I’m not sure how the subconscious works but I’m pretty sure it’s up to something up there in my cranium. Recently, well let’s be honest, always, women have been under the gun. The horrible and terrifying rapes in India, in the US Military and the kidnapped tortured women in Ohio are enough to make me want to forget having anything to do with anyone ever again. Rape is a violent crime but on top of that it seems to me such a betrayal, an act usually associated with love, pleasure, procreation, something positive is completely destroyed. There are power dynamics in our society which dictate who we are and how we should behave as such. The stereotypical portrayal of men as sexually aggressive beasts and women as alluring sirens persists. A lot of these signifiers are in marketing, on television shows, in magazines and stray far afield from understanding the opposite sex let alone ourselves. In fact, if anything, the advertisements we are constantly bombarded with are meant to be the ‘norm’ so that they can keep selling whatever it is they’re pedaling. I had a conversation once with my friend (great actor) Johnny Kitt about his experience being black, African American and we agreed that being born black in America meant you were immediately thrust into a political situation more so than whites. I remember seeing an example of this on some t.v. show….the woman, an author, I forget her name, used the example of what nude pantyhose looks like and I don’t know whether things have changed since I saw that show but ‘nude’ pantyhose were for white skin. I think women are also born into a political situation, lower pay, warped assessments of their looks, strength, ability, and intellectual prowess. I’m reminded of the John Lennon/Yoko Ono song, “Woman Is the Nigger of The World”. I’m uncomfortable with the n-word still (call me old-fashioned) despite it’s use as means to reclaim it’s power. There has always been rape as there has always been war. That doesn’t mean we should accept what we know to be wrong as natural.
Sometimes I’ll direct my listening towards a particular sound or genre either based on a recommendation or a mood or a curiosity…that was not the case these past couple of weeks. I think my subconscious has done something with these news stories and I’ve been listening to women who rock, maybe as a coping mechanism? Not specifically Riot Grrrl bands (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riot_Grrrl) but rocking tunes. Real horror is hard to process, music helps.

The Breeders (Last Splash (re-released last week)), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9hAS2uHG_I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KflW4EsVL7o
PJ Harvey (Rid of Me) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAV1CGlfNC4
Sleater Kinney (The Woods) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgBRjqDE-24
Wild Flag (s/t Wild Flag) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psI461_rl9U
The Pretenders (s/t Pretenders) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6-0ypKuwv8
Ida Maria (Fortress ’round My Heart) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aokl2lnUlQ
Shannon Wright (Over The Sun) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfCYG0Jkq1Y
Veruca Salt (American Thighs) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC9AUR-iTo0

Be good to each other. Have good listens! Til next time. -p

P.S. I post these things every Monday!