As you may have guessed from this post, the intersections of grassroots feminisms and music are really important to me. As a woman musician, I find do-it-yourself modes of production in music, writing, art, and media in general crucial not only to my own creative control, but also to the circulation of marginalized and/or dissenting voices.

As a participant in feminist cultural production, I have been worried by the lack of documentation about what creative women are doing now. Punk music and community (specifically in Brooklyn, NY) is the context I am coming from. I have seen the women in punk around me continuing/elaborating on/messing with/changing the legacy that riot grrrl left off with in the 1990s. It is by no means nostalgia; it is action. These women are artists, writers, musicians, small business owners, social justice activists, social workers, and more. In the interest of documenting what’s happening now not only in my scene, but everywhere, myself and queer music blogger Stacy Konkiel are editing a zine called The International Girl Gang Underground.

Along with this mission of documentation, we want to open up genuine dialogue about riot grrrl, punk rock, and DIY feminisms of all stripes. Stacy and I are both white women who see the usefulness in these modes of production, but we are wary of the whiteness often implicit in them. We welcome submissions on how riot grrrl/punk rock/DIY feminisms have been helpful or hurtful to you, your participation or lack of participation in these communities, and any dialogue on these or related topics.

Submissions for the zine are due MAY 31ST, 2010 at 11:59PM PST. For more information, please visit us at International Girl Gang Underground, find press about the zine on our tumblr, and keep an eye out for an interview with Carla Duarte of Cabeça Tédio (Brazil). We will have a few quotes featured in an upcoming article by Marisa Meltzer on riot grrrl in BUST Magazine, and were recently on Feminist Magazine radio (LA). The audio from that interview can be found here.

– Kate Wadkins