Maura Jo L. reviewed Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution on + 18 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
For folks who are already familiar in some way, shape or form, Girls to the Front is an interesting read. For those who are not, I strongly recommend drawing yourself a "map" of the who's who and what's where because it can get confusing!
I feel it is an "insider" perspective and may not translate to the young folks or people who were not in the "scene" as there is a lot of name-dropping, but overall, still a good read.
What I would love to hear more about is what the players discussed in the book are up to now and how they feel their involvement impacted their current life. I was just talking to a local hardcore punk drummer this month who was saying how the "Do It Yourself" mentality eventually spilled over from life as a musician to life owning and running architecture firm. Even if a movement dies out (which Sara Marcus claims it was all dead long before the Riot Grrrl chapter in Oly, WA actually stopped meeting -- I know b/c I went in 1997!), the impact on the individuals can be lasting AND positive.
The end of the book was a bit of a downer, but I, personally, can see past that, having seen some of the same folk discussed here in "Don't Need You" the documentary on Riot Grrrl.
I'd like to see a work that was more instructive with less of a chip on one's shoulder approach at some point. My class at CCSU was filled with students who were in early elementary school as the movement was dying out. We read this book in my Intro to Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies class and some of them felt rather hurt by how left out they felt. That in itself lead to some great discussions of audience, outsider art, and so forth, but it would be nice to have an additional work to use that drew them in. Several went from reading the book to feeling inspired enough to do some great things on campus for young women.
I'd recommend reading it. I don't know that I'd keep it on my shelf if I weren't teaching it and I didn't date a grrrl who lived in the Martin. Libraries are great that way. :)
I feel it is an "insider" perspective and may not translate to the young folks or people who were not in the "scene" as there is a lot of name-dropping, but overall, still a good read.
What I would love to hear more about is what the players discussed in the book are up to now and how they feel their involvement impacted their current life. I was just talking to a local hardcore punk drummer this month who was saying how the "Do It Yourself" mentality eventually spilled over from life as a musician to life owning and running architecture firm. Even if a movement dies out (which Sara Marcus claims it was all dead long before the Riot Grrrl chapter in Oly, WA actually stopped meeting -- I know b/c I went in 1997!), the impact on the individuals can be lasting AND positive.
The end of the book was a bit of a downer, but I, personally, can see past that, having seen some of the same folk discussed here in "Don't Need You" the documentary on Riot Grrrl.
I'd like to see a work that was more instructive with less of a chip on one's shoulder approach at some point. My class at CCSU was filled with students who were in early elementary school as the movement was dying out. We read this book in my Intro to Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies class and some of them felt rather hurt by how left out they felt. That in itself lead to some great discussions of audience, outsider art, and so forth, but it would be nice to have an additional work to use that drew them in. Several went from reading the book to feeling inspired enough to do some great things on campus for young women.
I'd recommend reading it. I don't know that I'd keep it on my shelf if I weren't teaching it and I didn't date a grrrl who lived in the Martin. Libraries are great that way. :)
