Abstract
Scratchily recorded audiocassettes, zines rich with collage, DIY (do-it-yourself) tattoos of black ink, spelling all things female in alternative ways—Sara Marcus revisits all this and more in her book, Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution. Separated into three sections by year, Marcus’s book guides the reader through the Riot Grrrl revolution of the early 1990s, in part historical—or herstorical, if you will—and part narrative prose. The book places the movement within the sociopolitical context of the times: the Republican Party collaborating with the religious right; attacks on girls and women in the forms of sexual harassment, “date rape,” and the gender gap in education; and the changing faces of feminism.
What social workers can expect to take away from Marcus’s book is not only a narrative of what it means (for some) to be an adolescent girl shirking society’s rules for her mind and body, but confidence in the power of girls and young women. In essence, the book is a window into female adolescent development, feminist style. Girls to the Front speaks to more than just the practice of ensuring that grrrls felt physically safe and had space at the front of a crowd moshing to (the band) Bikini Kill. It narrates a movement by, for, and about young women creating art; developing community; and calling out the violence, harassment, and inequities against them.
Marcus notes that “one of this book’s themes is the impossibility of adequately representing anyone else’s life” (p. 339). This theme recurs, since the media and others failed to define what was indefinable. Marcus does a great job, however, at simply providing the time line and a smattering of various grrrls’ stories so that the reader relives the ups and downs of the Riot Grrrl Revolution.
Just as the name and label “Riot Grrrl” was fraught with stereotypes and others’ assumptions, Marcus notes that a true telling of the revolution is not complete without the stories of those who lived it. One critique of the movement that Marcus voices was its apparent homogeneity—for some, too young, too white, too heterosexual, and too middle to upper class—thus, falling into the same trap as feminism as a whole. Although credit should be given to Marcus for giving voice to this critique throughout the book, the reader may be left wanting to hear more from these voices on the outskirts.
Girls to the Front is a strong introduction to the Revolution Girl Style Now! complete with pictures, pages from zines, and a sampling of the fliers that piqued interest near and far. A who’s who of women of music (punk), art, media, and feminist in-crowds on a national and local front, the book provides an informal soundtrack of the revolution within its pages. The reader is left with a fire in her belly, mind, and fists as she considers how far we have come—and how much remains to be done.