Grrrl role models... and why they matter!

A few days ago I was catching up on Bitch Magazine's blog (I highly recommend it for great feminist commentary...) and I came across an interesting posting that was saying exactly what I have been pondering for awhile, namely: "Where have all the Riot Grrrls Gone?"The cover of Bikini Kill's infamous self-titled album which put the band as one of the faces of the Riot Grrrl movement

The Bitch posting by editor Kelsey Wallace is actually speaking in repsonse to another recently published article in the Houston Press, "Gossip Girls", which does a pretty good job analyzing the trend of "post-post feminism" in popular music (think: Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and The Veronicas) and arguing that there is nothing at all feminist about these acts. A snippet from this piece by Steve Haruch:

As the F-word devolves further into marketing PR-speak, we're left with Katy Perry's infantilized, finger-sucking "naughtiness" — sexual transgression for the sake of male titillation more than anything — and a long list of songs that are Feminist Lite at best. (Really, Beyoncé could find another guy? What power! Meanwhile, Jay-Z's got 99 problems, and, um, a lady ain't one.)

Wallace concurs for the most part, but goes further in asking if these women are not feminists, then where are all the feminists in current popular music? Or are there are none? While this no doubt brings up discussion about what constitutes feminist - is Christina Aguilera feminist? - it definitley gets one thinking about the lack of talking about feminism and feminist issues by pop artists today.

Katy Perry, "post-post feminist" icon?So what does this all have to do with girl studies, aside from the fact that teen taste tends to drive the mainstream mustic market? Well, I'd argue role models. Girls look up to pop culture icons and want to know not only what they're wearing but what they think about issues. I don't want to go on and one about the 'good ol' days' of 90s music, where women rockers were a huge part of the mainstream and they were actually talking about feminist issues that spoke to girls. But these '90s female bands like Bikini Kill, Hole, Sleater Kinney, L7 (etc!), and men too, like Kurt Cobain, for that matter, became the first feminist touchstone for many girls. I often credit Courtney Love for where I am today - seriously!

So while girls may have fun listening to The Veronicas or Katy Perry, I'm worried that they won't get exposed to cool, feminist ideas at an age where it's so important to learn about these things. Without feminist, pop culture icons, how can we get girls to dialogue about gender issues in a way that won't seem horribly uncool?

Thoughts?

xo, jessalynn