Check this out:
AMAZING, HUH?
At Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp, girls ranging in age from eight to 18 are taught that it’s OK to sweat like a pig, scream like a banshee, wail on their instruments with complete and utter abandon, and that “it is 100% okay to be exactly who you are.” The girls have a week to select a band, an instrument they may have never played before, and write a song. In between, they are taught by indie rock chicks such as Carrie Brownstein from Sleater-Kinney various lessons of empowerment from self-defense to anger management. At the end of the week, all the bands perform a concert for over 700 people.
The documentary that has everyone buzzing this year is opening this Friday with a special screening at Avalon theater followed by an afterparty with live music, BYOB and other things that make good afterparties.
And all this to benefit Girls Rock DC! our own outpost.
We have a pair of tickets (which gain you direct entry to the afterparty) + 2 sodas and 2 popcorns to giveaway for the Friday bonanza.
Just post a comment about your favorite girls that rock and they can be yours.
Easy.
The winner will be notified by Thursday 8 am.
Fllllyyyyyyyyyy Lesbian Seeeeagulll
April 1, 2008 at 11:43 amMy favorite ever girls that rock are Bikini Kill. “Rebel Girl” pretty much gave me a reason to live as a disaffected teen.
April 1, 2008 at 11:53 amMy favorite girls rock are the wild ones… the ones who throw caution [and their clothes... (winks at Syrena & her co-host)] to the wind… the creative, inspiring, amazing women who get not even an ounce of the credit they deserve. yeah, I’m talking about all the girls that are making “Girls Rock! DC” possible. (http://www.myspace.com/girlsrockdc) Rock on girls!
April 1, 2008 at 1:11 pmmy absolute favorite girl that rocks is patti smith. while not entirely a girl anymore, she is incredibly passionate and articulate. she inspires me.
April 1, 2008 at 1:39 pmHey, one of the filmmakers here, just happened to stumble on this blog post! Just wanted to let Emily know that the opening song of the movie is Rebel Girl!
Don’t enter me into the contest, obviously I’ll be able to get in already…hope to see y’all there!
April 1, 2008 at 4:18 pmMichael: that was a sexist statement if i’ve ever heard one.
If boys can do all those things, there’s no reason that girls can’t!
I may not be a huge fan of that particular sound, but everyone should feel confidant and comfortable enough with themselves to do that.
We need more programs like this, because while the education-gap, and salary-gap may be closing, girls still aren’t encouraged, or told that it’s okay to be dirty, and loud, and fart, and all those things that boys are encouraged to do! Girls are still told that they have to be pretty (and what pretty is), and that boys do this and girls do not do that.
Michael, i hope you don’t have children. That may sound harsh, but i can only imagine what sort of insecure and emotionally unstable girls or emotionally abusive and sexist boys you would raise.
*though, of course if michael was being sarcastic, that did not come across at all. sorry about the rant.
April 1, 2008 at 6:57 pmThere’s entirely too many girls to mention that ROCK…
first, Tara Key from Antietam, Georgia Hubley from Yo La Tengo (who’s father created Mr. Magoo!), my friends in Philly: Kara Lafty-The Jane Anchor, JoAnn Schmidt-The Jane Anchor, IKE and any girl who’s never even thought twice about picking up a musical instrument and/or opened up their mouth and sung their hearts out….just wanting to be heard.
While I can’t really play my guitar much anymore, I’m glad I’ve been able to help the girls in my life realize that they can do anything they want if they put their minds to it.
I’m glad the camp is coming to DC, if I had a daughter, niece or yougn friend in the area, she’d be there in a heartbeat, but instead, I’ll sign up to volunteer and help out in any way I can!
April 1, 2008 at 8:25 pmWhat about boys rock? I mean, I think young boys get a lot more shit for being “musical” than girls do. And girls who play guitars get a lot more attention for it as adults than boys do. Trust me, I just spent a weekend watching Meredith Munoz (Pash) and Amy Millan (Stars) getting WAAAAY more crowd love than their similarly guitar-strapped male counterparts. Not that Meredith and Amy don’t deserve it…they’re the best. But do we really need a rock camp for girls? I really don’t think so. I’d rather see a self-defense camp for girls or a “how not to degrade yourself” camp for girls.
April 1, 2008 at 9:35 pmhow about a “how not to degrade women” camp for boys?
or maybe “how to treat each other as people and not as a gender” camp for boys and girls?
maybe one day, people will see each other as people and gender won’t be an issue. one day.
and i think girls get so much attention in the music industry because they aren’t (generally) encouraged to pursue music the way a boy would. if a girl sings, she’s supposed to be in choir; if she plays the piano, she should play recitals. in the past the greats have been male, i’m talking way old school, like beethoven, tchicovsky - old school. unless a girl could sing or play the piano, she generally wasn’t involved in music - or the arts in general. it really hasn’t been ’til the 20th century that girls were really allowed to take part. and then, it still wasn’t until the sixties when girls started to step away from doing all the “girly” things and started to enter the “man’s world.”
…and i’m sure you could find a rock camp just for boys, or coed, this one is just special because of it’s mission statement, and they made a movie about it.
April 1, 2008 at 9:58 pmLauren Bacall was a rebel - quite more rebellious than most rock stars - and still never sweated like a pig nor screamed like a banshee, no?
Yes. My point is you can be empowered and be a rebel and still be really fucking classy while doing it.
I know girls sweat. There are girls who are faster than me, stronger than me and more coordinated. Still, for me, personally, I like it that girls aren’t stinky, sweaty just-like-boy-creatures.
YMMV.
And why shouldn’t gender be an issue? Men and women aer different. We are wired different. We think differently, we act differently. Each has their strengths and weaknesses. Why should that be erased in favor of some non-descript gender-neutral ideal? This isn’t to say that one gender is better than the other, but they most certainly are different. And that should be celebrated, not erased or marginalized.
April 2, 2008 at 9:15 amAmanda - fair point on Beethoven, I suppose. But having entered the working world ten years ago and never once encountered any resistance because I’m a woman…well, it all seems much ado about nothing. Girls in America can be whatever they want, including presidents and rockstars. Making a fuss over little girls playing guitars seems oh-so-dated and regressive at this point.
April 2, 2008 at 11:20 amI agree that differences should be celebrated and understood, but that’s with each person. I understand the men and women are wired differently, but when it comes to what one enjoys to do with their time, I don’t see why gender should be an issue.
For the record I don’t like smelly people, everyone should have decent hygiene, but if someone wants to involve themselves in activities that aren’t “traditionally” for their gender, I don’t see why not.
People make judgements, whether consious or not, based on gender. The stereotypes are still there, it’s the same with the race issue (i believe). Women are forever marked, no matter what they do.
A girl can wake up and go to class in sweats and people may make the assumptions that she’s lazy, sick, having a bad day, running late, etc. Or if she wears tight clothes, or not, or wears her hair a certain way, it doesn’t matter but she’ll always be judged based on how she looks. Guys don’t have it that bad, they don’t carry a mark.
April 2, 2008 at 11:27 amActually Beethoven (et. al.) wrote a lot of their music to be performed by their students - female students. Dedications (Fur Elise, for one trite example (not that the music is trite, but it is played tritely by every 2d year piano student. I’ve only heard the entire piece played once well (present company excepted of course)) weren’t dedications in a getting in pants form, but dedications because the piece was written to be performed by the person. They were written to complement that student’s style. There have been many good female pianists and many competent concert pianists. But that is just one such difference - there are no really great female concert pianists. It’s not for lack of trying, either, nor is it because they aren’t allowed to play “great” music, nor is it because they weren’t taught “great” music. It’s just something that’s for some reason beyond the reach of women. It’d be an interesting PhD thesis, too, if you could get a liberal college committee to approve it (which they wouldn’t).
http://www.pianowomen.com/yesterday.html
Surprising isn’t it? I bet there aren’t two people who read this site who have heard of any of them, and all of them are really really fucking good but yet none of them ever really reached the level of a Rubenstein, much less a Horowitz.
The great pianists and conductors are just dudes. Not sure why, but they just are (most of them are also eccentric and hard to get along with as well so you get the good with the bad).
Female composers are an even rarer bird. There’s just something in the female brain that keeps them from composing on par with Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven (there’s something that keeps most people male or female from doing it, too), but even of the female composers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_composers
have you heard of any of them? I know of a few. Why haven’t you heard of them? Because their music just isn’t on par with the greats. (Fear not, the list of male composers would be in the thousands an you haven’t heard of most of them, either).
But back to the point - I said “no it isn’t” which was an opinion. I’m not particularly fond of sweaty pig like banshee girls. And I don’t think it takes that to be a rebel. If a girl wants to be a sweaty pig banshee then she can go for it all she wants, and she’ll likely have fans. I just won’t be one of them (for the record I also hate Telleman’s music).
And as far as going to class in sweats, whenever I go out in sweats I feel myself very lazy and sick.
And I’m judged on how I look all the time. I’m the retard in the cowboy hat.
April 2, 2008 at 2:49 pmI should add that since coming to DC over a decade ago every boss, or immediate supervisor, has been a woman.
April 2, 2008 at 3:49 pmomg! what great discussion! honestly.
but I have a bit of fun for y’all speaking of potentially sarcastic remarks.
a favorite quote:
Sarchasm (sär’k z’ m). 1. (n.) The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the recipient who doesn’t get it.
michael: you may be the retard in the cowboy hat, but that’s just to people that find the hat annoying. people are less likely to make lighter opinions of young ladies. for example, my sister has short hair, very short hair and says that the hairdresser got “scissor happy,” the first words out of her mouth afterwards were, “do i look like a lesbian?” it’s sad that she thought that at all, mostly because I know plenty of straight girls with short hair, and lesbians with long hair, but that’s the stereotype.
and throughout this discussion i wasn’t speaking in reference to girls being rebellious. I agree with you. But as far as girls playing in the dirt, and just being a kid, i think they can do both, and should be encouraged and taught to get dirty and how to have class. it is possible.
April 3, 2008 at 6:32 amMichael Says: >
>
Neither stinking, sweating, nor composing amazing music is the sole property of one gender.
A girl who sweats, stinks, and plays rough is a Girl. A girl with perfect makeup and hair who smells like a rose is also a Girl.
The word “Girl” describes billions of people who encompass every trait, style, like and dislike, race, religion, body type, and other diversity that exists in this world, not to mention a whole range of gender expression.
Assigning stereotyped characteristics to one sex or another only limits everyone’s potential as human beings.
April 4, 2008 at 2:04 pmMichael Says: I like it that girls aren’t stinky, sweaty just-like-boy-creatures.>>
>
————————————————————————–
Neither stinking, sweating, nor composing amazing music is the sole property of one gender.
A girl who sweats, stinks, and plays rough is a Girl. A girl with perfect makeup and hair who smells like a rose is also a Girl.
The word “Girl” describes billions of people who encompass every trait, style, like and dislike, race, religion, body type, and other diversity that exists in this world, not to mention a whole range of gender expression.
Assigning stereotyped characteristics to one sex or another only limits everyone’s potential as human beings.
April 4, 2008 at 2:06 pmGirls Rock Camp is only partly about the music. The campers actually DO learn self-defense, media literacy, the technical and business sides of music, and more. Why Girls? Of course little boys should rock out too, but the rock and roll world has been male-dominated from the beginning. Girls in our society are taught to be quiet, sweet, and attractive. Check out the trailer for the movie and listen to a sixteen year old camper talk about her body image. It’s heartbreaking. Rock Camp is a way to teach girls that it is ok to be loud, speak up, and be confident with who you are.
There are a lot of good arguments– as well as some illogical and disappointing ones– in this discussion.
What I would ask is that we realize that we are talking about real kids with real issues who may really need something like this in their lives. It’s interesting to debate the issue involved, but an eight-year-old camper doesn’t care about that. She just knows that camp was so much fun and that she feels like she can do anything.
“Assigning stereotyped characteristics to one sex or another only limits everyone’s potential as human beings.”
Thank you for this comment. I think this sums up exactly why we need a Rock Camp for girls, and why feminism is as important today as it has ever been. It saddens me that on a blog titled “Brightest Young Things” (operative words being “bright” and “young”) that we are still having the same tired old discussions about “Why girls? What about the boys?” that I would have with people of my father’s generation–at least at 70 years old, I give him a bit of pass. The fact that 20 somethings are still questioning why girls might need an empowerment boost while simultaneously perpetuating gender stereotypes and insisting that women have obtained equality (because, ya know, their personal experience says it all, especially if they’re dudes) bums me out . I had hoped that times were a changin.’
Anyway, ignore those idiots for the moment and come to the movie. I saw it in a different city. You won’t be disappointed! The whole point of the camp is to create a space where the opinions of blow-hard, self-important dudes don’t matter to anyone, and especially not to the women and girls who might otherwise be forced to put up with their wack-ass world view in the outside world.
April 4, 2008 at 5:28 pmI got to this board a bit late late but some of the posters here just don’t get it. Some women even seem to think there’s no need to support girls in finding healthy identities, but music is one of the best, most accessible ways to gain confidence through creativity. It’s empowering. If you think that “self-esteem” is just a cliche then chances are you take your own for granted. Personally I don’t back away from feminism like it’s some kind of social plague. This isn’t man-hating, it’s more of a healthy unity between the sexes and yes it is still sorely needed. It’s amazing to hear that seemingly intelligent people don’t have any inkling of the destructive influence our culture can have on young women. It’s hardly an outdated issue. Remember how a female supporter at a recent campaign event asked John McCain: “How do we beat the bitch?” and instead of objecting to the characterization, McCain called it “an excellent question” while the whole room erupted into laughter. Whatever your political opinions, Hillary is a US Senator who got the presidential nomination. You’d think she would be somewhat entitled to respect from her peers. When a major public figure is maligned repeatedly for being female, what good are pervasive role models like Paris Hilton against rape or eating disorders? All the destructive forces most girls (and few boys) face need to be counteracted with something… So yay girls that rock. And yay filmmakers that rock too.
April 7, 2008 at 9:49 pm
“it’s OK to sweat like a pig, scream like a banshee, wail on their instruments with complete and utter abandon,”
No it isn’t. I mean just imagine Lauren Bacall…
April 1, 2008 at 11:41 am