Reading through Mimi Nguyen’s IT’S (NOT) A WHITE WORLD: LOOKING FOR RACE IN PUNK, it was interesting how her discussion on race and power in punk is so effective at discussing race in society in general. While I generally thought of punk-rock as a subversive and alternative scene, this essay really illustrated how white, straight, male-centered punk rock is. Punk rock’s ‘rugged individualism’ parallels the individualist, libertarian-leaning viewpoint many take in politics.
One particularly salient point in Nguyen’s piece was her discussion of whiteness as being ‘neutral’ in punk (and in America). Along with that is “the most famous liberal response to the question of race is compounded by the shrug — the color-blind approach that would have us believe ‘we’re all just human’ or, in this case, ‘we’re all just punk.’ This is a rejection of what race really is. Nguyen clearly explains it is a shortsighted view that fails to recognize how race, particularly non-whiteness, can not simply be looked-past, and how much race in America drives personal identity, class, and community. It is clear that this ‘we’re all just punk’ sentiment comes from those who are ‘neutral’.
After reading Nguyen’s essay, I felt that riot grrrl was better-contextualized to me. Prior to this, I had just (naively) assumed punk was as accepting, and progressive as it is often portrayed to be (the portrayal may come from delusions of white-stratight-males who hope to be progressive). Nguyen’s essay better explains why there was an absolute necessity for the creation of the bands which Emily White discusses in The Great Indie Debate. These bands, and these women, fed up and rebelling against a male-dominated punk scene, is the most ‘punk’ thing there could be.
For my song selections this week, I just wanted to listen to bands touched-on in Emily White’s piece. I went through what I could find of Team Dresch, four women “driven by rage at homophobia”, and picked two songs that stood out as embodiment of the riot grrrl movement and aesthetic.
Both of these songs feature voices of female empowerment and acceptance in punk music. “Shes Amazing” takes on more of an empowerment and acceptance, whereas “Hate the Christian Right!” takes on a more rebellious rejection of straight white patriarchy.
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