2012- pretty darn good year for music, and well life!

Well only 2 days left of 2012 left, so the inevitable 'end of the year' blog is here!
Music wise, I think 2012 has been a pretty decent year for music, Patti Smith released a new album 'Banga', Gaggle released their debut album 'From the Mouth of the Cave', other favourites of mine were Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra- Theatre is Evil, The Corin Tucker Band- Kill my Blues and Garbage- Not Your Kind of People.
here my choices of 2012 on my end of the year special here

Gigs of 2012
Wild Flag
Robots in Disguise (and this year I got to interview them too)!
Ladyfest East London
Pigtails and Army Boots the live event! (organised by me- obviously)!
Garbage
Black Belles
We Rock Like Girls Don't
Bleech
Gaggle album launch party
Patti Smith
Amanda Palmer
Trash Monroe
Lovely Eggs
Hard Rock Hell

I wrote lots more reviews, and did my first interview in person (the RID one as previously mentioned)
feminism wise, I went to Million Women Rise for the third time and London Slutwalk for the first time and finally Southend Feminist Group is running, it's only small but hopefully 2013 it will get bigger! I also tok part in a Free Pussy Riot protest near the Russian embassy and have been supporting the campaign.

Other achievements/interesting stuff from 2012:  did the Moonlight Colourthon again, started going to Pagan Moots, organised another charity gig, went to the Doctor Who Experience, helped with a beach clean up, and most importantly moved house!

I think I achieved a lot this year but in 2013, I would like to actually get paid for music journalism, to do some sort of volunteer work, to do more creative writing and finally finish editing my novel, to pass my dispensing course at work and go to even more pagan/spiritual events. I also think I should admit to my mistakes more!
How was your 2012?

Slutwalk 2012

Last year, I really wanted to attend Slutwalk London, but unfortunely  due to them changing the inital date, I couldn't go as it clashed with my Ladyfest Essex event which I had been planning for months on end, I did however help them get a band to perform at the event.

I was happy when I heard they would be doing another march this year and this time there was nothing to stop me!
Slutwalk was all started because of a comment from a Canadian policeman saying "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized."
This, quite rightly, sparked off the first 'Slutwalk' in Toronto, which then spread like wildfire as women globally got angry, and Slutwalk events started happening all over the world.

The main reason I choose to support Slutwalks, is because I agree with why it was started in the first place- the victim should never be to blame for the rape, no matter what she might have been wearing at the time. Some women have also decided to embrace the Slutwalk as they want to reclaim the word 'slut' and turn it into something positive. I have no problem with any woman that wants to embrace this word, but I am not personally interested in doing that myself. I think it's a real shame though that some feminists have decided not to support Slutwalk, mainly for this reason. I got into a discussion with someone who was adamant that Slutwalk only panders to what men want- for women to be disposable sexual objects. Yes, some women at the march choose to write 'slut' on themselves (quite similar to Kathleen Hanna back in her Bikini Kill days) or decide to march in short skirts, or even in their underwear- but it's because they're making a point- they're saying "this body is mine, I can wear what I want, without the fear of being raped".

Yesterday the march gathered nearby Hyde Park Corner, before setting off from the top of Picadilly before finishing with a rally at Trafalgar Square. The march was probably the most diverse crowd I've seen at a feminist minded protest, they were many women, but also men, as well as transgender people, queer groups, men's groups, political groups, mothers with children, people with bikes, people with dogs (one with a sign saying "I'm here for the bitches") people dressed in their underwear, people dressed in their everyday clothes, people with masks, people with handmade banners and so much more. My favourite of the banners had 'Buffy wouldn't stand for this shit' but other great ones had 'Sluts and plebs of the world unite', 'I love my cunt', 'Todd Akin is a legitimate asshole' and 'How to prevent rape 1.don't rape, 2.see #1'
The crowd was lively with drumming, dancing and lots of chanting- "It's a dress, not a yes" "Wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no" and more.

I didn't stay for the whole rally but I saw Anastasia Richardson, the founder of Slutwalk London, who is very inspiring - she's only about 19 years old, but has done an amazing job organising the events. I also saw Subi from Cambridge based group 'Those Pesky Dames' who I recently discovered thanks to the Cherry Healey 'How to get a life' programme- they make loads of great feminist videos so go check them out here.
Subi spoke of her experience as a rape survivor, it was disappointing but not surprising to hear about how she had been treated by the police who told her "it could have been worse you know...it could have been gang rape..."

Slutwalk London currently have a petition to get more protection for rape survivors and for more prosecutions for rapists- if you haven't already you should really sign it.

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

Well I don't often write personal-ish blogs on here, but to be honest now my life is so integrated with both music and feminism, that it would be impossible not to have some personal angle on some of my blogs.

2011 was an okay year for me for the most part, I felt like I didn't have too much of a social life like I used to, and my best friend moved to another country, BUT I did have much more involvement with music and feminist politics and not just through my radio show.

I started doing lots of writing for music blogs including Wears The Trousers, thegirlsare, JoyZine, The F Word and also for the Le Monnier Fan Blog which resulted in lots of good writing practice as well as quite a bit of free music and a couple of free gigs!

I tried to set up my own feminist group but didn't have much luck

I saw MEN at the Lexington in Feburary

I released the first two issues of my zine 'Dancing Barefoot'

In March, I went to my second Million Women Rise March this time as a steward, also the first protest I went to alone.
I also went to see The Australian Pink Floyd and on the same day I met Dee Plume, of one of my favourite bands Robots in Disguise!

I went to my first Roller Derby bout, and I loved it!

I went to see Robots in Disguise (for the third time) in May and possibly one of my favourite gigs ever, as I was right at the front, I headbanged with Dee and managed to nab their set list :D

I organised and put on Ladyfest Essex, which was really exhausting and had lots of problems, but was a fun and satisfying thing to do. Sadly it clashed with the London SlutWalk although I did help them get a band to play at the event and then booked one of their books for their fundraiser in November.

For my 27th Birthday in June, I went to the British Music Experience and went to my first zine fest

In August I went to the Ladygarden fundraiser in Cambridge and discovered lots of awesome bands including We Rock Like Girls Don't

September was an active month, I saw Amanda Palmer for the third time, this time at Heaven (see the Joyzine link earlier in this post) I did the Adidas 5k Women's Challenge, (walking) and raised a further £100 for Refuge in addition to the £130 raised from Ladyfest Essex
I also saw Saint Jude and UT in this month

November was a very feminist month, as I went to FEM11 my first feminist conference and also to the Fawcett Society Don't Turn Back Time March, and then met Josie Long afterwards!

The final gig of the year was Gaggle, review to come soon on The F Word!

Lots of other things happened too-like finally having a tooth taken out, and having my xbox hacked...
but now it's gone and it's time to look forward to 2012, here is my resolutions for 2012:
To Start or Join a Feminist Group
To Volunteer at a women's shelter
to do more interviews on my show
to jog in the adidias 5k
organise another ladyfest/other charity events
-this is just a few, I have others but these are probably the most relevant to put here.
Happy New Year!

Fawcett Society- Don't Turn back Time march

Another Saturday in November, and another feminist event was happening- this time organised by The Fawcett Society in light of the impact that the government's cuts have had on women- there are 27 policies that affect women and currently female unemployment is at a 23 year high. Vital services such as abortion advice services and domestic abuse shelters are having their funds cut dramatically- and they were already struggling to survive.

There was a fifties theme- everyone was encouraged to come along in fifties fancy dress of some kind- I didn't on this occasion but many of the women (and men) that were on the march did- some in pretty vintage dresses, many with a head scarf and some with aprons, brooms and rubber gloves to give that real fifties housewife look!

The march met at 12pm outside of Temple tube station and there was apparently up to 2,500 people on the march at it's peak. The march set off around 12.30pm, and I was just behind some UNISON ladies, Million Women Rise and the London Feminist Network. The march went along the Embankment, and past Downing Street before finishing at Kings Charles Street, I felt in solidarity as I marched with the people around me, getting passed a song sheet- and we joined in singing together- one song in the tune of yellow submarine- "We won't take women's services away, services away, services away.." and other songs as well as simpler chants like "They say cutback! We Say fightback!"

The march seemed to be over really quickly as we all piled down Kings Charle's street to hear the rally. The started with Anna Bird and the chief director of the Fawcett Society, who then introduced us to a wide range of people with inspiring speeches. First up was the journalist Tanya Gold, choice quote-" no Mr Cameron. We will not calm down! Equality is a right not a luxury."

next up was Estelle Hart- the NUS Women's Officer, followed by comedian Kate Smurthwaithe who focused on abortion cutbacks, and the fact that Nadine Dorries wants to change sex education to abstinence education- ONLY FOR GIRLS...Heather Wakefield from UNISON was next discussing the strike on the 30th November.

There was Vivienne Hayes, the CEO of the Women's Resource Centre who took a more radical approach to her speech saying that she thought only women should be in government..then comedian Josie Long did an amazing (and funny speech) who spoke about her experiences of sexism as a female comedian and urged all to call out sexism everytime we hear it- to challenge it even if it's your friend's dad! There was also a speech from the Southall Bank Sisters and I think some others but I can't remember who they were!

Afterwards I went away feeling like I had been part of something good, and as I waited for the tube, I spotted Josie Long who then get on the same tube as me, so I worked up the nerve to actually speak to her and tell her how much I enjoyed her speech and she was lovely, she signed an autograph for me and seemed really touched that I had been nice about her speech! She told me about a project she had been doing with UKUncut and even showed me some photos on her phone! I wish I had of said something more to her really (like tell her to check out my radio show)! but you always think of it after don't you..

FEM11

I was excited when I heard UK Feminista were holding a feminist conference in London, I made sure I could come by swapping my Saturday at work and bought a ticket as soon as I could.

FEM11 was my first ever feminist conference and certainly won't be my last!
I had to get up really early as I wanted to make sure I got there early to register (which was a good move as the event was sold out and soon after we had arrived there was a massive queue going outside the door)! The registers were set in alphabetical order by first name which caused some confusion for me as I paid with Paypal which is in my husband's name, so I was down with his name instead and for a tiny moment I thought I wouldn't be on the list!

There was a bit of time before the conference so I had a look around the stalls, most of them were charity and organisations so I picked up lots of leaflets including detailed booklets on the work of End Violence Against Women. I also spent lots of money on a stall but I won't say what as the things I got are Xmas presents :)

About 10am we made our way into the big hall which was packed solid with loads of people- of all genders, ages and backgrounds, it took us ages to find a seat! Kat Banyard of UK Feminsta then done a introduction to the event and we heard various speeches including an excellent and humorous one from Sandi Toksving including the epic line "If Rapunzel had hair long enough to let a man climb and rescue her, why didn't she make a rope and climb down herself?"

There was a short break and then it was time for the first seminar of the day. The one I picked for the morning session was a talk from The Fawcett Society about the impacts of the government cuts and promoting their Don't Turn Back time march which is happening next Saturday. It was quite a depressing talk highlighting the need for help for families, low income mothers, victims of violence and older women. The most distressing part was hearing about maternity discrimination in the work place from a speaker from Platform 51 including tales of women who were dismissed shortly after announcing their pregnancy.

Afterwards there was an hour for lunch, the cafe had a huge queue so Cara took me to a place nearby called Planet Organic which had an awesome range of vegan food- so I had a falafel wrap, some organic cola and a vegan muffin :) We also got to try some raw vegan chocolate which tasted AMAZING.

The afternoon seminar I picked was from the group Object who campaign against the objectification of women. The seminar was in the big hall again and this was very full up and for the most part I really enjoyed their talk, we got to see some videos of them in action including their Feminist Friday action in Tesco and challenging lad mags on the news. I mostly agreed with what they had to say, but find myself conflicted with their views on sex work. I don't agree with the idea of selling sex, but I do worry if we ban their advertising and so on, that we may make things worse for the women involved, and of course there is the whole issue of choice-if women want to sell their bodies this way- is that okay? I find the sex work issue a somewhat complex issue in regards to my feminist beliefs. I discussed it with Cara who was very much against sex work, and to my dismay this was when she also told me that she was against transgender people, I won't go into details here, but I was shocked and I really can't see her point of view at all, I could only agree to disagree, I thought of many things I could have said later on but it was too late :(

There was another short break and then back in the main hall all together for the final parts of the day "Feminist Question Time" where we had the opportunity to ask some select feminists questions on a variety of topics including politics and porn- there's a good blog about it here
and then the mayor candidate debate, which has also been blogged about better than I could here

Overall the day was very inspiring and gave me plenty of food for thought. It also made me realise more some of the conflicts in the feminism community (like the porn industry, working with men etc) which saddens me a little as even though we may have different views, we need to work together on the things we DO agree on to make a difference. I also thought the question and answer sessions weren't always as well organised as they could have been, but I could understand it must be difficult with a room filled with over a thousand rowdy feminists!

Any Love is Good Love

My friend Emma and the awesome Ste McCabe have been working on an awesome project the last few months and it's now nearing completion.
They have been working on 'Any Love is Good Love' a cd with loads of fantastic bands including Death of the Elephant, The Lovely Eggs and of course, Ten Tigers, to raise awareness of homophobia and transphobia, as well as to raise money for Lesbian and Gay Youth Manchester.
There isn't an official release date yet, but I have heard a promo copy and can confirm that is a great cd. You can keep up to date and become a fan on Facebook

Pink Stinks!

I found out about this campaign the other day through one of my favourite sites The F Word.

The purpose of Pink Stinks! isn't just about trying to break down gender stereotypes. (have you noticed in toy shops the "girls" section is almost always pink, and they boys bit is blue or somehting similar? Not all girls want to play with Barbie, and not all boys want to play with toy cars)!

It's also about promoting positive role models for girls. Sadly "celebs" like Jordan and Paris Hilton are common choices for young girls to look up to these days. With our current reality show generation, more young people think they just need to get on a t.v show, or perhaps marry someone rich to be worthwhile.

"Pink Stinks!" is challenging that notion, by promoting truely postive role models for women like Annie Lennox, Rosa parks, June Sarpong and many others.
I can think of so many more to add to their list too- Joan Jett, Kathleen Hanna, Amanda Palmer, PJ Harvey, Patti Smith, Anne Rice, JK Rowling etc etc!

They have a group on facebook and a blog, as well as the main website Pink Stinks!