Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music
In the early nineties, riot grrrl exploded onto the underground music scene, inspiring girls to pick up an instrument, create fanzines, and become politically active. Rejecting both traditional gender roles and their parents’ brand of feminism, riot grrrls celebrated and deconstructed femininity. The media went into a titillated frenzy covering followers who wrote “sl
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I'll try to say the nice things first: the author really tried to find the positive in all aspects of music culture. She also included a section on Camp Trans when talking about the Michigan Womyn's Festival, which is great because it calls...more
Why this book? Nineties underground nostalgia
Which book format? Nice and new
Primary reading environment? Day of rest
Any preconceived notions? Cooler than thou
Identify most with? Still Courtney Love
Three little words? "Elitist value judgments"
Goes well with? Tamari, Tabasco, yeast
I used to hate Britney Spears, mainly because we are the same age and ...more
In some ways, the books strengths also prompted its weaknesses. The book was a fast read because it was 150 pages, but 150 pages was nowhere near enough to cover the breadth of material she does. Meltzer examines the em...more
Ahem. So anyway. The book...more
Rather, it deals with women in music in the 90s, spanning a few different genres. The book starts with riot grrls and winds its way through the decade, discussing Lilith Fair, the Spice Girls, and Britney Spears on its way. At the same time, the author interj...more
I'm really struggling between one or two stars on this. Meltzer's Girl Power was incredibly disappointing. I was hoping for a more comprehensive analysis of women in music in the nineties, and their overall effect on pop culture subsequently. This, however, is basically the author's love letter to her own youth. While there is nothing inherently wrong with that, the way she continuously distances herself from her own privilege is a bit maddening.
I'm not going to lie, I was already a bit skeptica
...moreThis poor book is bound to fail for so many people who care really deeply about riot grrrl and this period of musical history. I'm one of those people. This book was just straight up amateur hour. I kept thinking it felt like reading a really long high school essay...so much explanatory stuff and so little analysis.
Plus, blowing off the exper...more
There were only a few factual flaws. On page viii there is a sentence beginning "Riot grrrls' rage begat the more media-friendly Hole and Babes in Toyland" which is inaccurate in that both these bands started in the late 1980s, pre-Riot Grrrl.
On page 16, "Ladies First" (about a frilly girly-girl on a safari) would have been a better example from Free to Be You and Me than William's Doll, which advocates dol...more
Girl Power is a quick read. In fact I dare say that it's a must have on your summer 2010 reading list. It's not fluffy, but at only 145...more
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