Guest post: Girl Germs
By Jess McCabe | 15 October 2009, 10:23
Lydia Harris and Laura Wilson explain why they’re organising a zine, music and cake night in London this Saturday, and what to expect
Girls Germs is a grrrl-tastic night of music, zines, cakes and dancing. Everybody who comes gets a free cupcake and a chance to buy zines from the fantastic We Are Words And Pictures zine stall. We’ll be playing le tigre, Bratmobile, Sleater-Kinney, The Slits, The Kills, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bikini Kill, M.I.A. and plenty of other amazing tunes by amazing grrrls. It’s going to be a celebration of women’s creativity, proof that girls making music is more than just a faddy trend.
More importantly, though Girl Germs is a grrrl-safe zone where we won’t have to listen to degrading song lyrics. Girl Germs was partly born out of frustration; we were sick of having to dance to songs all about male-angst, or that referred to women only as objects to be abused or put up on pedestal. We wanted to throw ourselves about to music that related our experiences, made by women who are like us. We know there are other women in London who feel the way we do but they’re hard to find. We’ve started Girl Germs in the hope that we’ll meet you, collaborate with you and dance with you. And eat some cake with you.
Date: Saturday 17th October
Location: Camden Head Pub, 100 Camden High Street
Time: 8 ‘til late
Price: £3/£2 with flyer
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Feeds
Lucy said:
Please say you'll be doing this again, some time when my dad isn't visiting?!
Posted on 15 October 2009 at 11:47 AM
saranga said:
I think this sounds ace. Please can you (girl germs organisers and the f word!) give us more notice next time so i can arrange a weekend in london??!!
Posted on 15 October 2009 at 11:58 AM
Lydia said:
Hello,
Lucy: we're going to make it monthly hopefully!!
saranga: sorry, our fault. we're not seasoned promoters yet!! updates will be on my blog, Swimsuit Issue.
x
Posted on 15 October 2009 at 12:04 PM
Mandy said:
Are chaps welcome to come along too? My boyfriend would love this even more than I would.
Posted on 15 October 2009 at 12:32 PM
saranga said:
Great! I shall try to make it down one weekend.
Posted on 15 October 2009 at 12:36 PM
tallulah said:
sounds mint! you won't be playing smack that by akon ft eminem then? shame...i'll do the same as saranga and schedule myself a wee weekend in london next time this is on! good luck for this saturday though, the world of gigs and live music needs wayyy more of this sort of stuff! x
Posted on 15 October 2009 at 4:27 PM
Laura Woodhouse said:
Sounds fab! Sapphic Traffic run a similarly feminist-friendly night in Leeds, with an "LGBTQ community and friends" focus.
Posted on October 15, 2009 4:43 PM
Lydia said:
boys are absolutely welcome, as long as they respect the 'safe space' aspect of it. which i'm sure the boyfriend of an f word would do!!
Posted on 15 October 2009 at 8:55 PM
rachel said:
why are boyfriends of Fworders especially 'safe' ???
Posted on 16 October 2009 at 9:51 PM
Lydia said:
it's likely if they're coming with somebody who has read this, i.e. An f worder, that they will know what the atmosphere is.
Posted on 17 October 2009 at 1:53 PM
Melanie said:
We will hopefully be making this a bi monthly thing from January, so do keep an eye out for details!
Posted on 18 October 2009 at 9:49 PM
aimee said:
I would really love something like this to happen down south! Maybe I could organise something similar? Anyone from Devon or near who would want to come to something like that?
Posted on 19 October 2009 at 2:00 PM
Rachel said:
@Lydia [and everyone really]... I know this is a very light thread etc. but I'm trying to make the point that if you have a 'boys welcome' policy than it's up to the boys themselves to be 'safe'. I don't think having a feminist 'girlfriend' makes someone behave in a particular way. It's possible to be a feminist and have a lover who is a total asshole...
Posted on 20 October 2009 at 9:40 PM
Lydia said:
@Rachel Of course it is, but my comment was less about being a feminist and more about being somebody who may have read this post about the aims of the night. I know all too well that feminists can have asshole boyfriends.
We actually ended up turning away a couple of guys from the pub downstairs who were being creepy to a woman at Girl Germs that they had met outside smoking. They couldn't have stumbled into a worse night for sexually aggressive creeps!!
Posted on 23 October 2009 at 3:09 PM