to get past these obstacles. I believe we need dire improvements in the areas of education, global compliance and interconnectedness, health care, general safety and freedom, whether they be for more funding, expanding the bracket of those who are eligible or overall increase.
I also am very concerned about how women are valued in society. In my own personal experience, I have struggled with being unsure if male attention and desired friendship is contingent on my personality or solely on my physical appearance. Women should not be seen as having worth just because of their looks, but because of their overall character and personalities. I have also experienced negative reactions from men because of my appearance and style of dress, who question why I do not partake in “more feminine” outerwear.
Because of several negative experiences women in my family have had with men, I am more independent and strong-willed than most. My family is definitely matriarchal because of both my grandmother’s and mother’s dealing with divorce, abuse and neglect with their past spouses. Through their experiences and unfortunate situations I have learned to be self-sufficient. I have personally felt fear of males because of domestic abuse my mother, sister and I went through when I was a child.
As for connectedness with women of other cultures, I definitely feel like I am able to relate to them. As a Social Justice major, I am extremely interested in women of other cultures and the struggles they endure. I feel like women of all different countries go through the same central issues in relation to oppression by outside forces.
I’ve been plagued by the thought of marriage lately. It seems at every possibility someone in my family brings up the prospect of me entering into nuptial confines and then reproducing and wondering out loud when such a time will come. I’ve said it for years and I say it now: I am not getting married nor having children.
Mostly I’ve been dwelling on the subject because a young woman very close to me has decided that she would like to marry a man that she has met while visiting another country. They have known each other but a scant half a year and are supposedly in love with one another. She has only dated a couple of guys over the past few years and neither were serious. Now she plans to marry a man almost a decade her senior, live with him in a foreign country, leave everyone she knows behind, bear children and become a housewife as soon as possible. I know that it is blatantly obvious that I am a devoted feminist but I wholeheartedly commend women who decide to let their primary concerns rest within their own households and children. It is a very difficult decision to make and I applaud women that make it. I’ve met women who have told me that having and raising children has been a lifelong desire and they could not be happier having the ability to do so. They’ve obtained their dream jobs, so who am I to judge their work?
I am, however, at odds with such a young woman leaving all she knows behind for someone she barely knows. Going through numerous bad relationships, I have learned that when its good, its good and when its bad, its fucking horrible. I would never claim to be worldlier in love than another, but I do know that statistically the younger women and men marry the more likely they are to divorce. I’m concerned for her well-being and it would break my heart to see her unhappy and in some kind of situation that she would not easily be able to get out of. I understand that she has always wanted to get married and have children and that her dream job is indeed mother and home keeper. I just wonder if she could possibly slow down the process!
I don’t understand why people want to rush into things at top speed. If you are in love with someone and honestly want to spend the rest of your life with that person, then why make such slapdash decisions? What is so appealing about marriage, honestly? Why can’t a couple live together under an understood bond that should not be broken? Why do people feel that the only way to express their utmost love for someone is a state-sanctioned relationship? I have a few ideas.
Why people get married:
1. Pressures from family and friends.
2. Societal expectations and the fear of being ostracized.
3. Proving their love for one another.
4. Tax benefits.
1. I think I’m affected by this one the most. My family has a history of ugly, torn marriages and ruptured living situations, but somehow the issue of getting married has still been pushed upon me. After 20 years of such subjugation, I have finally found that the only minuscule desire I ever had to get married was because I was imbibed and socialized to believe that marriage is the only way to have a legitimate adult relationship with a partner. If you’re raised to believe something to such a degree, it can be very difficult to shy away from such a thing. Especially if it is endorsed by society at large, which bleeds into the next reason. Also, one may feel more pressured to couple up with another if all of their close friends are doing so. I have not had the joy of feeling like all of my friends are getting married off so that I should as well, but I know many people have felt very uncomfortable by being surrounded with (seemingly) perfect, content couples.
2. Many people believe (because of morals, values, religious beliefs, etc.) that living and/or procreating with someone out of wedlock is fundamentally unacceptable, and by entering into marriage, their action is somehow justified and their consciences are cleared of any wrongdoings. They may be concerned that others may see them in a bad light because of the ‘unofficial’ status of their partnership. Let’s not forget the massive wedding industry, which rakes in $70 billion annually from happy couples wishing to get hitched in an elaborate, flashy array of table linens, fresh flowers and horrendously colored bridesmaid dresses. There is no doubt about it; the idea of a wedding is almost exclusively catered to women. A wedding day represents one in which a woman can feel pampered, like the star of the show, and have everything her way. Wedding planners are hired to ease this process as well as serve as confirmatory opinion that the service will indeed be spectacular. All the magazines, movies, and television shows are targeted towards making a personal statement of love into a commercial process to be made money off of. As a related story, it has been noted that recognizing gay marriages would also add an additional $16.8 billion to the industry.
3. We all know the stereotype of women fawning over the idea of being swept off of her feet by a prince charming and being married to him. We are also aware of the stereotype of the eternal male bachelor, dreading the idea of marriage and hating it even more after continuing to do so. Does this mean that women pressure men into getting married? Do men feel obligated to marry their female counterparts? Maybe. At a point, a couple may feel like they have no where else to go but take it to the next level and enter into the binds of marriage. Shit or get off the pot, you know? I am still iffy about this reason and see it as being a front for one of the other 3 stated reasons.
4. I mean, really. It sounds like a humorous joke but I’m sure some people go for it. I know a couple who has actually refrained from marriage because they receive a higher amount of welfare for their 3 children. They have other reasons but this is a major benefit for them. I think it could go the other way, then. In the film ‘I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry’ the back story is that Kevin James and Adam Sandler pretend to be in a domestic partnership in order for James’ pension to be switched over to his children since his wife has passed a few years prior. This may be an uncommon situation but in a time of a ravaged economic status in the US, people may go to great lengths to stay afloat.
Personally, I feel no pressure from any of the aforementioned reasons to get married. If I find someone that I would like to spend the rest of my life with, I will do so without having to pay the state for a piece of paper noting our status. I dislike marriage because it is withheld from same-sex couples and even if I did want to marry, I would not do so unless this supposed civil right applies to all persons regardless of orientation. I dislike marriage because it goes along with the belief that humans are naturally monogamous and all persons have soul mates. I dislike marriage because I have had difficult enough breakups and never want to know what a crushing divorce would be like. I dislike marriage because it brings with it the ideal that people will be less likely to cheat on their spouses. I dislike marriage because I would henceforth be expected to have kids after becoming wed and I refuse to voluntarily enter into a whole nother slew of societal and familial pressures.
Marriage isn’t for me. I want to have my own career and travel the entire globe. If someone would love me to the point that they would want to spend copious amounts of time with me, then they will come with me. Don’t even get me started on kids, either. If I would have them, I’d pull an Angelina Jolie and adopt. 4,000 children die per hour just from starvation. Why would I choose to bring a separate life into this world instead of saving one already existing?
“Marriage is a wonderful institution… but who wants to live in an institution?”
- Groucho Marx
For the more than 200,000 women serving on active duty in the U.S. military, sexual assault and harassment are issues not to be ignored – and now that the armed forces are taking steps to correct the problem, some wonder if it is doing enough.
In the fiscal year ’07, ending Oct. 1, military members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan reported 131 cases of rape and assault. The Department of Defense recorded 2,688 cases of sexual assault last year; 60 percent were allegations of rape.
Some women claim the military does not respond adequately to allegations of sexual harassment and assault. Carolyn Schapper, 35, told the Associated Press an Army National Guard soldier repeatedly stormed into her room while she was dressing in Iraq. She began changing in her shower stall to ensure she had privacy. Schapper said she wouldn’t think of reporting the incident, because she believed administrative action would be taken against her instead of the other soldier.
Missing pregnant Marine Maria Lauterbach’s body was found burned in a shallow fire pit located in Cpl.Cesar Armando Lauren’s backyard earlier this year. She had accused Lauren of sexually assaulting her and planned to testify against him before she vanished.
Lauterbach’s mother, Mary, blamed the military for being slow to act, denying her daughter’s request for transfer and not properly dealing with the sexual assault complaint – even after her daughter was punched in the face.
“I believe Maria would be alive today if the Marine system had been different,” she told a panel of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee July 31.
A woman named Ingrid Torres worked with American Red Cross at a U.S. base in Korea. Torres took Ambien before bed, and an Air Force flight director raped her while she slept.
Testifying before the committee, Torres said, “He still comes after me in my dreams.”
“Women serving in the military today are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than be killed by enemy fire in Iraq,” she said.
According to a Government Accountability Office report released July 31, incidents of rape and sexual assault in the military are under-reported by nearly half. Many soldiers fail to report assaults because they worry “that nothing will be done; fear of ostracism, harassment, or ridicule; and concern that peers would gossip.”
Some victims argue that the military chain of command would punish or move them if they complained, rather than discipline the person responsible for the assault.
A Department of Defense 2006 Gender Relations Survey of Active Duty Members shows 34 percent of all female service member respondents were sexually harassed, and 6.8 percent indicated experiencing unwanted sexual contact including rape, nonconsensual sodomy or indecent assault.
While evidence that war worsens the problem of sexual assault is lacking, women serving in the Army were most likely to be sexually harassed and/or assaulted than any other branch. Low-ranking, enlisted females were more likely than their commissioned or higher-ranking counterparts to be raped. Seventy-five percent of victims reported assaults occurring at a military installation.
A full 50 percent of female respondents experienced incidents of rape or attempted rape, 38 percent reported unwanted sexual touching and 12 percent did not specify. Most women did not report the incidents because they felt uncomfortable, thought they would be labeled a troublemaker, didn’t want anyone to know, did not think anything would be done or feared retaliation.
Under fire for its method of handling sexual harassment and assault cases, the military introduced a Care for Victims of Sexual Assault Task Force. Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld charged the task force with investigating sexual assault in the military in 2004. The U.S. Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response confidential reporting system was established in 2005 – though reports still show half of female victims do not report the crimes. The military also conducts required classes on sexual assault and harassment.
The Pentagon has teamed up with Men Can Stop Rape, a non-profit organization that seeks “to mobilize men to use their strength for creating cultures free from violence, especially men’s violence against women,” to teach soldiers how to recognize signs of sexual assault.
The Department of Veteran’s Affairs added a 16th inpatient ward for military victims of sexual trauma, the Associated Press reported. VA hospitals are also providing keyless locks on its doors so female patients can feel more secure.
The draft regulation, prepared by the Bush Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and currently circulating among anti-women officials, redefines abortion as, “any of the various procedures — including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action — that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation.” Taking a page from the extremist right, they are deliberately blurring the lines between contraception and abortion, providing an extraordinarily broad definition of abortion that could be interpreted to cover various forms of birth control, including oral contraceptives, intrauterine devices (IUD’s), and emergency contraception.
This draft regulation requires entities and individuals that receive family planning funding to certify that they will not discriminate against people who object to abortion or to dispensing birth control on the basis of “religious beliefs or moral convictions.” Under the guise of passing anti-discrimination laws to protect health care providers participating in federal programs, the proposed regulation would effectively undermine a health care provider’s ability to offer the very services for which they are funded, as well as a patient’s ability to access those services. All health care providers must be able to appropriately screen and hire individuals capable and willing to perform the core services that they provide.
The regulation puts laws and policies that protect women’s access to birth control in serious jeopardy, including state laws that require hospitals to provide sexual-assault survivors with access to emergency contraception. The draft rule limiting Title X funding will create a direct conflict between Title X (America’s Family Planning Program) and the Maternal Child Health and Medicaid programs, which requires that grantees provide a broad range of contraceptive services and supplies to their patients.
Currently, there are “crisis pregnancy centers” in communities across the country that look like health care centers, but deliver woefully incomplete care and only provide the reproductive health care options that fit their agenda: NO birth control, NO abortion — and NO choice for women and families who need it! If Bush’s proposed regulation takes effect, these “crisis pregnancy centers” are likely to receive a massive influx of our tax dollars.
At a time when 17 million women are in need of publicly-supported reproductive health care services, this regulation disparately impacts the low-income, uninsured and under-insured women who rely on these programs for their health information and services!
[Please visit the above link to let Secretary Mike Leavitt of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services know that you do not aprove of this legislation by commenting his blog and signing the petition!]
As most of you know, The Riot Grrrl Online Website has a forum. Nobody seems to be using this forum much. I have decided to officially keep the forum HERE instead. I took a poll on freeforums.org and most people want me to move the forum back to freeforums, so that is what I’m going to do.
If you want to join the forum, it is free and easy to join the forum. Just go to the website and click “register”, if your not already a member. Please start using the forum, if you haven’t been. If you have already been using the forum, continue to do so. Thanks!
This story comes from Alternet.
Young activists are trying to reach out to conservative voters.
A famous Chinese proverb teaches that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.
For Meg Sneed, a 25-year-old Arizona lesbian, journeys to change a thousand hearts begin with a single thought: There’s power in sharing personal stories.
In 2006, she and other young activists in Soulforce, a gay-rights group devoted to the kind of peaceful confrontation practiced by Gandhi and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, traveled eight weeks by bus to evangelical colleges to share what it’s like to be gay.
The next year, Sneed, who was fighting cancer, was weak from chemotherapy but walked 60 miles to help raise money for breast cancer research.
Now, with her home state set to vote on banning same-sex couples from marrying, Sneed is back on the move: Starting Aug. 8, she and other young Soulforce activists will walk 96 miles to the state capitol to share touching accounts of how the amendment would hurt real people.
She picked 96 miles for the six-day trek through egg-frying heat because that’s the number of years gay Arizonans haven’t had equal rights. (Arizona became a state in 1912.)
“Walking 96 miles,” Sneed says of her bold adventure, “is nothing compared to a gay or lesbian person being told they can’t see their partner in their dying moments at a hospital because they don’t have full marriage rights.”
What does everyone think of the idea of having a feminism forum? The forum would be about feminism, the many different types of feminism, will be for discussion of ALL types of feminism, discussion of women’s rights, discussion of women’s studies, etc. Yes, I am very aware that livejournal, myspace, last.fm, etc. have groups or coumminities as forums for feminism, however, there are more people interested in feminism out there that are not on those websites. If I get enough heads up for the idea, I will make the forum. If I don’t get many replies to this post, then I will NOT make the forum.
I am thinking of using proboards or invisionfree for the forum provider. If anyone is interested in helping me out with the forum: layout, ideas, or being a moderator on the forum, Please let me know by replying to this post. Also, The forum will be discussed by email, so if you really want to help out or be a moderator, please leave your email address in a reply to this post OR you can email me here: grrrlsvomitcandy at hotmail dot com Thanks!
Taking It Global is a social networking website. It is aimed at youth, but adults are also on the website. (such as myself) Taking It Global is an international non-profit organization located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In alot of ways, It is like Care2, but it has more members than Care2.
I have a profile on there as grrrlriot. Feel free to add me on TakingItGlobal.
Here is some information about the website, taken from takingitglobal.org.
We’re an international non-profit organization headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, yet we connect youth around the world. TakingITGlobal provides a portal for young people to find inspiration, access information and get involved in improving their local and global communities.
Inspire
Young people have the energy, the desire and the skills to make a difference in the world. All that’s needed is a way of connecting with one another. TakingITGlobal’s position at the intersection of key global trends enables us to support young people in acting as a force for change today and into the future. Our Vision is of a world where young people are more engaged in their communities on local, national, and international levels. We provide the tools and the space for young people around the world to be heard. And those voices will, in turn, inspire more to speak.
Inform
Our world is increasingly global and interconnected. Many threats face our common humanity, such as global poverty, war and conflict, HIV/AIDS, and environmental degradation. TakingITGlobal provides access to the information required to understand and act on global issues. Our mission is to provide opportunities for learning, capacity-building, cross-cultural awareness and self-development through the use of Information and Communication Technologies. Because once you have the information, you can share it.
Involve
Young people are most powerful as co-owners in our own development process. That’s why TakingITGlobal is focused on encouraging involvement. By leveraging the power of social networks and digital media, we’ve created a tool for learning, collaboration, dialogue and action that is completely interactive.
Our flagship program, TakingITGlobal.org, has become the most popular online community for young people interested in connecting across cultures and making a difference. Hundreds of thousands of people visit the site each month to share their unique knowledge, perspectives and experiences.
This was taken from my Riot Grrrl Online website. Here is some information on riot grrrl.
Here is some information and history of the riot grrrl movement and philosophy.
HISTORY OF RIOT GRRRL: Here is some history of riot grrrl. Riot Grrrl began in 1991 at Olympia Washington, when a few girls (mostly from Bikini Kill and Bratmobile) decided to get together and talk about their main interests..feminism
and punk rock. The first time they met it was all fun, they put up posters to get attention of other open minded girls. Then they found out they had other things in common: they were all vegetarians; against drugs; and had been molested as children. At one meeting a very smart
girl took notes, photocopied them and turned them into a cool fanzine. That’s how it all began. Some people think that Bikini Kill started it all, in my eyes they did. Bikini Kill, however does not think of themselves as starting the riot grrrl movement. In Bikini Kill’s songs, they sing about different women issues such as: rape, incest, and other issues that some women face. Some people think that bikini kill, riot grrrls, and feminists are ‘man-haters’. They’re not. They just want to be equal to men, not better to them. Zines are a BIG part of the riot grrrl scene. Most riot grrrls believe in DIY. (do it yourself) That means that they start riot grrrl chapters, zines, etc. of their own around the riot grrrl movement.
Wikipedia’s Definiton Of Riot Grrrl: Riot grrrl (or riot grrl) is a form of hardcore punk rock music, known for its feminist stance. The genre first appeared in the early 1990s as an offshoot of alternative rock and punk music and as a response to prevalent attitudes of punk machismo, building also on a history of all-women bands. A key factor in this movement was the support for girls not needing to be musically trained to start a band. The term more generally referred to the band members and followers of a wider movement with a DIY empowerment ethic, characterized by the Oxford
English Dictionary as "feminist resistance to male domination in society and especially to the abuse and harassment of women." Riot grrrl lyrics often address issues such as rape, domestic abuse, sexuality and female empowerment. As summarized by The Guardian in its April 15, 1995 supplement: "When the Riot Grrl movement began in America in 1991, its intention was to redress the balance of power via the punk rock underground using slogans (words like ‘rape’ and ‘slut’ written in black marker pens on exposed stomachs or bare arms), fanzines, meeting s and women-only shows." The group Bikini Kill is
widely considered one of the prime instigators of the movement. With the rallying cry, "Revolution Girl Style Now!" they and other bands like Bratmobile and Heavens to Betsy created a mini-movement to combat what they saw as the male-dominance of the punk scene and, by extension, the rest of the world. Riot grrl musicians mostly shunned
the major record labels, signing instead with indie labels like Kill Rock Stars.
You can also read more about riot grrrl on Wikipedia.
Urban Dictionary’s Definition Of Riot Grrrl: There is no right or wrong definition to riot grrrl. Everyone has their own definition of riot grrrl. Urban Dictionary defines ‘riot grrrl’ in 4 possible ways.
1.) Riot Grrrl: Movement/organization of empowered womyn (and occassionally men) dedicated to expressing radical, grassroots feminism through art and activism. Spotlighted in the media around the time the punk band Bikini Kill was at the height of their powers.
2.) Riot Grrrl: Radical ‘women orientated’ music scene from the early 90′s. Bands attached were Huggy Bear, Bikini Kill and Voodoo Dolls.
3.) Riot Grrrl: a feminist, who can rock out, have fun, and doesn’t give a shit what any one else says.
4.) Riot Grrrl: A grassroots third wave feminist movement deeply connected to the punk rock scene in the early and mid 1990’s. Mostly youth
oriented, riot grrrl was neither an organization or a specific thought, but instead thrived on non hierarchal “chapters” set up across America and parts of Europe connecting mostly young women with music, a thriving zine scene, and direct political action. There is no one
specific example of riot grrrl, in fact the best example is contrasting different people who associated themselves with the movement.
I would never give out a set definition though because that would automatically exclude another grrrl.
What Riot Grrrl Means To Me: Grrrl love, respect, feminism, and equality are the main aspects of what a riot grrrl is to me. Riot grrrls want to be heard. They want to speak out against various issues in today’s society. Riot grrrl is not ‘man-hating’. It is a movement for grrrls that want to be equal to men. Riot grrrls want to make a stand. Riot grrrl is being a nonconformist and not meeting society’s standards. Riot grrrls want to make a change. Males can even be riot grrrls, but sometimes call themselves ‘riot
boys’ or ‘riot guys’, even though gender doesn’t matter. To be a riot grrrl, You don’t have to listen to riot grrrl bands, You just have to believe in the riot grrrl philosophy. You can be male or female to believe in the movement. Riot grrrl doesn’t discriminate. To be a riot
grrrl, You have to believe in the riot grrrl philosophy. I know there are people that say the movement isn’t around anymore, but I think it is coming back. There are people that still believe in riot grrrl today. There are ex-riot grrrls around as well that used to be into the
movement, but they no longer consider themselves a riot grrrl anymore or they think the movement died. Can you be a riot grrrl? Sure, You just have to believe in the philosophy and what its all about. You can even start up your own riot grrrl chapter in your area/town/country/state to get the word out about riot grrrl and to meet other riot grrrls.
Riot grrrls are a loosely set up network of underground feminists and music fans, of all ages, all over the country. It’s about GRRRL power: women getting together to help and encourage each other, getting rid of sexist stereotypes of what girls are supposed to be… quiet, soft, sweet, innocent, helpless, etc. Not all riot grrrls are girls, some are
riot boys and believe strongly in the riot grrrl movement. Grrrls can be found anywhere from honor roll kids to downtown club kids. We are not all punk, all white, all lesbians, all musicans, all zine writers/editors, all vegetarians, all victims of abuse, or all straight edge. True riot grrrls don’t discriminate.
Riot grrrl is any woman who believes that they should be treated equally in all ways. Riot grrrls believe they shouldn’t be treated as ‘sex objects’ but as human beings. Riot grrrls want to have the same rights as men, but not be treated like they can’t do anything. Women aren’t here to look pretty. Most guys think women are weak, stupid, etc. but we are not! We are sick of guys running things in the world. It would be nice if a woman was running things for once. The world is male-dominated. It would be nice if it was equal…male and female dominated. Guys have
their stereotypes of women and their stereotypes are wrong. Some men will call a woman ‘his bitch’. We are NOT bitches. We are not slaves either. We don’t like it when guys call us names like, "bitch", "whore", "dyke", etc. The list could go on. The point is we are all women and we NEED equality. We are sick of men telling us how to act, how to be, etc. Most but not all men stereotype women too much. Some men think that their dicks make them powerful or in control. It’s not what’s in between your legs that counts, but what’s in your mind and in your heart.
Another definition would be this: To me and other grrls it means equality. No man is better than a woman and vice versa. Riot grrrl is about choice and it should embrace everyone, because individuality is one of the most special things that one can have, and everybody has it and needs to use it. It is a sisterhood, as long as we dont forget that we are all different and not to overlook that because that it what makes each of us beautiful. Riot grrrl is a punk feminist movement. It can only exsist in the punk and underground music scene. Riot grrrl probably couldn’t have happened in any other time period, except for the first punk revolution in the 70′s. Riot grrrl
incorporates feminist ideals and uses them to de-gender the punk scene. Punk rock is not just for boys anymore. In a scene based on progression, resistance and rebellion, grrrls look around and find that they are still treated like secondary citizens. Most (but not all) guys look at girls as sexual conquests, entertainment, or attendents to hold their bookbags while they dance. Everyone becomes a hypocrite, preaching anti-sexist ideals, all the while practicing what they were brought up to do: treat girls like they would treat their mommies or even like wives- like property. Look between your legs, us grrrls will never ever hold a place in the brotherhood. This is why riot grrrl originated in the first place. Over half the worlds population is made up of women. White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, rich, poor, straight, gay, bisexual, disabled, all female, we are all women. We have become a silent majority. Stand up and fight!!!! Riot! Riot loudly, riot quietly. Just riot!!!!!! Society has put a gag in our mouths; rip it out and fucking riot!
I am in need of some articles and writings for this blog. I will add to this list as I see fit. The ones listed below are ideas for articles and writings and are some writings/articles I need for the blog. By writing the article (or articles), You will be emailed an invite to join this blog and will be able to post up your writing on the blog. Be sure to let others know that you wrote the article (or articles).
ARTICLES AND WRITINGS NEEDED:
1-History of riot grrrl: how, why, where, when, and who started it. (about the music and the movement)
2-History of feminism: how, why, where, when, and who started it.
3-The 3 waves of feminism.
4-The many different types of feminism such as: anarcha-feminism, individual feminism, radical feminism, and all the others.
5-Write about your favorite feminism/riot grrrl website or write a review of your favorite feminism/riot grrrl website. (can be blogs, websites, forums, etc.)
6-Write your own definition of what feminism means to you.
7-What does riot grrrl mean to you? (Write as much or as little as you want.) Describe riot grrrl in your own words.
8-Write about being a riot grrrl in another country. What’s the riot grrrl scene like where you live? Is there a chapter where you live? Any riot grrrl bands where you live? How did you get into riot grrrl? How long have you been into riot grrrl?
9-Write about how you got into riot grrrl. What, how, when, who, and where made you get into riot grrrl?
10-Write about being a riot boy: how, when, who, what, and where did you get into riot grrrl?
11-Write your own riot boy manifesto. (I already have a version on my website.)
12-Write about being a male feminist: how, when, who, what, and where did you get into riot grrrl?
13-Write some feminism questions that you would like answered or start a feminism FAQ (frequently asked questions) of your own and the answers to them.
14-Write some riot grrrl/boy questions that you would like answered or start a riot grrrl FAQ (frequently asked questions) of your own and the answers to them.
15-Write about women’s issues important to you.
16-Write about feminism and what it means to you.
17-Write how you got into feminism and why.
18-Make a list of reasons on why your a feminist. Try to think of 50 or more reasons, if you can. 10-20 reasons will do too.
19-Make a list of reasons on why your a riot grrrl. Try to think of 50 or more reasons, if you can. 10-20 reasons will do too.
20-Write some DIY tips or share yours. Share your own DIY stuff.
21-Write something about being an activist/ or about activism.
22-Write something about zines or your life as a zinester.
23-Write about your ladyfest or a ladyfest you attended.
24-Write about a riot grrrl chapter or your own riot grrrl chapter.
25-Write about being pro-choice, why your pro-choice, or what it means to you.
26-Write something about how riot grrrl and queercore music are connected.
27-Write something about how riot grrrl and grunge music are connected.
28-Write something about how riot grrrl and punk music are connected.
29-Write something about feminism in other countries. What’s feminism like in your country or other countries?
30-Write something about human rights in your country or another country.
31-Write something about equal rights.
32-Write about why is feminism important today.
33-Write your own definition of what a riot boy is to you. Give your own definition of riot boy.
34-Write your own Zine DIY guide.
35-Write how to start a riot grrrl chapter DIY guide.
36-Write your own list of ways to be an activist.
37-Write a review of a zine or your favorite zine.
38-Write about your experience with the Riot Grrrl Online website.
39-Write about the Riot Grrrl Online website or do a review of the website. If you write about the website, write how you found the website, how you got active in the website and why. I’m sure there are more things you can write about the website, as long as your a reader or fan of the website, your input is appreciated.
40-A review of your riot grrrl or feminist website.
41-Write a news story. Write about an issue or topic important to you or an issue/topic you think would be important to others that is happening in the news.
42-Write your own women’s issue story. If you are a survivor (of anything from rape to cancer, etc.), I’d like to hear your story and what you went through.
43-Write how to start a ladyfest.
44-Write how to start your own record label and/or band.
If your interested in writing one of these articles, Feel free to read the “contribute” page and reply to the “contribute” page or email me. If you comment on the “contribute” page or email me, Please specify which article (or articles) you want to write about by letting me know which number or numbers (# or #’s) your interested in writing. If you have your own ideas for writings or whatever, feel free to email me some of yours.
A Quick Riot Grrrl Online Website Update: I know I do not use this blog for updates on the Riot Grrrl Online website, but the website is finally working after months of not working properly and being offline. I didn’t think it would ever be back to normal. The Riot Grrrl Online website is back up and running…FINALLY! After a few months of being offline/not working properly, The website is finally running properly. Check it out, register, or login to the website, It’s back to normal now.
The article below was written by Greta (Grrrlriot) also known as me.
The Story Behind The Riot Grrrl Online Website And How I Got Into Riot Grrrl
I became interested in riot grrrl and feminism in 1997. It all started when I found out through the internet about feminism and riot grrrl. I also heard a little bit on MTV back then about the movement. (I used to watch MTV, but not anymore.) I also heard about it by doing some research on the band “Hole”. I had already started listening to hole and nirvana, since 1994, through MTV. I done some research on Nirvana as well. I started hearing about Bikini Kill and Kathleen Hanna. I also started hearing about Tobi Vail and her past relationship to Kurt Cobain. I began listening to bikini kill and I liked their sound. The first bikini kill song I heard was “Rebel Girl”. I started going to a bunch of riot grrrl/feminist sites. I wanted to find more riot grrrl bands to listen to. That’s when I found out about Bratmobile and other Kill Rock Stars records musical artists. Most of those riot grrrl/feminist websites are not around anymore, but some of them can be found with Archive.org.
In 2000, I realized a shortage of riot grrrl sites and most of the sites I enjoyed were gone. I guess a lot of people figured when the riot grrrl bands broke up that riot grrrl was gone. I guess some people thought that the riot grrrl movement died. I read and researched more about riot grrrl through Yahoo! Yahoo had a lot of “grrrl” websites in their directory and I researched riot grrrl through Yahoo as well. I don’t believe in labels, but I really believed in the riot grrrl movement. After the riot grrrl websites had died, I realized that I still believed in the philosophy of riot grrrl and feminism. In 2001, I decided I should make a riot grrrl website. I wanted to make a riot grrrl resource and information site, with a little bit about feminism. I wanted a website where I could add lots of pages and have an active website. I didn’t care if anyone liked my website or not, but it was something I wanted to do for myself and for fun. In a way, I wanted to connect other riot grrrls (and riot boys, feminists, and male feminists) to each other by making the website and that’s when I decided to start ‘Riot Grrrl Online’. I hoped that there were still people out there that felt the same way I did about riot grrrl.
The website was made in 2001 at angelfire. My online friend Shawnee (aka Deshawn) from Pennsylvania, USA made the purple layout and helped me out with the website. (I still keep in touch with him.) He knew how to make layouts, but I did not know how to make them. When the website was on angelfire, I had other pages, but I deleted a few of those pages. I had a “female icons” page, a “I made the website as a start to revive riot grrrl. The website can still be viewed on angelfire because I never deleted it from angelfire. The website is located here.
In 2004, I got hosted on girlsvomitcandy.com, by Jilly that lives in the United Kingdom. (UK) The girlsvomitcandy.com site died. (which I knew it was going to) Jilly told me she was getting rid of the domain, but that she’d email me when my site left from there. (which she never did) The website is on archive.org now and can be found here. The website started on angelfire, then moved to girlsvomitcandy.com, and is currently on hot-topic.org.
In 2005, I got hosted on hot-topic.org. I met Nam that lives in the United Kingdom. He seemed to know a lot about websites and computers. He started using siteman CMS for my website. He runs hot-topic.org. I met him through his now defunct Le Tigre forum on hot-topic.org. He noticed that I was in a dilemma from girlsvomitcandy.com and decided to host me. He also wanted to do something for me since I was active on his Le Tigre forum and helped spread the word about his Le Tigre forum. That’s how I wound up here on hot-topic.org, not to be mistaken for the clothing company, Hot Topic. hot-topic.org was named after the Le Tigre song “Hot Topic”. Nam helps me out with my website if it acts up, goes offline, has errors, or if I have an idea for the website. He answers my questions and gives me ideas. Nam is always there for me and for that I really appreciate him. I have him to thank for my website and for hosting me. He’s a great host. Nam is a great person and he is very much appreciated. I admire his kindness and helpfulness. Here is how the site looked when it first moved to hot-topic.org in December 2005. Here is how the site looked in July 2006. Here is how the site looked in October 2006 with the siteman version. As you can see, The main siteman website has been hacked. The siteman version of my website was hacked twice in 2007 and was an annoyance. That’s why I decided not to use siteman anymore. In December 2007, I started using Drupal instead of siteman. Drupal has lots more features than siteman. The Riot Grrrl Online Forum is now part of the website and part of the interactive features on the NEW Riot Grrrl Online website. It is part of the Drupal CMS (content management system).
I found out that alot of people were viewing my Riot Grrrl Online website and that they liked it. I realized that I had fans and people that linked to the website. I got lots of members on the siteman version and now I am still getting more members with Drupal. In 2005, I wanted to do more riot grrrl reviving. I wanted to meet more riot grrrls and people that felt the same way I did. So, I decided to make the Riot Grrrl Online Message Board in November 2005 on proboards as part of the ‘Riot Grrrl Online’ site. In 2007, I decided I wanted more features on the proboards message board. So, I made a new Riot Grrrl Online forum on freeforums.org. In April 2008, The freeforums Riot Grrrl Online forum was hacked, but it is working fine now. The freeforums forum isn’t as active as it was because the website is now using Drupal.
In Februrary 2008, I decided to create a Riot Grrrl Online social network on ning. The website was down at the time, so I decided to create a social network for people that still wanted to participate in the Riot Grrrl Online website and forums. In March 2008, I decided to create a Riot Grrrl Online blog on wordpress. The website was still down and I decided to create a blog specifically about feminism and riot grrrl. The blog doesn’t have updates about the website posted on it, but it does have articles, news, and other stuff on the blog.
The following was written by Greta/grrrlriot. (me) Do not copy without permission.
What Riot Grrrl Means To Me…What Does It Mean To You?
There are no right or wrong definitions of riot grrrl, in fact, everyone has their own definition of what a riot grrrl is. Here goes my definiton of what riot grrrl is and what it means to me.
Riot grrrl doesn’t ‘man-hate’.
Riot grrrl doesn’t discriminate against age, race, sex, or sexual preference.
Riot grrrl is a movement for girls that want to be equal to men and want equal rights for everyone.
Riot grrrl is being a nonconformist and not meeting society’s standards.
Riot grrrl is DIY. (doing it yourself)
Riot grrrl is about making zines, websites, blogs, and being active online.
Riot grrrl is all about not fitting into a mold.
Riot grrrl is all about rebelling against society.
Riot grrrl is about being yourself, being unique, being different, and loving yourself.
Riot grrrl is about your rights as a human being.
Riot grrrls want to be seen and heard.
Riot grrrls want to speak out against various issues in today’s society, including women’s issues.
Riot grrrls want to smash patriarchy.
Riot grrrls want to make a stand and want to make a difference.
Riot grrrls want to be globally aware of issues affecting the world.
Riot grrrls want freedom to be themselves without being judged.
Riot grrrls believe in grrrl love, respect, feminism, and equality.
Riot grrrls believe in women’s rights.
Riot grrrls believe in feminism and human rights.
Riot grrrls believe that women should have rights in ALL countries.
Riot grrrls are activists and want to change the world.
Grrrl love, respect, feminism, and equality are the main aspects of what a riot grrrl is to me. You can be male or female to believe in the movement. Males can be riot grrrls, but sometimes call themselves ‘riot boys’ or ‘riot guys’, even though gender doesn’t matter.
To be a riot grrrl, You don’t have to listen to riot grrrl bands, even though it helps to understand the riot grrrl movement better. You just have to believe in the riot grrrl philosophy.
Riot grrrl doesn’t discriminate. To be a riot grrrl, You have to believe in the riot grrrl manifesto.
I know there are people that say the movement isn’t around anymore, but I think it is coming back. I want a riot grrrl revival. There are people that still believe in riot grrrl today. There are ex-riot grrrls around as well that used to be into the movement, but they no longer consider themselves a riot grrrl anymore or they think the movement died.
Can you be a riot grrrl? Sure, You just have to believe in the philosophy and what its all about. You can even start up your own riot grrrl chapter in your area/town/country/state to get the word out about riot grrrl and to meet other riot grrrls.
DIY, meetings, zines, and music are a big part of the riot grrrl movement.
The following was written by Greta/grrrlriot. (me) Do not steal without permission. The reasons are not in any certain order. If you want to add to my list or start a new list, Feel free to comment on this post. If you can think of 50-100 or more reasons to choose riot grrrl, feel free to make a list and email me your list. I will post it up in this blog.
Why Did I Choose Riot Grrrl? 20 Reasons I Chose Riot Grrrl:
Because I want equality.
Because I want freedom to be myself and not be judged.
Because I want to smash patriarchy.
Because I want a revolution.
Because I want bigots to be nonexistant.
Because I want racism and sexism to stop.
Because I want homophobia to end.
Because I want everyone to be globally aware of women’s issues all over the world.
Because I believe in feminism.
Because I believe girls can change the world.
Because I believe women are people too.
Because I believe in women’s rights.
Because I believe women’s issues should be addressed.
Because I believe in activism and getting involved.
Because I believe women in other countries should have rights.
Because I believe I have the power to be seen and heard.
Because I believe in the riot grrrl manifesto and philosophy of riot grrrl.
Because I believe in human rights.
Because I believe everyone should have equal rights.
Because I believe that we can change the world.
“I seem to be getting a lot of things pushed my way that are strong women. It’s like people see Hackers and they send me offers to play tough women with guns, the kind who wear no bra and a little tank top. I’d like to play strong women who are also very feminine.”–Angelina Jolie
“I always play women I would date.”–Angelina Jolie
“I like everything. Boyish girls, girlish boys, the heavy and the skinny. Which is a problem when I’m walking down the street.”–Angelina Jolie
“I need someone physically stronger than me… I am always on top. It’s really unfortunate. I am begging for the man that can put me on the bottom. Or the woman. Anybody that can take me down.”–Angelina Jolie
“People talk about my image like I come in two dimensions, like lipstick is a sign of my declining mind, like what I happen to be wearing the day that someone takes my picture is my new statement for all womankind.”–Ani DiFranco
“When I was like sixteen, I was a total chick I had big hair. I was seen as this attractive girl, and I would get all this attention. And then I just cut off my hair, and I quit playing that game.”–Ani DiFranco
“When I was four years old they tried to test my IQ, they showed me this picture of three oranges and a pear. They asked me which one is different and does not belong, they taught me different was wrong.”–Ani Difranco
“Any tool is a weapon if you hold it right”–Ani Difranco
“Why do our kids have to show us what gun control is all about?”–Ani Difranco
“If you’re not angry, then you’re just stupid, you don’t care. How else can you react when something’s so unfair?”–Ani DiFranco
“I am murdering me where I kneeled at your kiss.”–Anne Sexton
“The tongue, the Chineses say; is like a sharp knife: it kills without drawing blood.”–Anne Sexton
“Take the face of the man I love and squeeze my foot into it when all the while my heart is making a museum…”–Anne Sexton
“I am stuffing your mouth with your promises and watching you vomit them out upon my face.”–Anne Sexton
“Urine and tears pour out of me. I’m the one you broke.”–Anne Sexton
“His mouth and his anus are one.”–Anne Sexton
“The more I write, the more the silence seems to be eating away at me.”–Anne Sexton
“For years, I hated myself. I covered the mirrors in my house. I literally couldn’t have a mirror in my room. I still can’t sit in a restaurant or someplace where I can catch my reflection. I get so paranoid.”–Christina Ricci
“You have to excuse me because I AM a teenager, so I’m allowed to sound illiterate and make stupid comments like ‘I’m not into hard-core feminism.’”–Christina Ricci
“I don’t know who Peter Lorre is. Pathetic right? It shows you how completely gross and uncultured my generation is.”–Christina Ricci
“I’m an only child and I’m just a real loner kind of person… and yeah, kinda dark. But I’m happy. Not sad. I’m just shy and nervous.”–Clea DuVall
“My whole life is working out and shooting guns right now. I’m learning how to fight people with, like, sticks in my hands and disarm 6’5″ men.”–Clea DuVall
“Because I think they’re insecure. And I think they don’t know themselves that well. And whatever they don’t know about themselves, they’re scared of.” – on homophobia–Clea DuVall
“I think bisexuality is frowned upon for a lot of different reasons. But I don’t like any of those words. I don’t like any of those labels. I think they’re limiting.”–Clea DuVall
“I don’t want to have a penis, I want to be a girl and I want to wear dresses and have nice perfume and do things that girls do. So I’m not interested in looking like a boy or playing like a boy. That sounds like a really obvious, blatant thing to say, and I shouldn’t have to say that to anybody.” —Courtney Love
“I want every fucking girl in the world to pick up a guitar & start screaming!”—Courtney Love
“I rely on a lot of sexual metaphors-food as sex, music as sex, fucked-up weird insane sexual vistas that haunt me and make me feel as though I were going insane.”—Courtney Love
“If you treat a girl like a dog, she’s going to piss on you.”—Courtney Love
“If you write anything nasty about me, I’ll come around and blow up your toilet.”—Courtney Love
“I may lie a lot, but never in my lyrics.”—Courtney Love
“How can I rock in a Versace gown? Well easy-let me show you.—Courtney Love
“Dont be bitter and mean cos you don’t fit in, it’s a GIFT. Look at you. you’ve got your individuality, you don’t have the herd instinct, you can read Neitzsche and understand it. Only dumb people are happy.”—Courtney Love
“Unless there are pictures, I don’t admit to anything.”—Courtney Love
“If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.”–Emily Dickinson
“If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry.”–Emily Dickinson
“Surgeons must be very careful. When they take the knife!, underneath their fine incisions, stirs the Culprit – Life!”–Emily Dickinson
“Anger as soon as fed is dead – ‘Tis starving makes it fat.”–Emily Dickinson
“Beauty is not caused. It is.”–Emily Dickinson
“After great pain, a formal feeling comes. The Nerves sit ceremonious, like tombs.”–Emily Dickinson
“A word is dead when it is said, some say. I say it just begins to live that day.”–Emily Dickinson
“A wounded deer leaps the highest.”–Emily Dickinson
“Because I could not stop for Death; He kindly stopped for me”–Emily Dickinson
“If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain.”–Emily Dickinson
“I imagine, therefore I belong and am free.”–Emily Dickinson
“Parting is all we know of heaven and all we need of hell.”–Emily Dickinson
“The history of progress is written in the blood of men and women who have dared to espouse an unpopular cause, as, for instance, the black man’s right to his body, or woman’s right to her soul.”–Emma Goldman
“The demand for equal rights in every vocation of life is just and fair; but, after all, the most vital right is the right to love and be loved.”–Emma Goldman
“Poor human nature, what horrible crimes have been committed in thy name!”–Emma Goldman
“The most unpardonable sin in society is independence of thought.”–Emma Goldman
“Every daring attempt to make a great change in existing conditions, every lofty vision of new possibilities for the human race, has been labeled Utopian.”–Emma Goldman
“Free love? as if love is anything but free. Man has bought brains, but all the millions in the world have failed to buy love.”–Emma Goldman
“The most violent element in society is ignorance.”–Emma Goldman
“If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.”—Emma Goldman
“I’m bi everything; sexual, coastal, political, controversial. I think if you find your comfortable sexual preference then that’s excellent. Everybody knows that I’m a huge fan of gay men and drag queens and would not be who I am today without their help, support and make-up tips. “–Jessicka Fodera
“I’m religiously celibate except in LA, NOLA, FLA, because there is certainly no God in any of those places. So unless you live in one of those places I’m really no good to you.”–Jessicka Fodera
“The first time I ever saw Lydia Lunch perform it was a religious experience. Not only is she intelligent and beautiful but she actually understands how “my” brain works. This almost rivals my first concert- Cindy Lauper when I was 12. She was so fascinating to me at the time. She made me want to dye my hair pink and start a band. (SO I naturally did)… All Cure records have had a great effect on me musically also. “–Jessicka Fodera
“There are plenty of female artists that I consider feminist, Le Tigre, Peaches, The Gossip, Sleater Kinney, PJ Harvey- the list is endless. I think there’s certain stigma attached to the word “feminist”. I feel a lot of people confuse feminist with MAN-HATER which is not the correct definition by any means. Webster’s defines it as such – 1 : the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes 2 : organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests So until people see the difference between a feminist and a man-hater I think there will always be a certain assumption when a female artist considers herself one and says it in print. & Yes, I do consider myself a feminist and I am saying it in print.”–Jessicka Fodera “Everyone has personal insecurities I know I sure do and everyday it’s an uphill battle to do my best to practice what I preach. I’ve definitely been guilty of having cocaine confidence and then the next day hate what I see in the mirror. Ask yourself what is the source of my self hatred? If you think the source of the so-called flaws you see are based in prejudice then recognize that and don’t give it credit it doesn’t deserve. “–Jessicka Fodera
“I like Le Tigre a lot and listen to many riot acts ( Bikini Kill, Oiler, Huggy Bear, Slant6, Tribe 8, Cold Cold Hearts,Bratmobile, 7 Year Bitch, Babes- Although I think Babes are as riot as JOJ was) though I don’t consider myself a riot grrl I believe in a lot of the same things they do. “–Jessicka Fodera
“I was 19 when I started playing guitar and bass. I’ve been playing music though, (violin, clarinet, piano) ever since I can remember.”—Kathi Wilcox
“We’re all strong personality types, which anyone who knows us will testify as truth, it’s hard for any of us to sublimate our natural contrary anti-ness reactions, but ultimately I think that’s our real power. We’re not afraid to be bitchy , which is an important skill to have sometimes, to fight so you get your way. We have respect for each other so that we can disagree and it’s not a big deal.”—Kathi Wilcox
“I think it freaks people out. People always come up to me after a show and go, ‘why didn’t you turn around once?’ Why should I face the audience because everyone else on stage does?”—Kathi Wilcox
“There’s this whole thing about ‘here I am.’ But no, I’m just here on the stage.”—Kathi Wilcox
“Girl culture.”—Kathi Wilcox
“The whole girl thing, Tobi told me about when we were first starting the band. When girls are growing up, they hang out together. But at some point, 12 or 13 it depends, something happens. Boys come in and it all gets fucked up because of the boy-girl thing. Then girls can’t hang out with girls. “—Kathi Wilcox
“I don’t know how many friendships have gotten fucked up for me just because of dumb boy things. It’s totally unnecessary.”—Kathi Wilcox
“Or you can’t be calling boys to task at the same time as you’re making out with them. Give me a break. Or something like, ‘But I thought you hated all men? Like if you don’t hate all men, then what are you talking about?’—Kathi Wilcox
“What (some) bands do is go, ‘It’s not important that I’m a girl, it’s just important that I want to rock.’ And that’s cool. But that’s more of an assimilationist thing. It’s like they just want to be allowed to join the world as it is; whereas I’m more into revolution and radicalism and changing the whole structure. What I’m into is making the world different for me to live in”—Kathleen Hanna
“I hate the attitude of, ‘oh we already have a Lydia Lunch, so we do we need a Bikini Kill.’ Well, there’s like 2 hundered million all-male bands writting ‘baby baby I love you, let me drag you around on my ankle.’ Is that enough already? Duh!”—Kathleen Hanna
“We need each other. Discouraging words, belittling other girls in front of boys, laughing looks…have no place here. Dialogue does. Let’s make girl love real, okay?”—Kathleen Hanna
“You try to make me crazy, you try to make me scared, you try to make me crazy. I think you’re a fucking drag”—Kathleen Hanna
“I won’t stop talking. I am a girl you have no control over. There is not a gag big enough to handle this mouth.”—Kathleen Hanna
“I don’t want to write songs about rape and male domination for the rest of my life. Yet people expect the same thing over and over. And if you stop doing it, you’re called a sell-out.”—Kathleen Hanna
“Drugs keep us thinking about scoring-not thinking about fucking this society up. Why not fuck up the government instead of fucking up yr body?”—Kathleen Hanna
“Why yes, I feel like I’m being gawked at live. Part of the thing that is really weird for me is that I used to be an exotic dancer and I find that sometimes there’s not really that much of a difference between playing in a punk bar and being a stripper except for I have my clothes on. A lot of men come with the same exact attitudes that guys do that come to a strip bar. They think, “Oh, it’s a girl band, we’ll go and watch their butts and their tits or something like that.” They don’t don’t think of us as performers they just think of us sorta like seals that jump through hoops that have tits. Like the guys tonight saying ‘take your clothes off.’”—Kathleen Hanna
“It’s not taking my perspective into account cause I did that shit for fucking seven years and it’s not funny to me. I have to deal with sexism every day so it’s like maybe boys can find that really funny and humorous, I don’t have the luxury to find that humorous. I live it every fucking day. That’s not funny to me, and if I say it’s not funny, it’s not funny. You know what I mean? It’s like there’s no argument there, whether it’s funny or not, if I say I don’t find it funny it means, ‘hey, be cool to me and respect me, your joke is not my joke.’—Kathleen Hanna
“Fuck yeah, do you feel like a freak show ever? Riding on the bus, fucking guys calling you fags and shit, I’m sure that happens doesn’t it?”—Kathleen Hanna
“So what? Boys should touch each other more, I mean, they don’t fucking have to beat each other up. It’s the only reason they beat people up is because they want to fuck each other.”—Kathleen Hanna
“There’s a lot of trust. If Tobi sang something that seemed a little weird, I would assume that there was a really good reason for it. I’d assume she knew what she was doing.—Kathleen Hanna
“I think that party in Oakland was totally fun. The thing that was cool this time was that there were so many dyke girls there. So many right in the front that were totally yelling. I felt like I could do anything that I wanted because they were totally right there. I felt really protected. I felt like I could fuck with people a lot more. I felt really comfortable.” —Kathleen Hanna
“It’s one of the only times when it’s supposedly okay to touch each other. Like to touch each other’s hair. It’s one of the only time I thought it was safe to not be heterosexual. We’ve all been dealing with issues of our heterosexuality.”—Kathleen Hanna
“They’re wearing their “I hate girls” t-shirts, riding their bikes. We spend all this time trying to convince them that we’re cool rather than hanging out with each other. That’s something that I’ve learned from being in Bikini Kill. I was really nervous about being onstage with the band that I was in before. We toured and I spent a lot of time explaining to boys that what I was going was valid instead of really getting in touch at shows with the girls who were there. Guys would come up to me and ask me if I was a man-hater. I would sit there and explain and explain. Really I was wasting my energy. I still get really nervous before we have to play. So we came up with four points that we use to respond to guys. If they’re cool, then maybe a dialogue will happen. But id they’re not cool, they get all four answers.”—Kathleen Hanna
“We’re pro-violent revolution. We’re also pro-revolution everyday.”—Kathleen Hanna
“It’d be like saying girls aren’t okay just for being girls, which is what people are always telling girls – that they’re dumb and their opinions don’t matter. We want to be empowering and encouraging, and how can you do anything if you feel like shit about yourself and like what you say doesn’t matter?”—Kathleen Hanna
“I think one things that’s really important in the boy community or whatever, or the boy things, is like, to realize that oppression is a two-way street. You know what I mean? That it’s like, white men are really missing out – I don’t wanna say white men are oppressed but…”—Kathleen Hanna
“What I’m saying is that I think that way that masculinity has been constructed in our society is fucking boys up. Because, even if you just look at it on a personal level, it’s like, I can’t hang out with boys who haven’t educated themselves or been educated in some meaningful way about sexism. And so it’s like, the guys who wanna be friends with me are just gonna miss out, you know? And I happen to think I am a pretty cool friend to have, you know what I mean? The way I look at it, it’s just a lot more complex than saying white man equals evil (although that is a perfectly fine thing to say sometimes). “—Kathleen Hanna
“You guys are seriously missing out unless you all start listening to girls.”—Kathleen Hanna
“To me, people have to be aware that to be gay or queer or whatever in this world right now means that you’re basically being given shit all the time. You know, constantly. And in a different way than if you’re black. You’re dealing with a certain non-stop discrimination that really dictates their behavior. Like, I know plenty of gay women who won’t kiss in public. You know what I mean? Well, I wanted to ask you about how Riot Grrrl deals with the male, white person. Like how you want to see males get involved in terms of forwarding what you want to do, and actually bettering the situation overall.”—Kathleen Hanna
“Oh yeah, we should get back to the original question, of like what can the boys do to help or something? Well, personally I think it’s crucial that boys talk to each other about their own sexisms, their own experiences as oppressors, and get used to recognizing how their behavior/action may be affecting women. And there’s all sorts of ways they can get information about what all different kinds of women/ladies and girls think. Like aside from just vampiring the females that they might know. Like there are lots of books and records and fanzines that they can seek out. Plus guys have to realize that their very presence may be censoring and demanding to women, so there are gonna be times when they just shouldn’t be around, you know? And bitching about this just adds to the whole problem anyways, cos it’s not about exclusion. It’s about safety.”—Kathleen Hanna
“I wasn’t nervous when I started playing. I’d already been stripping! If I could take my clothes off, I could definitely play this guitar in front of people.”—Kat Bjelland
“All I watch is ‘The Simpsons’, & that Nothern Exposure Show, I’d like to be that Indian lady on that.”—Kat Bjelland
“I always wanted to rebel.”—Kim Gordon
“Women are natural anarchists.”—Kim Gordon
“Are you gonna liberate us girls from male white corporate oppression?”—Kim Gordon
“A man who correctly guesses a woman’s age may be smart, but he’s not very bright”–Lucille Ball
“The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.”–Lucille Ball
“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”–Lucille Ball
“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”–Maya Angelou
“If we lose love and self respect for each other, this is how we finally die.”–Maya Angelou
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.”–Maya Angelou
“Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.”–Maya Angelou
“I believe we are still so innocent. The species are still so innocent that a person who is apt to be murdered believes that the murderer, just before he puts the final wrench on his throat, will have enough compassion to give him one sweet cup of water.”–Maya Angelou
“I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.”–Maya Angelou
“You don’t make movies to win awards. You make movies because you want people to see them.”–Robin Tunney
“I don’t know if directors go, ‘Hey! We’ve got another suicide–let’s call Robin Tunney! It’s weird, but they’re all different, and I guess it gives the characters some kind of power… At least I play women who are strong enough to take the power into their own hands! And kill themselves! So many women in films just shoot themselves in the head anyway, because they’re not really there for any reason.”–Robin Tunney
“I went to Catholic high school, so my being in this [the craft] is not going to make my grandmother very happy. It’s funny, because I was the only one who is Catholic in it. You have this thing in mass where you have to genuflect before you go into the pew, so I said you have to do this [for a scene] and they said why, and I said because you have to; I don’t know why, it’s a rule. Or like instinct. It’s funny they set in a Catholic school. I went to St. Ignatius College Prep – “Where Modesty is our Policy.”–Robin Tunney
“It’s my job to spread deviance to the American youth.”–Rose McGowan
“I always thought I was more satanic than Manson.” ( Discussing the sinister reputation of her ex-fiancé Marilyn Manson.)”–Rose McGowan
“I think if I had lived back in Salem, I would have been burned at the stake.”–Rose McGowan
“I am going to be pretty kick a$$ by the time I’m thirty, and I can’t wait!!”–Rose McGowan
“Your body hurts me.”–Sylvia Plath
“Jealousy can open the blood, it can make black roses.”–Sylvia Plath
“This is the room I have never been in, this is the room I could never breathe in.”–Sylvia Plath
“Their hands and faces stiff with holiness.”–Sylvia Plath
“Now I am silent, hate up to my neck.”–Sylvia Plath
“And my heart too small too bandage their terrible faults.”–Sylvia Plath
“The vivid tulips eat my oxygen.”–Sylvia Plath
“The tulips are too red…they hurt me.”–Sylvia Plath
“A living doll, everywhere you look.”–Sylvia Plath
“Like a cat I have nine times to die.”–Sylvia Plath
“I turn and burn. Do not think I underestimate your great concern.”–Sylvia Plath
“I eat men like air.”–Sylvia Plath
“I think my poems immediately come out of the sensuous and emotional experiences I have… I believe that one should be able to control and manipulate experiences, even the most terrific, like madness, being tortured, [that] one should be able to manipulate these experiences with an informed and an intelligent mind.”–Sylvia Plath
“Poetry, I feel, is a tyrannical discipline, you’ve got to go so far, so fast, in such a small space that you’ve just got to turn away all the peripherals.”–Sylvia Plath
“I much prefer doctors, midwives, lawyers, anything but writers. I think writers and artists are the most narcissistic people.”–Sylvia Plath
“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”–Sylvia Plath
“dying is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well. I do it so it feels like hell. I do it so it feels real. I guess you could say I’ve a call.”–Sylvia Plath
“How frail the human heart must be –a mirrored pool of thought…”–Sylvia Plath
“I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; I lift my eyes and all is born again.”–Sylvia Plath
“I talk to God but the sky is empty.”–Sylvia Plath
“I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart. I am. I am. I am.”–Sylvia Plath
“If neurotic is wanting two mutually exclusive things at one and the same time, then I’m neurotic as hell. I’ll be flying back and forth between one mutually exclusive thing and another for the rest of my days.”–Sylvia Plath
“The blood jet is poetry and there is no stopping it.”–Sylvia Plath
“There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won’t cure, but I don’t know many of them.”–Sylvia Plath
“Widow. The word consumes itself.”–Sylvia Plath
“People say I should shut my mouth. But fuck that, I am woman – hear me motherfuckin’ ROAR!” – Tairrie B
“In my other bands, it was all really macho, and I kind of had to be macho too – I had to be angry, tough and hard. But now, I can be vunerable if I want. I don’t have to scream all the time. Now I can like men!” – Tairrie B
“I don’t wanna be a role model. I’d like to be an inspiration.” – Tairrie B
“Don’t be like me – fuck, be like yourself!” – Tairrie B
“Stand in your own truth and you will command respect.” – Tairrie B
“If Robb Flynn speaks out, he’s a strong man. But when a woman does it, she’s a nightmare, big mouthed bitch. Its the same shit we’ve been fighting against the whole time and I’m sick of it. I’m not some psychopath. Its ridiculous.” – Tairrie B
“I don’t think there’s anywhere to draw the line sexually.” – Tairrie B
“I’m not a Jesus freak, I’m not a satan worshipper. I’m a contradiction, a juxtaposition.” – Tairrie B
“For girls to pick up guitars and scream their heads off in a totally oppressive, fucked up, male dominated culture is to seize power. We recognize this as a political act.”—Tobi Vail
“I understand why some women/girls/ladies don’t want to be women-identified ‘cuz it totally complicates your band identity and no one seems to pay much attention to the music or what you’re doing. We have chosen to be girl-identified (although Billy isn’t a girl!), because we want to encourage other women/girls to play music. When I was growing up, I found it discouraging to have all these women in bands not wanting to address the issue of gender…we’re interested in what women are doing.”—Tobi Vail
“Me and Billy don’t really talk a lot during our shows. Kathleen is putting herself out on the line a lot more than we are. We give her a lot of freedom even though we might not agree with everything she says, in fact we hardly ever do… Well no, it’s true, we give her a lot of freedom because she is putting herself in a position where she could get beat up at any moment. She can have full control of the stage while she’s on it. It’s just a matter of trust. We’re a lot more shy. That’s probably why she’s singer.”—Tobi Vail
“That’s what we mean by girl culture. There’s a whole girl culture that exists when you’re little. There girls have their own scene. And it always gets totally fucked up when girls start dating boys. Like two of them like the same guy. Or they just start dating guys and that becomes their life. Then they get married and that’s traditionally how women get into these situations where they are totally separated from each other in these domestic spheres. What we want to say is, ‘no, that’s not happening to us. This is girl culture and these are our rituals’.”—Tobi Vail
“A lot of cool girls won’t say a word to each other just because they’ve dated the same boy. We’re just saying that’s fuckin’ bullshit. In fact, by saying that, it’s totally affected people that we’ve met. “—Tobi Vail
“If girls are ever going to start to be in bands as the norm rather than as the exception. They need to see people up there that have just started playing. That’s something that had gotten lost. I think that’s why there are so many great girl punk rock bands now. It’s like you have to make up your own rules because the old rules don’t apply. You just have to start with what you have.”—Tobi Vail
“There aren’t enough girl drummers.”—Tobi Vail
“We’re for violent revolution.”—Tobi Vail
“In our minds, love and lust are really separated. It’s hard to find someone that can be kind and you can trust enough to leave your kids with, and isn’t afraid to throw her man up against the wall and lick him from head to toe.”–Tori Amos
“Some of the most wonderful people are the ones who don’t fit into boxes.”–Tori Amos
“Women must understand that simply attacking or hating men is just another form of disempowerment. A woman has to realize that when she makes a man crawl it doesn’t give her power.”–Tori Amos
“You have to really respect your path, or you will lose your mind.”–Tori Amos
“I hope that these songs will enter people’s lives and make them realize that they are not alone.”–Tori Amos
“You can’t change what happened. And nobody’s asking you to forgive. But you can’t associate all men with violence.”–Tori Amos
“You don’t have to justify everything. Being pissed off is just absolutely okay.”–Tori Amos
“Death is somewhere inside me. She was the kind of girl all the girls wanted to be, I believe, because of her acceptance of ‘what is.’ She keeps reminding me there is change in the ‘what is’ but change cannot be made till you accept the ‘what is.”–Tori Amos
“I’m a grown woman. I’ve earned my experiences, my scars.”–Tori Amos
“You have to crawl into the wounds to discover what your fears are. Once the bleeding starts, the cleansing can begin.”–Tori Amos
“if you allow yourself to feel the way you really feel, maybe you won’t be afraid of that feeling anymore.”–Tori Amos
“I think that the nightmares are telling me things about myself that I need to know. And I try to understand what they mean, so I can get to know something more about my soul.”–Tori Amos
“Sometimes those demons are frightening and sometimes they’re beautiful.”–Tori Amos
“You have to really respect your path, or you will lose your mind.”–Tori Amos
“The idea is to rescue myself from the role of a victim. That I have a choice left. Though I can’t change what has happened, I can choose how to react. And I don’t want to spend the rest of my life being bitter and locked up.”–Tori Amos
“I realized that what was most important to me was following my own path, and not the one laid down for me by others.”–Tori Amos
“People think I’m nuts because I can sit in a room and be happy by myself.”–Tori Amos
“I don’t see myself as weird, I just see myself as honest.”–Tori Amos
“I really respect anybody who stands by their truth.”–Tori Amos
“The last thing I want to be known as is ‘The Girl Who Got Raped’. The big turn around you make in your head is from victim to survivor.”–Tori Amos
“You get hot onstage and you take off yr shirt. Men have been doing that forever. I’m playing, I’m hot, I’m taking off my shirt!”—Lynn Payne, Tribe 8
“I cut off a rubber dick in context of talking about gang rape. It’s a cathartic ritual; it makes us feel like we are getting some kind of revenge. No, we’re not cutting off any real dicks.”—Lynn Breedlove, Tribe 8
The Runaways’ audience was 90 percent male. That was kind of depressing…Why don’t women-our own gender-come out and support us?—Joan Jett
“Girls got balls. They’re just a little higher up”.–Joan Jett
What characterized the whole punk scene for me in 1977 was there was no racism or sexism. It was an anarchy of -isms, and a matter of abolishing it all.—Chrissie Hynde
“Don’t think that sticking your boobs out and trying to look fuckable will help. Remember your in a rock and roll band. It’s not “Fuck Me”, It’s “Fuck You!”—Chrissie Hynde
“Look, as long as we can make records and sell enough so we can do some shows, that’s all I want. You know what? I just want to play guitar and be in a band. Same as I always did.”–Chrissy Hynde
I’m very much an advocate of women becoming familiar and comfortable with guns. They have every right to carry a gun and blow the motherfucking head off any guy who climbs in your window or fucks with you in any way.—Valerie Agnew, 7 year bitch
Shimmer like a girl should.—Nina Gordon, Veruca Salt
“I hate them. I think they’re evil. Just imagine if anyone ever tried to exhume your body in 20 years all that they would find is a pile of dust and two bags of plastic saline/silicone…gross. (feelings on breast implants)”–Fairuza Balk
“Anthropology demands the open-mindedness with which one must look and listen, record in astonishment and wonder that which one would not have been able to guess.”–Margaret Mead
“They get you they stick your ass in pink the minute you’re born. I was redecorating my kitchen and it said,”The color pink inspires passivity” I damn near went through the roof on that one. They stick your ass in pink and give you a Barbie doll with fucking mutilated feet, that’s the first thing they stick in your head. They fuck with your head your whole fucking growing up years.”–Rosanne
“O, siren, with the mocking tongue! O beauty, lily-sweet and white! I see her, slim and fair and young. And ah! I cannot sleep tonight.”–Marie Madeleine
“I love my love with an a, Because she is a queen I love my love and a a is the best of them Think well and be a king, Think more and think again”–Gertrude Stein
“Feminism is the radical notion that women are people.”–Cheris Kramare, Paula Treichler
“Listen, I’m out of this system, man, I’m out… I’m doing better than ever. I couldn’t be more happy.”–Aimee Mann
“Being a female, the crowds tend to expect a little less. I come out in really tight clothing and lots of cleavage showing. So if anyone was going to get a beer or smoke a cigarette, they’re going to sit down. Two songs later they’re going to forget that I have tits and think, ‘Hey, great music.’ There’s a science to the whole thing.”–Lennon Murphy
“I was born into the body of an artist, a body of adversity. My body fights against itself and I fight against the world.”–Karyn Crisis
“The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says: ‘It’s a girl.’”–Shirley Chisholm
“The leadership instinct you are born with is the backbone. You develop the funny bone and the wishbone that go with it.”–Elaine Agather
“I’m more inspired by certain artists that I vibe with their space. I understand where they’re coming from, or they have a sort of honesty that I can relate to. That inspires me to be honest. Most of the stuff I write comes from my journal, and poetry, and personal thought experience. As far as writers, I’m very influenced by a lot of poets, and Malcom McLaren, ’cause they are extremely honest, and I love the way words can create such a visual image. The honest of some women have inspired me, such as Stevie Nicks and Annie Lennox, and more recently women like Tori Amos and Erika Badu are extremely honest where they’re coming from – at least to me. Very visual lyrically.”–Free Dominguez
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”–Eleanor Roosevelt
“Best be yourself, imperial, plain and true!”–Elizabeth Barret Browning
“Women with body image or eating disorders are not a special category, just more extreme in their response to a culture that emphasizes thinness and impossible standards of appearance for women instead of individuality and health.”–Gloria Steinem
“One cannot consent to creep when one has an impulse to soar.”–Helen Keller
“Our Situation was different to the one the American Riot Grrrls were responding to. The Underground in London had deteriorated totally, there wasn’t really much of an alternative… ‘indie’ just became an abstract term for a style of music, not ideas or values, ’cause they were all signing to major labels. The notion of selling out wasn’t important. Punk rock wasn’t important. Fanzines were seen as a sad joke so we had to explain stuff that might have been obvious to American kids but was alien to young British kids. The reasons for being independent were snorted at.”–Jo Of Huggy Bear
“The best conversation I had after a show was about astronomy, which has inspired me to learn about the stars… Y’see we are capable of talking without it being overtly sexual or political.”–Karen Of Huggy Bear
“We did women-only shows to challenge the acceptance of violence against women on all levels. The women as the centre of things. Seperatist shows do not revolve around stopping boys from coming to shows- they are a way of bringing women/girls together and actually feeling different for our pleasure.”–Niki Of Huggy Bear
“Here in Portland, OR we have witnessed a historic gay civil rights movement in the form of gay marriage. Basic Rights of Oregon, a gay civil rights group, pressured the city council to issue same sex marriage liscences, and they legally found they were bound to do so. So far over 1,000 gay couples have been married here, despite the fact that anti-gay protesters harassed them as they waited in line for their liscences. It was a beautiful thing so see so many gay faces simply lining up for one of their basic civil rights – I think it put a very positive image for the world to see.”–Corin Tucker
“How things aren’t what they seem. During the early riot grrrl ’90′s, a lot of people i hung out with, we talked about privilege and oppression alot, which is important.”–Allison Wolfe
“To be a revolutionary you have to be a human being. You have to care about people who have no power.”–Jane Fonda
“Violence commands both literature and life, and violence is always crude and distorted.”–Ellen Glasgow
“The intellectual is constantly betrayed by his vanity. Godlike he blandly assumes that he can express everything in words; whereas the things one loves, lives, and dies for are not, in the last analysis completely expressible in words.”–Anne Morrow Lindbergh
“The first duty of a revolutionary is to get away with it.”–Abbie Hoffman
“The world that lies behind the strangeness of your eyes”–Charlotte Mew
“A purple blot against the dead white door In my friend’s rooms, bathed in their vile pink light, I had not noticed her before She snatched my eyes and threw them back to me: She did not speak till we came out into the night, Paused at this bench beside the klosk on the quay. “–Charlotte Mew
“We do not fall in love with the package of the person, we fall in love with the inside of a person.”–Anne Heche
“Are we changing the idea of what beauty is? Let’s hope so. I’m not the typical Hollywood beauty. Let’s hope we’re looking at the insides of people a little more.”–Anne Heche
“If I ever start talking to you about my ‘craft’, my ‘instrument’, you have permission to shoot me.”–Drew Barrymore
“Life is very interesting… in the end, some of your greatest pains, become your greatest strengths.”–Drew Barrymore
“I was not trying to be shocking, or to be a pioneer. I wasn’t trying to change society, or to be ahead of my time. I didn’t think of myself as liberated, and I don’t believe that I did anything important. I was just myself. I didn’t know any other way to be, or any other way to live.”–Bettie Page
“I never was the girl next door”–Bettie Page
“There is a dark side. I tend not to be as optimistic as Mary Richards. I have an anger in me that I carry from my childhood experiences — I expect a lot of myself and I’m not too kind to myself.”–Mary Tyler Moore
“Diabetes is an all-too-personal time bomb which can go off today, tomorrow, next year, or 10 years from now – a time bomb affecting millions like me and the children here today.”–Mary Tyler Moore
“[to a heckler] Stop at a drug store, buy a condom, and put it over your head. If you act like a dick, you might as well dress like one.”–Rosie O’Donnell from her stand-up routines
“I find this proposed amendment very, very, very, very shocking. And immoral. And, you know, if civil disobedience is the way to go about change, then I think a lot of people will be going to San Francisco.”–Rosie O’Donnell
“I don’t want to change. I don’t ever want to be a stuck-up asshole. I mean, some people probably think I am now, but I don’t care what they think, because I know I’m not. I’m a down to earth person. I always have time for my fans. I don’t care who they are, what they look like, if they’re rich or poor, pretty or ugly. I always have time for them. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for them, and I’ll never forget that.”–Lita Ford
“To this day my favorite albums are heavy metal albums.”–Lita Ford
“Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard…OH BONDAGE UP YRS!”—Poly Styrene
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”–Frank Herbert
“The future of rock belongs to women.”–Kurt Cobain
“The basis of optimism is sheer terror.”–Oscar Wilde
“Shyness has a strange element of narcissism, a belief that how we look, how we perform, is truly important to other people.”–André Dubus
“We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love on another.”–Jonathan Swift
“The beauty of religious mania is that it has the power to explain everything. Once God (or Satan) is accepted as the first cause of everything which happens in the mortal world, nothing is left to chance… logic can be happily tossed out the window.”–Stephen King
“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.”–Dalai Lama
“I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers.”–Mohandas Gandhi
“Man has no greater enemy than himself.”–Francesco Petrarch
“Sameness is the mother of disgust, variety the cure.”–Francesco Petrarch
“Suspicion is the cancer of friendship.”–Francesco Petrarch
“Five enemies of peace inhabit with us – avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride; if these were to be banished, we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace.”–Francesco Petrarch
This post refers to my previous post located here.
If you read that post, you know that you can create your own profile on the website. Did you know that you can create other profiles too, if you want? Feel free to create your own band, zine, riot grrrl chapter, feminist chapter, feminist organization, activist, ladyfest, etc. profiles on there as well. For your information, The profiles are the same as personal profiles. There’s no difference between them. You can also create groups on the website as well.
For more information, go to the social network website below.
The following story was taken from: Feminist Daily News Wire. I know this news story is 2 days old. At the end of this story it says, “Feminists in Iran are frequently arrested for their activism.” It’s sad that women’s rights in Iran don’t exist. I think all countries should have rights, especially the women. I believe in global awareness and I am really into Global/International Feminism. This is why I shared this news piece.
April 14, 2008
Iranian Women’s Rights Activist Arrested
Khadijeh Maghaddam, an activist working to end discrimination against women in Iranian law, was arrested on April 8. Three police officers forcibly entered her house and mistreated her before arresting her on charges that she spreads propaganda, disrupts public opinion, and threatens national security, according to Changes for Equality.
Maghaddam is a member of the campaign “One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws.” The campaign is a response to the peaceful protest in 2006 in Tehran to end the discrimination against women in Iranian law. Maghaddam had held meetings in her home, which the police cited as one of the reasons she was arrested.
She explained her situation to Changes for Equality, saying, “An order for bail amount of 100 Million Tomans was issued for my release (roughly $110,000). I explained that I am unable to provide such a heavy bail amount for my release, and the investigative judge told me that I will be transferred to prison for a week, after which I will provide the names of Campaign members and also the bail amount. When asked to provide my last defense, I explained that my way of life is my defense and also told the investigative judge that it is in fact the security authorities with their actions who are endangering national security.”
Feminists in Iran are frequently arrested for their activism.
I’m sure most of you have heard about the riot grrrl documentary called “Don’t Need You”. Below is the trailer of the movie.
For more about this documentary go here for more information. I got the following information from that website as well.
“don’t need you” is a documentary film that tells the story of the origins of Riot Grrrl in the American independent music scene of the 1990s, and how this feminist movement evolved into a revolutionary underground network of education and self-awareness through music, writing, activism, and women-friendly community. The film gives audiences a chance to meet key figures in the development of Riot Grrrl and see for themselves how these women have changed the history of music and feminism forever. The film features one-on-one interviews interspersed with rare, archival materials, including original Riot Grrrl fanzines, flyers, and photographs, as well as seldom seen footage from pioneering Riot Grrrl bands like Bikini Kill, Heavens to Betsy, and Bratmobile.
Kathleen Hanna, Allison Wolfe, Corin Tucker, Sharon Cheslow, Madigan Shive, Julie Lary, Ramdasha Bikceem, Natalie Cox, Mark Andersen, and Ian MacKaye are featured in this film.
Planned Parenthood has been a major proponent of Women’s Health rights for over ninety years! They were making sure your Grandma had an opportunity to take care of herself when no one else would. Contrary to popular misconception, PPFA offers way more than access to abortion.
Most major cities have clinics where women have access to checkups, birth control, emergency contraception and other resources. Planned Parenthood is funded by its members and their staff is supplemented by dedicated volunteers.
Check the PPFA in your area to find out about job and volunteer opportunities. Volunteering is not only a great way to get involved in the preservation of women’s health, it shows you appreciate everything the people at Planned Parenthood have done to further the women’s movement. (It looks great on a resume or college application too grrrls)
