Customer Reviews

Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I ordered this book after reading about it in Bust magazine. I was pretty excited that someone had written a scholarly book on the pop culture of my teenage years, but I was in for some serious disappointment. After a strong and interesting discussion of the riot grrrl movement in the first chapter, Meltzer's ideas quickly lose focus. Her lack of a concrete thesis becomes a glaring problem shortly into the book and she seems to try to be all things to all people-- for example, obviously idolizing the Spice Girls for personal reasons while still attempting to maintain some awkward feminist objectivity about them. Her lack of thesis leads her to vascilate wildly between personal subjective opinions and a rather contrived attempt at a scholarly feminist analysis. I mean, we all feel deeply and personally about the singers we loved growing up, but that doesn't mean that any of them had anything important to say about feminism. I my opinion, this book was poorly thought out and poorly written and had little interesting to say about women in music in the 90s. I was enormously disappointed and rather annoyed. Bust was touting the release of a book on riot grrrls this fall-- maybe that will have some better insight.

I enjoyed reading about 90's riot grrls. I didn't appreciate her dismissal of older feminists, though, saying that we all listened to women's music that was "... impossible to separate from associations with the smell of nag champa." Who did she talk to? I was at the lesbian bar listening to Blondie, songs from Rocky Horror and Joan Armatrading. Sure, I loved Holly Near but there was much more. Later in the book she calls the Michigan Women's Music Festival a folk festival - a giant slap in the face to the bands who played jazz, salsa and many other styles.

I have always been outspoken and unashamed about being a feminist, and though I sometimes gravitate toward the harder stuff, I've always appreciated that Lilith Fair, Ladyfest, and other events can co-exist. They offer millions of people a kinship they might not get in other scenes, and they also offer an artist's living for the makers. I appreciate her assertion that Riot Grrrl committed a sad suicide when it could have taken over the world instead (it was certainly poised to have real power of its own for a long, healthy time) and I enjoyed the lead-in to a discussion of so-called "Foxcore" and pop bands that took over in the vacuum that Riot Grrrl left. She hits the nail on the head in many cases, though she misses the point of why events such as Lilith Fair and Michigan are still necessary (especially in today's political climate), and why we need them as women, especially in the mainstream.

My main disappointment (which is also a praise as well, as I appreciate the author's honesty with her own shortcomings) comes from reading Meltzer's opinions of the scenes she encountered. When I read about her changing her looks so she'd fit in with her local Riot Grrrl scene, I cringed, as that's not what it's about at all. If she would have stood up for herself, I think she would have had a better time in general there, but instead, she was still very much in high-school mode at the time. I never encountered fashion police in any scene whose music I enjoyed, nor anyone who gave me the stink-eye for not looking like them. Kids can seem guarded when new people enter a scene (and sometimes with good reason) but it's often b/c you haven't gotten to know one another, not because you have the wrong haircut.

I'd give this book six stars if I could - and I'm not ashamed to say I teared up with nostalgia in a couple of places! I've always felt the Spices were underrated in what they contributed to the pop culture perception of 'feminism' - watered down or not, anything that emphasizes girl/girl empowerment instead of girl/girl rivalry is what we, and our daughters, nieces etc need to hear. I would love to have seen some images in the book; I would love for it to have been longer! But otherwise this is being recommended to all my GF's, partly as a reminder of how things were, and partly to feel a little less despondent about where things are going. If you're a Gen X girl like me it's also worth reading Meltzer's other book: How Sassy Changed My Life: A Love Letter to the Greatest Teen Magazine of All Time. Again be prepared for the nostalgia blitz..but it's worth it. (show less)

We can all remember what the title of this book refers to and that sets the great tone of this fabulous read. I think this was the best decade for music and I am still waiting for great new bands, songs, etc. If you love nostaliga, this is the book for you. I recommend, with this one, I Don't Care About Your Band: What I Learned from Indie Rockers, Trust Funders, Pornographers, Felons, Faux-Sensitive Hipsters, and Other Guys I've Dated.