GIRLS TO THE FRONT: THE TRUE STORY OF THE REVOLUTION PDF, EPUB, EBOOK

Sara Marcus | 384 pages | 01 Oct 2010 | HarperCollins Publishers Inc | 9780061806360 | English | New York, United States Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution by

Nassau Weekly. Retrieved . Retrieved 26 July The Oberlin Review. The A. Bitch Media. Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Marcus was there too, a teenage refugee from suburban Maryland drawn to a punk-rock communal house in Arlington, Va. I felt powerless not because I was weak but because I lived in a society that drained teenage girls of power For the first time in years, I knew that I was going to be OK. She was amazed by the power of the words and images and wondered what had happened to all these young feminist pioneers. Years later, the residue of that wonder led to this book. Dozens of these moments, scores of them, are lodged here. Inscribing their bodies with slogans in black Magic Marker, they were utterly compelling in their creative, media-savvy outrageousness. The media ate them alive. Spoilers, like the Minneapolis girl who talked to Newsweek, became pariahs. It was as if some Cointelpro conspiracy had planted double agents: A couple of over-the-top partisans could knock over the whole apple cart, as one grrrl did at an infamous New York show that spelled the end of . Marcus undoubtedly knew what she was getting into when she stepped into this quagmire. Sara Marcus - Wikipedia

Kathleen Hanna, a college student from Olympia, Wash. Hanna, along with , a writer Jigsaw and former punk rocker who was dating Nirvana's , were on a mission to spread female rebellion via their band, . Thus, writes Marcus in this compelling account, the Grrrl Revolution was sparked. Marcus enthusiastically tracks the "scattered cartographies of rebellion" and captures the combustible excitement of this significant if short-lived moment. Shop By Artist. Search Store. Just Added. Polyvinyl Classics. Double Double Whammy. Non- Polyvinyl Shop. New Releases. Anamanaguchi Vinyl Reissues. Anthology of Emo. Hum - Inlet. Laura Jane Grace - Stay Alive. Polyvinyl - Exquisite Corpse. Shy Boys - Talk Loud. All Music. All Clothing. All Merch. All Bundles. Browse the NPV Shop. There are still hundreds of young bands inspired by old Bikini Kill records. Hot Property. About Us. Brand Publishing. Times Events. Times News Platforms. Times Store. Anyway, if anyone wants to continue the conversation that was started in the early 90s, I'll be over here in the corner with my glue stick. View 1 comment. Sep 05, jess rated it liked it Shelves: , ladyish. Tobi Vail has discussed this book here and here. has discussed it here. discussed it here. I found all of their reviews and insights to be a great supplement to the actual book, since Sara Marcus worked on this book for five years, researched the hell out of it, but didn't cover everything or get it all right. You could say that no one could cover everything or get it all right, and ok, that's true. I have really been soul searching over the last two weeks, trying to Tobi Vail has discussed this book here and here. I have really been soul searching over the last two weeks, trying to find just the right words to describe the three thousand ways I feel about this book. Riot grrl is all about personal history, and mine greatly affected my reading of the book, so I wrote , booked shows, did some activism, traveled to see bands, went to feminist conferences with shitty food and sleeping bags for my formative east coast college years. I was witness to a sort of post-riot grrl backlash. I mean, it was kind of "what comes next. The author of Girls to the Front has a reverence and appreciation for that, frankly, seems cloying and naive from my perspective. KH is like She-ra in this book, seriously, and that's an unfair portrayal. Second of all, I live in Olympia, WA. I moved here for the greatest love of my life, and I have found it to be an entirely charming place to raise a family, be a gay mom, grow a garden, see some art happen. It's slow-paced and there are a lot of hippies, but there are plenty of radical people and happenings to keep things awesome. That was a really diplomatic way of addressing this issue. This is a difficult, largely undocumented time in feminist history considering how many zines they wrote , and it is evident that the author put a lot of work into this book. I don't envy her for this task. I enjoyed reading it, and seeing how events unfolded at various points in different locations. It was sometimes hard for me to keep track of the timeline - wait, this was happening in NYC while this was happening in DC while this was happening in Oly, etc? That infectious, rowdy, disobedient anger was the most powerful thing about riot grrl, and it would be great to see another generation find ways to articulate their rage. Grown-up riot grrls have done a considerable job of creating their own feminist canon. Some of them are still doing radical and inspiration work out in the world. Maybe I am delusional too, but maybe older grrls now: ladies still have a chance at revolution too, if we find room for resistance to be a possibility not only for the youngest. Also, reading this was a reminder of so many ways that the lived experiences of women are better and worse than they were in the s. Some things are better, but other things are worse. We have more women in government, I think, but one of them is Sarah Palin so Then everyone starts talking about whether riot grrl is dead, and I'm pretty sure as long as there is a girl somewhere out there who identifies as a riot grrl, it can't be dead. It's like a unicorn. Jan 31, Alexis rated it it was ok Shelves: I felt profoundly disappointed by this. I feel almost as if I had another expectation of what Riot Grrrl was, and this book sort of killed it. Sadly, I felt like there was a structural problem to this book. The author was either too in love with the subject, or she wasn't removed enough from the activities. There was a tonal problem to what was written here. I also felt that the book had way too much of a focus on Kathleen Hanna, but again, I think that's because I expected her to be chronicling s I felt profoundly disappointed by this. I also felt that the book had way too much of a focus on Kathleen Hanna, but again, I think that's because I expected her to be chronicling something different than what she actually did. I did appreciate how she gave a chronology of some of the history and did show the problems and conflict in the movement. There were things about this book that made me highly nostalgic. I was a hard core reader of Sassy magazine and I have fond memories of listening to music, going to shows, writing penpals, and reading zines that I got in the mail. Apr 14, Ciara rated it really liked it Shelves: read-in , feminist-y-books. Shelves: library-books , non-fiction , race , history , , women , class , we- used-to-be-friends , queer , music. Girls to the Front has a lot of issues. That's fine. Or it could be fine. I mean, in theory. But Girls to the Front also has a lot of problems, and ends up being totally disappointing and weirdly tone deaf. Oh God, is that even acceptable in a discussion about a music book? Probably not. Sorry, everyone. Whenever there's a, like, a feminism contest - you know what I mean, "t 1. Whenever there's a, like, a feminism contest - you know what I mean, "these people are good feminists, these people are bad feminists" - it gets fucked up pretty quickly. So I wasn't surprised about that. I read feminist blogs, I am familiar with girl on girl crime of the "you are holding your sisters back, you stupid slutty tool of the patriarchy" variety. And that stuff has been endemic in feminism since the beginning, right Victoria Woodhull, The Sealed Letter , the Sarah Grand or Mary Jeune, and on and on ; and that's only when we're talking about a bunch of straight cis white women with fairly similar class backgrounds. When you try to encompass the experiences of women of color and women from different class backgrounds and with different sexualities not that heterosexuality isn't itself on a spectrum, buuuut then the comparatively-privileged start to feel threatened and it turns into "look at how un-racist I am" or "why can't you be quiet and appreciate how hard I am working for you??!! Especially when "they" are right there. Anti-oppression turns into a game of one-up-personship pretty quickly, which is why it is difficult and discouraging and why you need to approach it thoughtfully and with open ears, among other things. But, perhaps because Marcus wants a broad audience, she doesn't give a really thorough investigation of ideas. You know, phenomenology is a vital part of feminist awakening and consciousness, but so is a good understanding of the reasons behind your experiences - and I don't mean, like "Timothy, my exboyfriend" or something. I mean the structural and abstract components. To be fair, at the end, Marcus talks about how RG lacked administrators. The final chapter - "The Cruel Revolution" - is particularly problematic and sort of enraging. Well, okay, and also I don't really listen to any of the Riot Grrrl music. I do like the two songs I've heard 1 , 2 but I haven't tried to hear others. So I lack the very personal connection Marcus stresses as so important to the movement. In fact, she opens with her own passionate, tentative involvement - and that's, sadly, the best part of the book. It's the most authentic and the most sincere and the most vivid section. Despite this passionate connection, the movement itself doesn't emerge as particularly vivid or, even, specific. The characters - which, in this kind of non-fiction, you need Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found - weren't established clearly enough for me, so there was very little sense of knowing who these women were, or why I should care about them, or keep track of them. There are a couple of women who were just easier to keep track of because you hear their names more often, but the teenage girls, who are obviously such an important part of how Marcus conceives of the RG movement don't come through very strongly, in most cases. There are a lot of tortured metaphors. And these passages. I don't know, was she trying to do In Cold Blood , but intermittently? They were So Awkward. I don't get second-hand embarrassment that often reading books. But it's not just in those weird interludes - I don't know what else to call them! You know, those three adjective descriptions that introduce people to you. I assume she's talking about Chris Brown when she says in the epilogue "A pop star beat up his girlfriend and his career barely missed a step" because of the timing But that's obviously ridiculous, I mean, have you heard any Chris Brown songs lately? Although he was in that one movie, right? Rihanna's doing pretty well, though! Her songs get played - her new ones, I mean. She shows up places and people care. She sings hooks on Kanye songs. She has an annoying perfume commercial I see in movie theaters. Why are movie theater commercials the most annoying commercials? Never mind, I know why. Yet another way the state of modern advertising would disappoint Don Draper. I mean, damn, Roger Sterling would be disappointed. And you know how far you've fallen when Roger's disappointed, okay? You've fallen really, really far. I know this is tangential, and a stupid thing to get hung up on. Yet I cannot stop myself. There were plenty of stupid, tangential things I got hung up on while reading this - when there are that many it has stopped being a problem with me. Okay, but the episode of Sound Opinions where Sara Marcus is interviewed is actually really interesting and engaging. It was what made me check out the book! Not that this means I'd give it a pass, but then I could at least excuse it as a misguided attempt to connect with a younger generation without many of the reference points for the period? As I am between the current YA-reader crop and the RG crop, I also lack a lot of first-hand context and history classes stop at detente. Musically, I came of age with boy bands and the Spice Girls. And I so wanted this to be a fun, cool, enlightening book. Instead it like. I don't even know. Somehow it hit me as too-earnest hallmark of the 90s! Yeah, you figure that one out. I am throwing this review up not because I think negative reviews are particularly useful to potential readers, but because I think other people might finish the book and have some problems with it too, and they might need another dissenting voice. Judging by the reviews already on here, GttF resonated with a bunch of people, which is totally fine and good and I'm glad - that's what books are supposed to do. I'm sorry that didn't happen with me. If it didn't happen with you either, step right up. View 2 comments. I decided to read this book because I am very interested in Riot Grrrl culture and the feminist revolution in the 's. It interested me because it was written by a woman who was a part of the revolution and gave first hand recounts of what happened, as well as interviewed some of the girls who were at the front lines of the revolution. This book completes the "Books that teach you about a different time in history" category because it is about events that happened in the s and 90s. I like reading books in this category because it teaches you about real life things that happened and historical events. The ideas in this book widened my knowledge and made me think about a lot of issues in the world I had previously ignored. This book explores and documents the "Riot Grrrl" wave of radical feminism in the s and it's affects on todays society. An idea I found most interesting was girls taking power and fighting against male oppression and patriachy. Marcus writes a concise account of the struggles girls such as Kathleen Hanna and Allison Wolfe, both prominent figures in the revolution, and how they attempted to overthrow patriachy and end male-dominated culture. Both women started out small, but with big ideas. Both were the lead singers of revolutionary all-girl bands, and showed that girls can do everything boys can do and we don't deserve to be oppressed by men for and be told to "get back in the kitchen" or "go make a sandwich". Women don't have to fit into the stereotyped "housewife" or "full time mum" roles. Women can do anything and everything, from fighting wars to managing large corporations. Women must unite against the undeserved oppression shown to us by men. A quote I found particularily important was "We are tired of begging for our rights from men in power. We are going to take power". I find this quote very important because it represents the anger women feel towards patriachy and the force that is needed to end it. I think that women DO need to take power for themselves because many women are being harrassed and abused on a daily basis by men, which is terrible, and needs to stop NOW. I learned from this book that women's revolutions and feminism is an important part of our history and present. Although there have been some laws put in place to benefit women since the Riot Grrrl revolution in the 90s, there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure equality among women and men. Feb 20, Julie Ehlers rated it really liked it Shelves: feminism-and-gender , books-about-creativity , music , thes , famous-people. Reading Girls to the Front made me realize how little I really know about riot grrrl. In my defense, during the years portrayed in this book, I was attending a suburban Catholic university with a conservative administration and a mostly conservative student body. The fact that I read and listened to Tori Amos made me more radical than about 97 percent of the people there. So really, most of what I know about riot grrrl I learned from Sassy magazine. For this reason, I found this bo Reading Girls to the Front made me realize how little I really know about riot grrrl. For this reason, I found this book fascinating from a purely informational standpoint. It was great to learn more about the key players mostly musicians and their scenes, about the regular non-musician girls who picked up the gauntlet and ran with it, about the prevailing philosophies and important events of the movement. The eventual infighting that occurred didn't bother me—you're always going to have this in any group of strong-willed people, and honestly, it was good gossipy fun. More importantly, I was inspired by the creativity of these women and by their determination, when they didn't fit into the prevailing culture, to critique the culture instead of just buying into the idea that there was something wrong with themselves. Like Susan Brownmiller's In Our Time , this book reminded me that you don't need a huge number of people in order to have an impact on society, just a small group of people with a compelling vision. Riot grrrl may not have lasted long, but I think it was a pivotal step in the ever-evolving and necessary project of feminism, and this book does it justice. Dec 03, Ananda rated it it was ok. You would think that the author of any "true" story would not cherry-pick the truth, but that is exactly what Sara Marcus did. As a contributor to her research and analysis for the book, and as a character in the story, I was surprised later despite rounds of corrections to see the extent to which she went on to simply ignore my first-person accounts and instead, filter them through what she apparently believed was true or was easier for her to write. Painful, sometimes traumatic, personal his You would think that the author of any "true" story would not cherry-pick the truth, but that is exactly what Sara Marcus did. Painful, sometimes traumatic, personal history was rewritten, even downplayed. Sara Marcus's handling of my contributions to the book were unethical, and, by her own admission with regard to one scene in the book "sloppy reporting. Marcus is not a bad writer, but should stick to fiction. Nov 29, Kate rated it liked it Shelves: nonfiction , music. I graduated from high school in in a very small town in upstate New York. My cousin Jeff, who was 3 years older than me, introduced me to hardcore and skating music, and I gobbled it up. I loved the energy of the mosh pit, the political rants, plus, I could throw elbows and slam dance with the best of them. However, after one particularly rough show, I ended up with some broken toes and that's when I "Every Girl is a Riot Grrrl. However, after one particularly rough show, I ended up with some broken toes and that's when I invested in a pair of steel toed Doc Martins and I never had a broken toe again. My only question was where were the punk princesses? Then one of my old baby sitters sent me a mixed tape entitled "Girl Bands That Rock" with a sticky note on it that said I think you'll really like this one and featured songs by: 'Bratmobile', 'Calamity Jane', 'L7', 'The Eyeliners', 'Go Betty Go', 'The Distillers' and of course 'Bikini Kill' and felt for the first time like: 'oh wow, that's so cool that there are girls out there already doing this, and oh yeah maybe I can do this too. My friends and I were making our own 'Grrrl style revolutions' and we didn't even realize that it had a name. Not until I moved out of there and went to college near Pittsburgh was the first time I heard the term 'Riot Grrrl' and thought 'oh so that's what it's called, ok, whatever. I've been doing it for years. Still worth reading though. May 11, Amy rated it it was ok Shelves: I wanted to like this because it sounded interesting — feminism, the 90s, awesome girl bands, youths! Still, because I love reading about strong, independent females creating art, speaking up, and taking action, I was going to give it three stars, even though the writing was subpar: "Sure, she wouldn't mind getting somewhere with her art. The guys she hung out with in Seattle, f I wanted to like this because it sounded interesting — feminism, the 90s, awesome girl bands, youths! The guys she hung out with in Seattle, fellow photographers shooting bands, were hitting the big time all around her, landing national gigs and making beaucoup bucks selling their photos to east coast magazines. Her motivations weren't just about herself, though. May 05, Milli rated it really liked it Shelves: I admit, I'm a millennial born in '88 , and I tend to look back on the 90s with nostalgia Riot grrrl and the wave of grunge- punk rock that came out of the PNW is one of those things. Especially being a girl who enjoys going to rock shows, has had more than one 'bow to the face or gotten mowed over standing next to increasingly violent pits, I appreciated the riot grrrl movement and what they stood for all those years I admit, I'm a millennial born in '88 , and I tend to look back on the 90s with nostalgia Especially being a girl who enjoys going to rock shows, has had more than one 'bow to the face or gotten mowed over standing next to increasingly violent pits, I appreciated the riot grrrl movement and what they stood for all those years ago. But sometimes we need to take off those rose-colored glasses. When I first started this book, I was worried it would just be a nostaglia-laden memoir of the movement that elevated these grrrls to goddess-like status. But as the book went on, I realized I was wrong. First off, I never realized that the riot grrrl movement was 'over' almost as quickly as it had begun. The movement never gained that much traction, with only a few chapters and members dispersed among the coasts, with were continually disrupted by people moving or going away to school. Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution - Sara Marcus - Google книги

Like Susan Brownmiller's In Our Time , this book reminded me that you don't need a huge number of people in order to have an impact on society, just a small group of people with a compelling vision. Riot grrrl may not have lasted long, but I think it was a pivotal step in the ever- evolving and necessary project of feminism, and this book does it justice. Dec 03, Ananda rated it it was ok. You would think that the author of any "true" story would not cherry-pick the truth, but that is exactly what Sara Marcus did. As a contributor to her research and analysis for the book, and as a character in the story, I was surprised later despite rounds of corrections to see the extent to which she went on to simply ignore my first-person accounts and instead, filter them through what she apparently believed was true or was easier for her to write. Painful, sometimes traumatic, personal his You would think that the author of any "true" story would not cherry- pick the truth, but that is exactly what Sara Marcus did. Painful, sometimes traumatic, personal history was rewritten, even downplayed. Sara Marcus's handling of my contributions to the book were unethical, and, by her own admission with regard to one scene in the book "sloppy reporting. Marcus is not a bad writer, but should stick to fiction. Nov 29, Kate rated it liked it Shelves: nonfiction , music. I graduated from high school in in a very small town in upstate New York. My cousin Jeff, who was 3 years older than me, introduced me to hardcore punk rock and skating music, and I gobbled it up. I loved the energy of the mosh pit, the political rants, plus, I could throw elbows and slam dance with the best of them. However, after one particularly rough show, I ended up with some broken toes and that's when I "Every Girl is a Riot Grrrl. However, after one particularly rough show, I ended up with some broken toes and that's when I invested in a pair of steel toed Doc Martins and I never had a broken toe again. My only question was where were the punk princesses? Then one of my old baby sitters sent me a mixed tape entitled "Girl Bands That Rock" with a sticky note on it that said I think you'll really like this one and featured songs by: 'Bratmobile', 'Calamity Jane', 'L7', 'The Eyeliners', 'Go Betty Go', 'The Distillers' and of course 'Bikini Kill' and felt for the first time like: 'oh wow, that's so cool that there are girls out there already doing this, and oh yeah maybe I can do this too. My friends and I were making our own 'Grrrl style revolutions' and we didn't even realize that it had a name. Not until I moved out of there and went to college near Pittsburgh was the first time I heard the term 'Riot Grrrl' and thought 'oh so that's what it's called, ok, whatever. I've been doing it for years. Still worth reading though. May 11, Amy rated it it was ok Shelves: I wanted to like this because it sounded interesting — feminism, the 90s, awesome girl bands, youths! Still, because I love reading about strong, independent females creating art, speaking up, and taking action, I was going to give it three stars, even though the writing was subpar: "Sure, she wouldn't mind getting somewhere with her art. The guys she hung out with in Seattle, f I wanted to like this because it sounded interesting — feminism, the 90s, awesome girl bands, youths! The guys she hung out with in Seattle, fellow photographers shooting grunge bands, were hitting the big time all around her, landing national gigs and making beaucoup bucks selling their photos to east coast magazines. Her motivations weren't just about herself, though. May 05, Milli rated it really liked it Shelves: I admit, I'm a millennial born in '88 , and I tend to look back on the 90s with nostalgia Riot grrrl and the wave of grunge-punk rock that came out of the PNW is one of those things. Especially being a girl who enjoys going to rock shows, has had more than one 'bow to the face or gotten mowed over standing next to increasingly violent pits, I appreciated the riot grrrl movement and what they stood for all those years I admit, I'm a millennial born in '88 , and I tend to look back on the 90s with nostalgia Especially being a girl who enjoys going to rock shows, has had more than one 'bow to the face or gotten mowed over standing next to increasingly violent pits, I appreciated the riot grrrl movement and what they stood for all those years ago. But sometimes we need to take off those rose-colored glasses. When I first started this book, I was worried it would just be a nostaglia-laden memoir of the movement that elevated these grrrls to goddess-like status. But as the book went on, I realized I was wrong. First off, I never realized that the riot grrrl movement was 'over' almost as quickly as it had begun. The movement never gained that much traction, with only a few chapters and members dispersed among the coasts, with were continually disrupted by people moving or going away to school. Sara Marcus describes how quickly the movement seemed to fracture, just by the logistics of communication. Secondly, I never really understood ' culture. I'm fascinated by it. I wish there was an insert of images within the book to show some of these 'zines because the DIY aspect of pre-Internet printing and distribution is just amazing. Thirdly, I am impressed and grateful that Marcus did not shy away from the fact that riot grrrl was not a perfect movement - it wasn't always inclusive or supportive and in many ways was gentrified. It kept people out and tried to internally and greedily retain this image and aura of riot grrrl rather than spreading the message beyond their underground circle. But Marcus leaves us with the question: even though riot grrrl was a short-lived movement, is it really dead? Did it ever really die? Overall, I am impressed with this book. It had a good balance of sympathy and critique. If you're interested in feminist movement or underground subcultures of the '90s, I would recommend it. Mar 07, Krista Danis rated it it was amazing. Sarah Marcus illuminates the Riot Girl movement as an undefinable subculture of young women that were unsatisfied with cultural and subcultural power hierarchies that cultivate and accomodate violence against women. Picking what they wanted from second wave feminist theory and leaving the rest, Riot Girls insisted that the personal is the political. As she details, one of the goals of this movement was to turn the critical lens outward instead of inward, with an emphasis on healing and consciousness-raising whose roots hold strong in sixties feminist activism. Marcus illustrates how the interaction between art and activism created a nurturing environment for the movement to develop in Olympia and DC. It is this relationship that sets Riot Girl apart from other social justice movements. Though Kathleen Hannah rejects her position as the leader in a worthy effort to remain communal, she played a critical role in drawing women to feminism through music. The author's ability to chronical the end of Riot Girl without devolving into essentialist rhetoric or stereotypes was refreshing and commendable. She states, "Ambivalence enters the living room and sprawls out on the couch when the image you're using to mark something substatial gets decoupled from its meaning. Adrift from its original reason for existing, yet still scented with some totemic version of it, the symbol becomes portable, malleable, saleable". Just when Riot Girl was at its most successful, the urge to define it, by the mainstream media and, subsequently, the Riot Girls themselves, was what eventually undermined the revolution. Once the patriarchy could define it, the patriarchy could control it. Girls to the Front is a much needed history. Riot Girl's resistence to the mainstream played a critical role in its success and potential disappearance forever. Jul 27, Amanda rated it it was amazing Shelves: history-love , feminism , bios-memoirs. This is a good introductory book to use if you are teaching Intro to Women's Studies or a class focusing on the Third Wave of Feminism. The author makes SURE that we realize and understand that it took a combination of women's efforts that made Riot Grrl what it was. The history of Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, the writings on skin, the popularity of the zines, This is a good introductory book to use if you are teaching Intro to Women's Studies or a class focusing on the Third Wave of Feminism. The history of Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, the writings on skin, the popularity of the zines, and the uncertainity of being a girl in the early s make this book hit home. What the author really emphsized what after Riot Grrl and the bands picked up followers and the movement began to spread, the media dogs came biting down. The misconceptions, stereotypes, and labels that some on the nations leading magazines put on the Riot Grrl cause so much friction that I believe it eventually causes the premature death along with other things of Riot Grrl. Like many of the other reviewers, Riot Grrl was before my time. But the things they experienced are things that many other teens in the 90's experienced myself included. It's truely sad that Riot Grrl, punk, feminism, women's lib ,etc. Movements like Riot Grrl and movements after it could have been revolutionary if only society would have let it. Jan 13, nicole rated it it was ok Shelves: It was much harder for me to connect with this book than I thought it would be. I always thought I had something in connection with this group of women who were into music and political change. I grew up reading Sassy, even though I was much younger than the intended demographic, and listened to Tori Amos and wrote a journal cataloging my motions and injustices suffered. But my definition of being a feminist is so far removed from their experience that it sort of took my breath away. It actually It was much harder for me to connect with this book than I thought it would be. It actually made me question whether I had ever been one at all. I grew up in a time of Title IX, playing soccer with equal field time, funding and town support as the boys' team had. I attended workshop after workshop dedicated to promoting women in the maths and sciences as a Girl Scout. With musical education properly funded in public education, it never occurred to me that I might not be able to one day be in a band because of my genetic makeup. I took co-ed karate classes, on days when I wasn't taking dance lessons. I attended an all-women's college within a larger co-ed university. I have only had women bosses. I have always had strong female role models from all walks of life. I was never, ever told that I couldn't do something because of my gender. I could wear a dress or pants, cut my hair long or short, get weekly pedicures or not -- none of that changed who I am on the inside. I did well in school, always spoke my mind, had places where I felt that I belonged and pursued any opportunity I could to get myself to the points I wanted to be in my life. I was raised to believe I could have it all, not because of what gender I was, but because making the best of your time here on this world was what mattered most of all. Am I a feminist? I believe in equal opportunities for women, be it political, economic or social. I believe in a woman's right to choose, whether that is in relation to her biological, sexual, educational, or occupational parts of life. But I don't let this world anger me the way the Riot Grrls did. At heart, I'm not just a feminist - I'm a humanist. I believe in the power of the human experience, that focusing on service and action can bring positive change to an environment. I believe in the power of people, for good or for bad, regardless of the arrangement of their race, class, creed and gender. I couldn't believe the petty inclusiveness of this scene. Granted, I'd read enough books on the rise and fall of other scenes and participated in enough basement band shows to know the score. I was surprised by the preoccupation with totalitarian control of image -- taking it back the control from corporations and media, only to keep it locked up in regional meetings due to an aversion to the inevitable media spotlight. As a teenager, I'd alway sort of yearned for having had the opportunity to participate in this larger cultural phenomenon, but after reading this, I'm glad I grew up in the time that I did. And if there were to be a second coming of girl revolution, I know the woman I'd want to lead it. Leslie Knope. Let me break it down for you. A revolution is not dying your hair, standing with linked arms in the front of shows, creating different rules of conduct for different genders, writing your personal thoughts and feelings on paper for a public forum and then getting angry when major news outlets reprint it. It's not dancing at strip clubs when you say you're deconstructing the system or wearing girly barrettes in your late teens or starting a DIY band. The real revolution is this -- earnestness. Anger can get you so far, but the ability to wake up every morning and do the best you can to fight for what you believe in, as a calm, cool, collected professional who gets results, is never given the credit it deserves. Jul 11, Christopher rated it really liked it. Cool Schmool. Sara Marcus lavishes as much attention on the zine writers as much as Kathleen Hanna or the members of Bratmobile whose on-stage demise feels utterly heartbreaking , as well she should. I happened to read this the same week Daniel Tosh suggested that it would be hilarious if a female heckler in his audience would get gang raped by his very male, very macho audience, and so I got to read women explain, AGAIN, to men how real a threat rape is to their lives, how constricting that co Cool Schmool. I happened to read this the same week Daniel Tosh suggested that it would be hilarious if a female heckler in his audience would get gang raped by his very male, very macho audience, and so I got to read women explain, AGAIN, to men how real a threat rape is to their lives, how constricting that could be. Surely things have "come a long way" in punk or , I guess, in the sense that women are being featured more often on stage and in print. But during a war to defund Planed Parenthood and trans-"V" ultrasounds, the Komen for the Cure fiasco, and eighteen years of ultra- conservative, misogynist national politics, it feels like the everyday realities these grrrls faced - the very fact of their femininity making targets of them in the larger world - is much more pressing than the Excuse 17 - Wild Flag lineage. Marcus walks a severe tightrope in the books final pages, where infighting, pointless arguments and exhaustion join male leering and abuse in dissolving the grrrls hard-won unity, but it struck a nerve in this cis dude for a variety of reasons, most of them having to do with Olympia. Does Riot Grrrl have a hold on the national conscious because it was such a great idea, the way to fuse punk with feminist concerns into something that made more sense to the kids of the nineties a lot of the Riot Grrrl meetings reminded this author of the "rap sessions" read about in other books, zinemaking be damned and because Bikini Kill were so good? Or was it just because they had an arresting look and played loud rock n' roll and Kurt Cobain dated one of them and so Spin covered them? A lot of the satellite groups formed as a result of the dreaded Spin and Newsweek articles, after all, and it was the old guard, themselves not more than five or six years older, that couldn't be bothered. I certainly don't have an answer for that. Also, it was relieving to learn that Jessica Hopper was an insufferable shithead in high school, too. Dec 26, Meg rated it really liked it Shelves: history , social-justice , feminism-gender. I really enjoyed this book and it made me reflect a lot on my own adolescence just a tiny bit too late to be part of the Riot Grrl movement as well as on youth and social movements in general. The author did really exhaustive research through interviews, video footage, zines, letters, and mainstream media coverage. She does a great job connecting the Riot Grrl movement with what was happening on the larger political and social scenes, which really puts the story in context. She also 3. She also describes her personal investment in the topic her own participation in the scene , which I appreciated. And I liked her emphasis throughout the book on what the movement was really supposed to be about: empowering women and girls to resist the limited options offered to them. Reading this re-connected me with some parts of my feminism that I haven't paid as much attention to lately. My main problem with the book was that I dislike the narrative voice she used a kind of omniscient narrator when it comes to describing people's inner experiences. It's a journalistic pet peeve of mine. It seems to me that the individual voices get lost in this style of narrative, since we're never sure how much was directly said by the person and how much is the author's interpretation. I really would have preferred more lengthy direct quotations, even if they included a lot of "um"s and "you know"s. At times the author went over the top in trying to give amazing descriptions of people's internal experience, where it would have been more powerful spoken directly in the person's voice. Example: "A layer of Molly's self-hatred burned off, and its charred remains drifted out the car window. Did Molly actually say that? Cause if she did, you should just quote her. Occasionally the book got too bogged down in the day-to-day lives and petty in-fighting that happened. Still, sometimes there was just a little too much information about what the weather was like or who ate whose tofu without permission. As a side note, what's up with the several random snarky digs at L7? They were a totally awesome and feminist band! Jul 15, Jessica Silk rated it really liked it Recommends it for: punks, feminists. I would say that my experience of reading the book made me love it the most. I had that "introduction to zines" feeling where I felt giddy reading about the similar experiences and processes of strangers. While the beginning of the book seemed like mostly cheerleading Kathleen Hanna and the Riot Grrrl movement, Marcus covers many of the negative aspects of I would say that my experience of reading the book made me love it the most. While the beginning of the book seemed like mostly cheerleading Kathleen Hanna and the Riot Grrrl movement, Marcus covers many of the negative aspects of RG. Just as the book validated my own adolescent experiences, it was extremely validating to read about what went wrong with the Riot Grrrl conference in Omaha as well as other sore spots because my own finale with RG also involved walking away feeling defeated after putting so much energy into a big event. While there were many issues with RG, which are not surprising because the movement largely involved young women who were still developing their consciousness--many but not all of whom came from relatively privileged backgrounds--I think it's important to have a text that stands to demonstrate the motivations, actions, successes, and challenges of RG. I especially enjoyed that Marcus provided historical context. I teared up when reading the epilogue in which she discussed the many ways in which there remains a dire need for feminist mobilization. View all 5 comments. Aug 28, Meagan rated it it was amazing. I was pretty much the right age for this when it was happening, but I was a weirdo in a small Southern town and my favorite bands in the early 90s were REM, the Indigo Girls, and Sly and the Family Stone. Never really got closer to riot grrl than my Sassy Magazine subscription, my Doc Martens, and my Hole tape playing on the white plastic boombox in the bathroom while I straightened my hair every morning before going to school until I finally got fed up and decided that if people didn't like my I was pretty much the right age for this when it was happening, but I was a weirdo in a small Southern town and my favorite bands in the early 90s were REM, the Indigo Girls, and Sly and the Family Stone. Never really got closer to riot grrl than my Sassy Magazine subscription, my Doc Martens, and my Hole tape playing on the white plastic boombox in the bathroom while I straightened my hair every morning before going to school until I finally got fed up and decided that if people didn't like my curly hair they could stick it where the monkey sticks the nuts. But anyway. I loved this book, and not just because I think it helped keep people from standing too close to me on the subway. It's beautifully written, a truly poetic account that captures the beauty of those brief- but-halcyon moments when the grrls were together in punk rock sisterhood, and doesn't look away when those same moments of sisterhood devolve into selfishness and self-immolation. Metaphorically speaking. If I had a daughter, this book would be her thirteenth birthday present. This, and a copy of "The Woods" by Sleater-Kinney. Jun 28, Erica added it. Very much recommended to anyone who wants to know more about riot grrl or anyone who likes reading about grassroots movements or anyone who enjoys books like Our Band Could Be Your Life. OBCBYL is the obvious comp here, but whereas that was about individual bands, in Girls to the Front Marcus examines the riot grrl movement as a whole, concentrating on individual girls participating as well as those in well-known bands like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile, so there's a lot of non-music stuff in here Very much recommended to anyone who wants to know more about riot grrl or anyone who likes reading about grassroots movements or anyone who enjoys books like Our Band Could Be Your Life. OBCBYL is the obvious comp here, but whereas that was about individual bands, in Girls to the Front Marcus examines the riot grrl movement as a whole, concentrating on individual girls participating as well as those in well-known bands like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile, so there's a lot of non- music stuff in here as well. That was my biggest takeaway from the book--that riot grrl was far, FAR more than just about the music. Although Marcus makes it clear that riot grrl influenced her life as well mostly just in the intro, there's not a lot of personal stuff here , she doesn't shy away from portraying some of the less- nice things about the movement and its participants. She's definitely pro riot grrl, but doesn't gloss over anything. So while you may not come away particularly liking anyone in the book not like how I cried when D. Sep 06, Deborah rated it liked it. I was born a few years too late and hundreds of miles too far away to have been involved in Riot Grrrl, but I do remember reading about Bikini Kill and Bratmobile and zines in Sassy magazine. I didn't really understand Riot Grrrl when it was happening, or even years later, although I do have a few Sleater-Kinney tunes in rotation on my iPod. This book confirms that Riot Grrrl was a pretty messy, convoluted movement, but with sincere intentions. I liked reading about the start of it all. Part of I was born a few years too late and hundreds of miles too far away to have been involved in Riot Grrrl, but I do remember reading about Bikini Kill and Bratmobile and zines in Sassy magazine. Part of what I liked was the details of how word spread through snail mail and zines and flyers and word of mouth - it's funny to think about how organizations had to operate without email and websites and social media. To be honest, I didn't read the whole book. I skimmed large sections when I got bogged down by the details and the names of all the tangential players who passed through bands in Olympia and D. This is why I don't usually read nonfiction history books - it feels too much like homework. Shy Boys. Antarctigo Vespucci. The Goodbye Party. Squirrel Flower. Anna Burch. Diane Coffee. Hazel English. Xiu Xiu. The Dodos. Pedro The Lion. Yumi Zouma. Chris Farren. Julia Jacklin. Our Story. Meet the Team. PV Pledges. Compass Club. Added To Your Cart. View Cart. Keep Shopping. Book Paperback. Only 1 left! Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Add links. Marcus in June Oberlin College Columbia University.

Reader take heart: Feminism is not dead. Thank God. At last. It should be heralded as an uncannily insightful revelation of the motivations and inner-workings of Riot Grrrl. Home 1 Books 2. Read an excerpt of this book! Add to Wishlist. Sign in to Purchase Instantly. Members save with free shipping everyday! See details. A richly moving story. Show More. Related Searches. Clever Girl. View Product. A Girl from Yamhill. Girl, Get Your Mind Right! Tionna Tee Smalls, star of the VH1 reality show What Chilli Wants, brings her straight up relationship expertise and no bull attitude to women everywhere in Girl, Get Your Mind Right—offering tell-it-like-it-is advice your love life has been missing. Girl on a Plane. But as they jet across the globe from Melbourne to London, it's clear that they're in for a Lonely Girl. The new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Josephine Cox gets straight to the hope The new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Josephine Cox gets straight to the hope and heartbreak of family drama. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Sara Marcus. Nassau Weekly. Retrieved Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 July The Oberlin Review. The A. Bitch Media. Namespaces Article Talk.

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