She Punks

Paul R. Kan is back today, giving us a review of ‘Revenge of She – Punks‘ by Vivien Goldman. We want to thank Paul for his book reviews, travel reviews, interviews, and other articles he writes for us. (If you want to find more articles written by Paul R. Kan, check out the bottom of this article.)

Book Review – Revenge of the She Punks

Trying to define she-punk, Vivien Goldman tell us, is like “walk[ing] on a rope bridge slung between melting icebergs in high wind.” But taking us across this bridge is what Goldman, the author of Revenge of the She-Punks, does skillfully. In a book where each chapter begins with a playlist that includes artists as varied as The Slits, Delta-5, Blondie, Chrissie Hynde and Grace Jones, we can see why understanding she-punk is a dizzying, exhilarating and, at times, terrifying journey.

Goldman avoids defining she-punk as sharing common acoustic notes, rhythmic beats or lyrical styles. Instead, she interviewed band members of over forty she-punk groups from the chapters’ playlists to find common themes in their struggles as women and as artists. Challenges of identity, money, love and protest form the core of she-punk and the heart of the book. Female musicians living day-to-day on the margins, then expressing them in music are what the author sees as distinctly “she-punk.”

She-punk songs can “slap as well as stroke.” Acoustics mirror abuse; beats mimic beatings; lyrics echo lust. For example, “The Boiler.” a song by Rhoda Dakar with the Special AKA, recounts a woman’s perspective of her sexual assault. It’s a song that you “have to hear and fear for yourself.”

Bands like The Clash, The Sex Pistols and Green Day couldn’t write—much less perform—she- punk songs like “The Boiler.” Because these bands’ members are men, their experiences were and are different. As Margaret Atwood, author The Handmaid’s Tale, put it: “A woman’s greatest fear is being killed by a man. A man’s greatest fear is being laughed at by a woman.” She-punks show how a man having his greatest fear realized can turn into a woman’s greatest fear.

Fear can be sparked, but moderated, by satire, sarcasm and snark. She-punk songs can work on the lighter side and still make a point. Tribe 8’s “Check Out Your Babe” about lesbian band members stealing men’s girlfriends at the band’s concert was made as much for laughs as protest. When it’s dangerous to be gay in many communities, in the United States and in other countries,
a satirical song about sexual relations is still political.

Fighting against political inequality, sexism and racism is part of the ethos of she-punk musicians. For Goldman, “these women all have their frontlines—global, national or domestic—and use punk as their weapon. Barrier-busting is their default mode; had they not created their own channels, in most cases, they would never have been heard.” Bursting through society’s frontlines and being heard are the goals of punk music in general. But for she-punk, the lyrics to Tanya Stephens “Welcome to the Rebelution” are a rhythmic reminder of what going
backwards looks like for women:

Came to past in the days of glorifying everything wrong
That the standard for girls became a bra and a thong
Wholesome values like curling up with a good book and a bong
Went out the window along with making a good song

The book is neither a manifesto nor filled with a series of scoldings. The author’s agenda is the same as the artists who she writes about—let women express their lives in their own ways. Read this book even if you don’t know, or like, punk music. You’ll be able to connect with the themes. If you like music of any kind, poetry or social history, this book will resonate with you as well. Reading this book is like walking across a rope bridge between two melting icebergs in high wind—you definitely won’t be bored.

Paul R. Kan

Paul R. Kan is the author of Hawai’i Beer:  A History of Brewing in Paradise which was a North American Guild of Beer Writers’ award winner and a #1 new release on Amazon’s Books on Beer.  He has written for Good Beer Hunting and is Editor-at-Large at The Beer Thrillers.  Along with beer reviews, book reviews and interviews, he also writes about the interesting ways beer intersects with people and society.  His current book project is Red, White and Brew:  The Beers and Battles that Shaped America. He lives in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

ʻOi kau ka lā, e hana i ola honua (While the sun yet shines, do all you can).

Paul R. Kan Articles

The following are articles that Paul R. Kan has written here for The Beer Thrillers:

• Book Review: Beer and Society: How We Make Beer and Beer Makes Us (Eli Revelle Yano Wilson and Asa B. Stone)
• Book Review: A Woman’s Place is in the Brewhouse – A Forgotten History of Alewives, Brewsters, Witches, and CEOs (Tara Nurin)
• From Central PA to the Pacific: A Beer Lover’s Hawaiian Journey An Interview with Alexander B. Gates
• Book Review: The Greatest Beer Run Ever (John Chick Donohue and J.T. Molloy)
• Twofer Brewfer Brewery Reviews: Gearhouse Brewing Co. and Liquid Art Brewing
• Tapping into Heritage and Hope on Maui
• Book Review: Brewed in Japan (Jeffrey Alexander)
• Three Questions and a Pint: with Josh Dourte
• Three Questions and a Pint: with Noah Reighard
• Visiting Four Breweries in Phoenix: Getting to Visit Tombstone Brewing Company, Wren House Brewing, PHX Beer Co, and OHSO Brewery and Distillery
• Book Review: Revenge of She-Punks (Vivien Goldman)

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