My New Blog, Where To Find Me, And How To Contact Me

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!

Here are some websites I can be found on:
Riot Grrrl Online Website (RGO) link #1 or RGO link #2 or RGO link #3
Riot Grrrl Online News/Updates Page
Riot Grrrl Online Forum
Riot Grrrl Online Social Network
Free @riotgrrrl.co.uk Email Address
Riot Grrrl Chat
Riot Grrrl Online Updates and Other Riot Grrrl/Feminism Stuff
Riot Grrrl Online LiveJournal Community
Riot Grrrl Online Last.fm Group
Riot Grrrl Online on Myspace
Riot Grrrl Online Group on Myspace
Riot Grrrl Online Mailing List
Riot Grrrl Online on MyBlogLog

Here are some social networks I can be found on:
Care2
Delicious
DeviantArt
Digg
Last.fm
LiveJournal
Myspace
TakingItGlobal
Technorati
Twitter
Wikipedia
Windows Live Spaces

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!

Proposed Legislation In Iran Would End Death By Stoning

Iran’s state media announced Wednesday that Iran has suspended the use of stoning as a way to carry out the death penalty. According to AFP, Iran’s judiciary drafted legislation that would end stoning as a death penalty, the current Islamic punishment in Iran for adulterers.

Amnesty International reports in their call to end stoning in Iran, “The majority of those sentenced to death by stoning are women. Women are not treated equally with men under the law and by courts, and they are also particularly vulnerable to unfair trials because their higher illiteracy rate makes them more likely to sign confessions to crimes they did not commit.”

Amnesty International, the Volunteer Lawyer’s Network, the European Union, the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign, and many other human rights groups have been pressuring Iran to end this practice of execution for years. In 2002, Ayatollah Shahroudi, the head of Iran’s judiciary banned the practice of stoning but did not remove the laws from the books. Execution by stoning continued, including the stoning of Jafar Kiani in 2007, which sparked international outrage.

BBC News reports that eight women and one man are currently awaiting death by stoning in Iran.

Media Resources: AFP 08/06/08; BBC News 08/05/08; Amnesty International 01/15/08; Stop Stoning Forever Campaign; Feminist Newswire

South African Woman Named Human Rights Commissioner For UN

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon named South African judge Navanethem Pillay the UN high commissioner for human rights Thursday. She will serve a five-year term, replacing Louise Arbour, after her nomination is confirmed by the General Assembly Monday, reports the Washington Post.

The U.S. has accepted her nomination, despite initial objections to her vocal support for abortion access, according to BBC News. She co-founded the international women’s rights organization, Equality Now, and continues to support a woman’s access to abortion, contraceptives and reproductive freedom, according to the Associated Press.

Pillay is currently a judge at the International Criminal Court and has worked tirelessly in the past defending anti-apartheid activists in her native South Africa. She was the first woman to start a law practice in Natal Province in South Africa and also served as the first non-white woman to serve in the country’s High Court, according to BBC News.

“She has to be the voice for human rights, focus on the violations of human rights, speak clearly and focus world attention on the egregious violations of human rights that unfortunately still take place in many places around the world,” said Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador, reports the Associated Press. “We look forward to working with her.”

Media Resources: Washington Post 7/25/2008; Associated Press 7/25/2008; BBC News 7/25/2008

Two Afghan “Prostitutes” Allegedly Murdered by Taliban

The following news story was taken from here

Two Afghan “Prostitutes” Allegedly Murdered by Taliban

Two Afghan women were killed last weekend outside Ghazni City for allegedly running a prostitution ring for US military personnel and foreign contractors. The women were allegedly killed by the Taliban. A spokesperson for the Ghazni governor described the women as “innocent local people” who were killed in an “undescribable and cruel way.” Nathan Perry, a US Military spokesperson, said that he was unaware of allegations of a prostitution ring or “anything close to that nature” BBC News reports.

The Taliban purportedly released photos on the Internet of the women’s decapitated bodies. According to Times Now, the Associated Press had a camera crew and began filming the shooting as soon as they heard gunshots. There has been speculation that the execution was meant to be a warning to women of the community.

Media Resources: BBC News, 7/13/08; Adnkronos International 7/15/08; Times Now 7/14/08

Changing Hearts And Minds On Gay Marriage

Changing Hearts and Minds on Gay Marriage

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.”

Peru: At-Risk Women Denied Legal Abortions

Peru: At-Risk Women Denied Legal Abortions

(Lima, July 9, 2008) – The Peruvian government’s deliberate refusal to streamline procedures and approve guidelines for legal abortion is endangering the lives and health of women and girls who are often forced to use unsafe solutions for risky pregnancies, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.

Women and girls confronting pregnancies that could kill or permanently harm them are refused legal abortions, or don’t even know they have a right to get one.

Angela Heimburger, Women’s Rights researcher at Human Rights Watch

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“My Rights, and My Right to Know: Lack of Access to Therapeutic Abortion in Peru”
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The 52-page report, “My Rights, and My Right to Know: Lack of Access to Therapeutic Abortion in Peru,” documents the difficulties women face in accessing therapeutic abortion – those needed to save the life of the woman or avoid serious health risks – in Peru’s public health system. While no reliable statistics are available on how many women have been turned away from a legal abortion, in interviews with women, healthcare providers, rights activists and government officials, Human Rights Watch found that women in general lack accurate information about their right to a legal abortion, and public health care professionals are often unclear about the intent of laws guaranteeing women access to legal abortions.

“Women and girls confronting pregnancies that could kill or permanently harm them are refused legal abortions, or don’t even know they have a right to get one,” said Angela Heimburger, a women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. “The government not only has an obligation to raise awareness about the right to safe, dignified and affordable legal abortions, but it should make getting the procedure as painless as possible.”

Abortion is legal in Peru when a pregnancy endangers a woman’s life and when it is necessary to protect a woman’s health. But because a legal abortion is rarely available in a public hospital, many women seek unsafe and clandestine procedures to deal with a risky pregnancy. Human Rights Watch found several obstacles to making legal abortion accessible. Ambiguities about abortion in Peru’s legal system raise fears of prosecution among health care professionals and women. The absence of a national protocol provides no standardized outline for when a therapeutic abortion can be performed. The public health care system is ill-equipped to deal with referral procedures, and circumstances under which a therapeutic abortion can be approved are unclear. Peru has legal abortions, but in practice it is nearly impossible for a woman to have one.

Read more of this story here.

Pakistan: Abolish the Death Penalty

Pakistan: Abolish the Death Penalty
Immediate Moratorium Should Precede Abolition

(New York, June 17, 2008) – The newly elected government in Pakistan should abolish the death penalty, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gillani.

Until the death penalty is abolished by an act of Parliament, Pakistan should announce an immediate moratorium while the government establishes a commission to review the application of the death penalty, the offenses for which it can be applied, and implements reforms to ensure that international fair trial standards are met.

Human Rights Watch stated in its letter that crimes carrying the death penalty have significantly increased in recent years under the government of Pervez Musharraf, resulting in a much higher number of death sentences and executions. Out of the more than 31,400 convicts in the country, nearly a quarter – more than 7,000 individuals, including almost 40 women – have been sentenced to death, and are either involved in lengthy appeals processes or awaiting execution. In 2007, 309 prisoners were sentenced to death and 134 were hanged. Most of those sentenced to death are poor and illiterate. Some face discrimination as members of religious minority communities. Many were held without due process of law and faced trials that did not meet international fair trial standards.

“The number of persons sentenced to death and executed every year in Pakistan is among the highest in the world,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “If the new government is really interested in justice, it would end this unacceptable state of affairs.”

Human Rights Watch said that torture is endemic in Pakistan and can lead to wrongful convictions and the execution of innocent people. Lawyers and human rights activists believe that there are many cases where the person executed was innocent or where capital punishment was used to settle political scores.

Human Rights Watch also expressed concern at the use of the death penalty by special courts like the anti-terrorism, narcotics and military courts, all of which fail to deliver fair trials, not least because these courts are not independent of the executive.

So long as the death penalty remains in force, Human Rights Watch urged the Pakistani government to ensure reforms are put in place before any death sentence is handed down or carried out. These include ensuring that defendants in death penalty cases have prompt access to competent counsel; that torture and other ill-treatment is not used to obtain confessions or evidence; and that all trials meet international fair trial standards and other relevant provisions of Pakistani and international law.

“There are serious weaknesses in the legal system that lead to unjust executions,” said Adams. “The new government should place reform at the center of its agenda.”

On December 18, 2007, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution by a wide margin calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions. In September 2008, the General Assembly will reopen discussion on the death penalty.

“The new Pakistani government can distinguish itself from Pervez Musharraf’s military rule by telling the General Assembly in September that it has put a stop to the death penalty,” said Adams.

Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances because it is a punishment of an inherently cruel, inhuman and final nature.

This story can be found here.

Feminism Friday: Japan Should Become A Champion Of Human Rights

Japan Should Become a Champion of Human Rights

By Kanae Doi, Japan Consultant for Human Rights Watch

Each day brings news of a new human rights crisis. Even focusing only on our Asian neighbors, countless civilians are being killed in conflicts in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka; governments are crushing protest movements in Burma, Tibet and Uzbekistan; security forces and armed groups are abducting, torturing and killing people in Sri Lanka, North Korea, Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines, while the military government is compelling people to vote in Burma with no respect for the rule of law. Japan’s goal to make the 21st century “a century of human rights” seems wishful thinking.

And how is the Japanese government responding to these human rights crises all over Asia? The Japanese government’s position has often been vague and slow when it does raise its voice about human rights concerns in other countries. Japan has rarely demonstrated leadership in the international community to speak up for those being oppressed by their own governments. Only in the case of North Korea has Japan certainly taken the lead in pressuring the North Korean government on abductions of Japanese nationals. But this has more to do with protecting Japanese nationals than protecting universal human rights. Proof lies in the fact that we hardly ever hear about Japan speaking out about ordinary North Koreans who face every day abuses of human rights.

The Japanese media often nonchalantly reports on “Western governments” protesting human rights violations abroad. Broadcasters report on such acts as if protesting human rights violations were a duty reserved solely for the West, and not Asia. True, Japan is not alone in its relative reticence to speak about human rights violations in other countries; it is a common trait found in almost all Asian governments.

Being Japanese, we are quick to count ourselves among Western democratic nations as far as the economy is concerned. Yet why are we so indifferent and allow ourselves to lag behind in the area of human rights? It’s not as if Japanese people do not possess a basic sense of social justice.

Respecting human rights is not only about asserting social justice for all, but it is also in Japan’s national interest by promoting regional stability. For example, many foreign affairs experts say China and North Korea pose the biggest threat to Japan’s security, because these countries do not share basic values with Japan and their governments lack stability, which in turn makes it difficult to predict their future stance towards Japan.

But what if China and North Korea were rights-respecting nations where the rule of law protected the interests of all individuals without fear of oppression and societies in which people had the freedom of expression to openly discuss their problems and seek solutions even on politically “sensitive” issues? China and North Korea would then become genuinely stable societies, and neighbors in which Japan could place greater trust.

Japan has the potential to be a leading Asian nation that advocates the protection of global human rights. Certainly that leadership comes with a responsibility to clean its own slate, too. The human rights record of the Japanese government will come under scrutiny. But that is an honor. It is more dishonorable to maintain relationships with other countries when neither party ever brings up their shared stake in human rights, or their roles in preventing human rights violations.

This story can be found here.

Australia Considers Lifting Abortion Gag Rule

Australia Considers Lifting Abortion Gag Rule

The Australian government is considering lifting its restriction on foreign aid that prohibits groups receiving funds from Australia from providing abortion counseling, services or training. The Australian gag rule, which has been in place for 12 years, makes Australia the only other country besides the US to maintain such a policy, reports the Associated Press.

Julie Munday, Asia-Pacific regional CEO for the reproductive rights group Marie Stopes International, noted that Australian women have access to state-subsidized abortions, adding that the gag rule is “quite an arrogant stance to assume that what’s good for Australians isn’t necessarily good for women overseas,” according to the Daily Women’s Health Policy Report.

Ms. Magazine investigates the deadly consequences of the Global Gag Rule for women in developing countries in the cover article in the Winter 2008 issue.

Media Resources: Associated Press 6/3/08; Daily Women’s Health Policy Report 6/4/08; Ms Magazine; Feminist Daily Newswire

This story was taken from the Feminist Majority Foundation.

Feminism Friday: Interested In A Feminism Forum?

Since this is a feminism blog, I thought I’d post it. I posted this in my _feminism Livejournal Commmunity.

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!

CA Supreme Court Refuses To Stay Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

I got this story from here.

CA Supreme Court Refuses to Stay Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

6/5/2008 – The California Supreme Court denied a request on Wednesday to stay their decision allowing same-sex marriage until the November election, according to the Associated Press. California county clerks will begin issuing marriage licenses starting June 17, after the standard 30 day period following a decision.

Two conservative groups, the Liberty Counsel and the Campaign for California Families, requested that the Court prevent the decision from taking effect until after the November ballot initiative to restrict marriage to between a man and a woman, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. They argued that allowing same-sex couples to marry now, then revoking that right in the future and the ensuing legal battle on whether those marriages remain valid, would cause confusion.

The San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who previously defended the city’s marriage laws in another suit, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the request to stay the ruling until November was an unprecedented attempt to “politicize our judiciary” and “postpone constitutional rights based on speculation” or an electoral outcome.

The four justices who voted against staying the decision were the same who signed the majority opinion in the original case, stating that not allowing same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, according to Reuters.

Media Resources: Reuters 6/3/08; Associated Press 6/4/08; San Francisco Chronicle 6/4/08

Taking It Global

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.

Turkey: Homophobic Violence Points to Rights Crisis

This was taken from Human Rights Watch and you can read more on this story here.

Turkey: Homophobic Violence Points to Rights Crisis

EU Should Insist on Reforms to Counter Persisting Inequality and Abuses

(Istanbul, May 22, 2008) – Turkey should urgently change law and policy to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people from extensive harassment and brutality on the streets, in homes, and in state-run institutions, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Human Rights Watch also called on the European Union to make Turkey’s membership aspirations contingent on ending endemic abuses and guaranteeing equal rights and protection for LGBT people.

The 123-page report, “‘We Need a Law for Liberation’: Gender, Sexuality, and Human Rights in a Changing Turkey,” documents a long and continuing history of violence and abuse based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Human Rights Watch conducted more than 70 interviews over a three-year period, documenting how gay men and transgender people face beatings, robberies, police harassment, and the threat of murder. The interviews also exposed the physical and psychological violence lesbian and bisexual women and girls confront within their families. Human Rights Watch found that, in most cases, the response by the authorities is inadequate if not nonexistent.

“Democracy means defending all people’s basic rights against the dictatorship of custom and the tyranny of hate,” said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “Where lives are at stake, Turkey needs to take concrete action and pass comprehensive legislation to protect them.”

In recent years, Turkish authorities have repeatedly harassed human rights defenders and civil society groups working on issues of gender and sexuality. Most recently, on April 7, 2008, police raided the offices of Lambda Istanbul, a nongovernmental organization that has advocated for LGBT people’s rights for over 10 years. The police justified the incursion by claiming the organization “encourages” and “facilitates” prostitution. The Istanbul Governor’s Office has also filed a lawsuit trying to close down Lambda, arguing its name and objectives are “against the law and morality.” Lambda will once again have to defend its right to exist before the Beyoðlu 3rd Civil Court of First Instance on May 29, 2008.

California Supreme Court Overturns Gay Marriage Ban

California Supreme Court Overturns Gay Marriage Ban

The California Supreme Court ruled 4-3 today to overturn state laws prohibiting same-sex marriage. The court ruled that such laws violate the California constitution, which they said “guarantees same-sex couples the same substantive constitutional rights as opposite-sex couples to choose one’s life partner and enter with that person into a committed, officially recognized, and protected family relationship,” reports Reuters.

Couples celebrated the decision across the state. “What a day for San Francisco, what a day for California, what a day for America, what a day for equality,” San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom told cheering crowds at San Francisco City Hall, according to the New York Times.

California now joins Massachusetts as the only states to allow gay marriage. However, a coalition of anti-gay rights groups is attempting to place a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on the November California state ballot, according to the Associated Press. The California Secretary of State is expected to rule by the end of next month on whether or not the group’s petition gathered enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Media Resources: Reuters 5/15/08; New York Times 5/15/08; Associated Press 5/15/08

This news story was taken from Feminist Daily News Wire.

44 Writings I Need For This Blog

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.

*This is also posted on the “Ideas” page.

What Riot Grrrl Means To Me

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.

20 Reasons Why I Chose Riot Grrrl

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.

Feminism Friday: Inspiring Quotes

“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

US Circuit Court Hears Asylum Appeal in Female Genital Mutilation Case

This article was taken from Feminist Daily News Wire
May 1, 2008
US Circuit Court Hears Asylum Appeal in Female Genital Mutilation Case

A panel of judges for the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on Tuesday in the case of three women who were denied asylum by the Board of Immigration Appeals after undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) in Guinea. According to the Associated Press, the judges were disturbed by the Board’s decision to allow the women’s deportation back to Guinea since the mutilation had already occurred and therefore the women could not suffer further persecution.

One woman testified that she feared her daughters would face FGM if they are forced to return to Guinea, where, according to the women’s lawyer, as many as 95 percent of women are subjected to the practice, reports the Daily Women’s Health Policy Report.

The UN launched a campaign through UNFPA and UNICEF in February to combat the prevalence of FGM. UNICEF defines FGM as partial or total removal of external genitalia. The UN News Centre says that FGM leaves “physical and psychological scars” and increases health risks especially during childbirth. The UNFPA program works to eradicate FGM through educational programs in schools as well as training for health and social workers. The program also advocates reform on the government level.

Media Resources: Associated Press 4/29/08; Women’s Daily Health Policy Report 5/1/08; Feminist Daily Newswire 2/22/08

Riot Grrrl Online’s Social Network: Something You Didn’t Know

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 Riot Grrrl Online Community Social Network