Reviews

Do przodu, dziewczyny! Prawdziwa historia rewolucji Riot Grrrl by Sara Marcus

balletbookworm's review against another edition

4.0

I really liked the rhythm Sara Marcus used in her writing for Girls to the Front - sometimes the words felt like song lyrics, other times like a prose poem. Very appropriate to a history about a feminist movement that included music and zines as outlets. I knew tangentially about Riot Grrrl in the early 1990s. I agreed with what sentiments I knew about - about objectifying women, treating them as substandard, pro-choice, pro-equal rights, pro-gay rights - but really didn't get the music aspect at all (Bikini Kill and Bratmobile are a very, very long way soundwise from Don Giovanni and Sunday in the Park With George). Girls to the Front is a very heart-felt, personal attempt to chronicle a feminist movement that didn't have a central "purpose" or organization, a very come-as-you-are but vocal movement - I loved reading it.

rbreade's review against another edition

Marcus brings together veins of information from newspaper and magazine articles on this early- to mid-1990s flourishing of the riot grrrl movement, along with in-depth interviews, analysis of the 'zines by which this pre-internet revolution communicated its ideas, and some of the best rock 'n' roll writing I've ever encountered. Here's a sample from her description of Heavens to Betsy's "Good Food": "Amid the three verses and chorus lurk not one but two different bridges, which intensify in volume and rhythm as they go along, toppling headfirst into the choruses that follow them" (130). The other two bands most strongly associated with the riot grrrl worldview, Bratmobile and, most important of all, Bikini Kill, are well documented here, but don't overwhelm what was happening in the co-ops, domestic-abuse shelters, and cheap apartment units where the riot grrrls lived, gathered, and planned.

Marcus is also a knockout writer even when she isn't analyzing song structure, as when she calls the stifling nature of cul-de-sac culture the "matte suburban silence outside the doublepaned window" (244). I mean, come on! So good! Or this on-point take-down of mass culture: "Top-Forty artists aren't cultural movements; they're ultra-homogenized and uber-marketed holographic projections, aspects of culture that get blown up to Jumbotron size and burrow a pic line to the id. Mass culture always contains cleaned-up, camera-ready variations on the underground, incorporating just enough of what's "edgy" to maintain its own relevance," (327).

The riot grrrl movement eventually collapsed under the weight of sexist, divisive scrutiny by the mass media and its own internal arguments and battles, but Marcus also documents how it gave hope to girls, especially in the "heartland" of America, who were just trying to survive in a patriarchal society that was actively trying to kill them, both their spirits and, in many cases, their actual, physical selves. And it gave all of us a musical alternative not just to grunge but to cock-rock in general. As Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna sings in "Double Dare Ya": "Dare you to do what you want, / Dare you to be who you will!" Now that's a rallying cry.

moviebuffkt's review against another edition

1.0

reading for a book club of sorts. not something i'd pick up on my own, and it didn't feel like a very well researched book, but was an enjoyable read about a dynamic time. the author was simply too close to the movement so the anecdotal style bordered on hero-worship. too awe-struck, not as well researched as i would have liked.

cassandrasoley's review against another edition

4.0

I thought this book was really well written, I learned a lot about Riot Grrl that I did not previously know and it was very engaging.

thematinee's review against another edition

3.0

Some inspiring moments, some disparaging moments, not enough music talk for my tastes. All at once a look at how much has changed in 25 years, and how very much still needs to be done.

nssutton's review against another edition

2.0

It was much harder for me to connect with this book than I thought it would be. I always thought I had something in connection with this group of women who were into music and political change. I grew up reading Sassy, even though I was much younger than the intended demographic, and listened to Tori Amos and wrote a journal cataloging my motions and injustices suffered. But my definition of being a feminist is so far removed from their experience that it sort of took my breath away. It actually made me question whether I had ever been one at all.

I grew up in a time of Title IX, playing soccer with equal field time, funding and town support as the boys' team had. I attended workshop after workshop dedicated to promoting women in the maths and sciences as a Girl Scout. With musical education properly funded in public education, it never occurred to me that I might not be able to one day be in a band because of my genetic makeup. I took co-ed karate classes, on days when I wasn't taking dance lessons. I attended an all-women's college within a larger co-ed university. I have only had women bosses. I have always had strong female role models from all walks of life.

I was never, ever told that I couldn't do something because of my gender. I could wear a dress or pants, cut my hair long or short, get weekly pedicures or not -- none of that changed who I am on the inside. I did well in school, always spoke my mind, had places where I felt that I belonged and pursued any opportunity I could to get myself to the points I wanted to be in my life. I was raised to believe I could have it all, not because of what gender I was, but because making the best of your time here on this world was what mattered most of all.

Am I a feminist? Yes. I believe in equal opportunities for women, be it political, economic or social. I believe in a woman's right to choose, whether that is in relation to her biological, sexual, educational, or occupational parts of life. But I don't let this world anger me the way the Riot Grrls did. At heart, I'm not just a feminist - I'm a humanist. I believe in the power of the human experience, that focusing on service and action can bring positive change to an environment. I believe in the power of people, for good or for bad, regardless of the arrangement of their race, class, creed and gender.

I couldn't believe the petty inclusiveness of this scene. Granted, I'd read enough books on the rise and fall of other scenes and participated in enough basement band shows to know the score. I was surprised by the preoccupation with totalitarian control of image -- taking it back the control from corporations and media, only to keep it locked up in regional meetings due to an aversion to the inevitable media spotlight. As a teenager, I'd alway sort of yearned for having had the opportunity to participate in this larger cultural phenomenon, but after reading this, I'm glad I grew up in the time that I did.

And if there were to be a second coming of girl revolution, I know the woman I'd want to lead it.

Leslie Knope.

Why? Let me break it down for you. A revolution is not dying your hair, standing with linked arms in the front of shows, creating different rules of conduct for different genders, writing your personal thoughts and feelings on paper for a public forum and then getting angry when major news outlets reprint it. It's not dancing at strip clubs when you say you're deconstructing the system or wearing girly barrettes in your late teens or starting a DIY band.

The real revolution is this -- earnestness.

Anger can get you so far, but the ability to wake up every morning and do the best you can to fight for what you believe in, as a calm, cool, collected professional who gets results, is never given the credit it deserves.

kmmd's review against another edition

5.0

Wow

tuc03229's review against another edition

3.0

Riveting, if flawed chronicle of the riot grrrl movement. Marcus was probably the first author to do a decent job writing about the history of riot grrrl. However, parts of the book are extremely condescending, which is odd because Marcus also criticizes that same condescension when done by the media. All in all, not a bad read, but I think we're still waiting for a more definitive, impressive riot grrrl story.

andintothetrees's review against another edition

3.0

Around ten years ago, I was deeply into riot grrrl. I tried to set up my own “chapter”(group), listened to a lot of music made by the musicians involved in the scene’s music (Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, Le Tigre etc.), read a lot of zines (and wrote a few myself) and made sure every username I had online had the word grrrl or grrl in it somewhere. Over time it fell away from the forefront of my conciousness and interests but the music and zines it influenced (both back in the 90s, now and in between) have stayed close with me, so when I heard about Girls To The Front and its account of the movement’s history I had to read it.

...[For my full review, please visit my blog].

munsontime's review against another edition

5.0

Didn’t know much about the Riot Grrrl movement except for digging Bikini Kill, and learned a lot from this book. Was really interesting seeing how it started so small and by the time it took off, it was already fading where it originated. Really awesome to read the stories of women finding their voices and their power through music and zines and shared experiences. Great read!