Typical Girls: Women in Punk/Post-Punk/Underground Music (Circa 1975-1980s)

["Mike Appelstein" <mike AT appelstein.com>]

This is actually a dude - name of Ian, I think.  He's best known for the
1981 box set he offered for sale on ILXOR.com a few years back: 12 CDs worth
of gems from said year, organized by vague mood/subject matter.  Looks like
he's posting many of those 1981 mixes on this new blog.  Everyone should
check 'em out - he's pretty young and it's interesting to hear how he's
absorbed the sounds from that year.

But it is an interesting question, isn't it?  It seems like there were women
involved in the underground scene that certainly had a role in shaping the
culture from the very beginning: Linder Sterling, early Siouxsie, the Slits,
etc.  But I was a teenager in the early '80s, and I can tell you that
Chrissie Hynde and Deborah Harry had more influence on the rock culture at
large at the time.  I don't mean to demean either of them - the Pretenders
had some great songs, and Blondie was consciously subverting the girl-singer
image before being subsumed by it.  But very few people were listening to
the Slits or Ludus at the time beyond their immediate clique.  I think
what's happened is that the rest of the world finally caught up to them (and
we can thank listmembers like Tobi and Sharon for helping to make it
happen).

- Mike

----------------------------------------------
mike AT appelstein.com
http://www.appelstein.com/blog/

-----Original Message-----
From: typicalgirls-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:typicalgirls-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Dina Hornreich
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 6:17 PM
To: Typical Girls: Women in Punk/Post-Punk/Underground Music (Circa
1975-1980s)
Subject: Re: [TypicalGirls] The Young Lady's Post-Punk Handbook

Thanks for pointing us in this directions. This woman's blog asks  
interesting questions. I just posted something very quickly trying to  
answer the questions she's raised:

"But what's interesting to me is that the women of post-punk seem to  
have felt completely free to express their feminine and masculine and  
simply human qualities freely. Few female musicians of post-punk seem  
to be "playing a man's game," nor presenting a "version" of the main  
channel, nor catering to male expectations of the Rock Chick  
(certainly not in an unproblematised, unironic way).  These figures  
stand as central to my understanding of this sort of music as any  
men.  And I feel they're recognised broadly as pillars of the music.   
But having presented these mixes, I'd be very keen to hear your  
ideas: had you ever thought particularly one way or another about  
women in post-punk; are there identifiable ways in which women shaped  
post-punk, or was post-punk simply rock's first androgynous  
embodiment; do you agree women are central to the story of post-punk,  
or were they in fact marginalised at the time? (I'd be especially  
curious to hear the experiences of those of you who were "there," and  
not in diapers like myself.)"

Discuss!

-Dina