Afram post #3

5/13/20
Shayla Chandler

The readings this week that stood out to me was Garrison's " Feminism Grrrl Style" and it talks about how Riot Grrl doesn't necessarily fit into "Third Wave" of Feminism (pgs 3-6). Just like in society, feminism was very white women dominated and this white feminism is something I was aware of, but something that I had not considered in music, especially in punk music. I really like how it talked about how women of color and non-binary women were spearheads in the "Third Wave" and gave them some recognition. I also like that although Riot Grrrl isn't a perfect fit, they do still talk about their value and how much they added to the feminist movement in music. They talked about general sexism and were trying to flip the script for women. The issue with "women" is that their are many subgroups among women and their inequities fall through the gaps with white blanket feminism. The other reading that I liked was  Nguyen's "Its (Not) a White World" because it talks about how there were people in punk music (and people in general) who thought that racism is gone and it is easy to dismiss outright racists.(pg5) This is really common even today and I like how we can express disparities like this in music. Instead Nguyen brings up how racism is deeper and more systemic and how we can use punk as a means to talk about these inequities.

This week, one of my DJ selections is Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne. I chose this song because I always thought of Avril as a punk queen, along with the fact that this song talks about leaving the normal basic looking girl (who is also Avril) for her who is dressed "punk" with dark colors and dark makeup. Another thing is the confidence in the song is somewhat flipping the script in that she is proclaiming what she wants with no shame.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg59q4puhmg

The other song that I chose to write about is I'm So Sick by Flyleaf for many reasons. The lyrics of the song talk a lot about being upset with the current society and even talks about "selling out" and equates it with giving up and dying. The lead singer is a woman who is relatively strong, but her voice when she yells is so surprising and impressive. I do not listen to much punk and I had never heard of this band, but I will be listening to them more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWIADZKU9dw