Why feminism is still important
Today in the lovely, local, gigantic McKay's Used Books, I saw this book of poetry written by "indie" musicians. As it only came out in 2003, there is simply no excuse that I can think of that in 200 pages of poetry, there are NO WOMEN REPRESENTED. I saw online that there's a second volume, that seems to have four women in it--out of 75 total poets.
I suppose I'm particularly sensitive to this today, after watching a documentary about riot grrrl in the the 90s--what's more, in all of the reviews I found about this book (including one in CosmoGirl), there wasn't a single one that mentioned its distinct lack of estrogen. I read both introductions in the book while in the bookstore, and didn't find a single mention of it being a men's only thing, or noting its phallocentric perspective. One of the purposes of riot grrrl in the 90s was to point out what a boy's club the indie music scene was then--apparently, the long term effects haven't been that much.
Granted, I don't know how representational the book is--I know nothing about the current music scene; the only band represented in the book which I even recognized was NOFX, and that's just because another guy from that band wrote the book Hardcore Zen. The fact that no one has even commented on the lack of gender balance in these books--it's troubling. I makes me want spare time in which to start a zine!
I suppose I'm particularly sensitive to this today, after watching a documentary about riot grrrl in the the 90s--what's more, in all of the reviews I found about this book (including one in CosmoGirl), there wasn't a single one that mentioned its distinct lack of estrogen. I read both introductions in the book while in the bookstore, and didn't find a single mention of it being a men's only thing, or noting its phallocentric perspective. One of the purposes of riot grrrl in the 90s was to point out what a boy's club the indie music scene was then--apparently, the long term effects haven't been that much.
Granted, I don't know how representational the book is--I know nothing about the current music scene; the only band represented in the book which I even recognized was NOFX, and that's just because another guy from that band wrote the book Hardcore Zen. The fact that no one has even commented on the lack of gender balance in these books--it's troubling. I makes me want spare time in which to start a zine!