Girl Germs

30 Σεπτεμβρίου, 2009, 8:00μμ

I used to feel so lucky whenever I would spot a hair extension lying haphazardly on the sidewalk. It was better than a penny or a four-leaf clover. In my former ignorance, I didn’t know that a cheap weave sometimes slips out of its own accord. I thought girl hair lying on the ground could only mean one thing: catfight. Two girls going buck wild on each other at the bus stop. An intercepted love letter to someone else’s boyfriend ending in ripped clothes and an acrylic nail to the eyeball.

I’m just a lousy voyeur, though. I like a good women-in-prison movie, but if I were cast in that movie, I’d be the quiet old-timer in the library rather than the feisty ho shanking fools in the yard. I don’t have the stomach for girl-on-girl violence.

When I first encountered Riot Grrrl in 1990, all the pie baking and cat-eye glasses didn’t mesh with my other interests, such as smashing 40s outside the police station. However, petty differences aside, I wholeheartedly embrace the Riot Grrrl principle of girl unity. I believe in a world where girls don’t internalize sexism and where we encourage one another instead of competing. Seeing all the new girl bands and fanzines that have cropped up in the past couple years is amazing, and I believe that Riot Grrrl is a crucial step in the evolution of feminism as well as in the evolution of underground music. At least in theory. by janelle hessig