Nadine Monem

From Library

I was never fully into Riot Grrrl. I was the right age (student) at the right time (early 90s) but I have been so subsumed by the patriarchal hegemony (or summink) that I tend to prefer male groups and artists to female. Having said that, L7 are a stalwart of my running mix on my MP3 player, and I love some of the punk bands that predated and twee / girl groups that accompanied and post-dated the movement.

This book sets out to be a "true" history of Riot Grrrl in all its artistic, poetic and musical glory. There's lots of first-person narrative and some amazing images of flyers and zines that have managed to survive. The movement is set well into its context, being fitted into its relationship with second wave feminism and punk, and later girl power. There's a good chapter on zines and it's fairly inspiring.

I have to say it's a bit odd seeing something that feels recent to me being written about as history! And while the aesthetic of the book as resembling a zine with odd bits of collage and grainy printing is clever and cool, the legion of spelling and grammar mistakes, not noticeable and odd enough to be intended, are annoying.

Interesting stuff though, if read a bit quickly as a student has recalled the book!… (more)