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'Where's the anger, the feeling, the fire?' |
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Written by Denise Sheppard
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Monday, 23 June 2008 |
 Depending on who you are and where you come from, the term "lesbian music" likely conjures up one of two images.
The first, a peaceful roomful of queer women with acoustic guitars singing about love, collective empowerment and community.For others, the idea of lesbian music might bring to mind the image of womyn/wimmin/women with mullet haircuts and plaid jackets singing outdated folk songs on their acoustic guitars, holding each other tight while crying and singing about wombs and waterfalls.
One thing is for certain: lesbian music has — since its initial heyday in the '70s — gained its place in history as groundbreaking, magical and inspirational to many.
Today, queer women generally don't have much more than a historically fuzzy perspective on that period, much less a sense of the depth and breadth of its significance. Yet many of the reasons that contemporary musicians are free to be out and proud are because of those lesbian foot soldiers of yesteryear. Young queer musicians and music industry folks often deem landmark artists, ranging from Cris Williamson and Ferron (who broke ground in the '70s) to the Indigo Girls and Melissa Etheridge in the acoustic revival of the '90s, as "too out" or "too gay" — in spite of their accomplishments.
For many 20-something recording artists, the fight for freedom appears to be over, and as a result, the need to queer-identify in one's lyrics or to the press seems to them to be a step back — a blinkered approach to their craft that doesn't begin to describe who they are at their core. |
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Written by Darby Blue
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Sunday, 18 May 2008 |
 Do as I say, not as I do. Whoever first said it, I’m sure she was somebody’s mother. Sometimes it seems like one of the primary tenets of parenting survival. Other times, it stinks of double standards, hypocrisy, and the head-in-the-quicksand approach to parenting - the "if I just assume my children’s lives aren’t as complex as mine, this will all be easier" route. Sometimes it is a reasonable solution. Stretching an allowance to cover new Pokemon cards and a candy bar is not the same as budgeting a mortgage, utilities, and putting groceries on the table. But what am I really saying when I deny my daughter the extra dollar she needs, give the lecture on not spending money you don’t have, and then whip out the plastic at the checkout? Where’s that line? |
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Written by Maggie Weller
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Monday, 03 March 2008 |
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 Five days, over one hundred teenage girls, one goal: be yourself. Not the self your parents hope you’ll be. Not the self your siblings and friends bully you into being. Not the self who mimics those girls you publicly hate but secretly admire because everyone looks at them. Be the real you - the you that ROCKS. This goal is the driving force behind the Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls and the basis of the new documentary, Girls Rock!
The Riot Grrl movement in the early 1990s tapped into the raw musical talent and intense energy so many women had been taught to hide and deny. But with every cultural movement comes backlash. For the Riot Grrl movement, it came in the form of vacuous pop music icons with glossy lips, bare midriffs and pigtails, dancing suggestively while singing along to pre-recorded voice tracks. Clearly, it’s time to re-empower young women. |
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