Follow Up to "Don't Punch Me"
A couple of months ago I wrote a column about physical violence at underage punk shows in New Orleans. I had so many thoughts about what was going on and about how to address violence in our communities and promised to continue the discussion later because I couldn't fit it all into one column.
The feedback that I got from writing that column and others (like the one I wrote months before that about ironic bigotry for shock value) makes me realize that there are just so many different ways of relating to punk, and that my way of relating to it is a minority perspective, and I use the word minority recognizing all of its connotations.
I grew up going to shows in a town where if certain people in the audience were making it impossible for the rest of the audience to enjoy the show by being violent or otherwise intolerable, certain bands would stop playing and wait for the idiocy to die down before they started playing again. That is punk to me: Creating the kind of atmosphere you want to have around you. Realizing that you are in charge of your own experience.
The point of writing that column wasn't to slam a local band but to show how a community or scene can deal with conflict in a way that doesn't dismiss or vilify the accused party so that actual change can happen. I guess that was a naïve goal because even though I thought I dealt with the issue respectfully, the negative feedback I got was pretty similar to what I would've gotten if I had explicitly called them out as being fucked up misogynist pigs. Looking back at my own history of calling out and being called out, I always imagine that a more diplomatic approach would bring better results, but that doesn't seem to be the case, so ladies, feminists, people in the scene who wish to confront difficult issues in your communities, go ahead and do it and don't mince your words. It doesn't matter how you say it, you'll get a nasty, defensive response that evades accountability no matter what. Even so, it's still worth doing. Just be ready.
Thanks to the people who wrote me about the difficult situations they've encountered in their own communities—from being sexually harassed in front of your peers and not being supported, to thinking about how to call out a rapist who is well known and liked in your community. These are important struggles that seem to happen in the margins, issues that most people don't have to deal with.
Local scenes are important, but most, outside of major cities, are very small and limited in their scope. Even though I've lived in cities with pretty large scenes, I don't think I would've been able to survive socially in punk if I hadn't been able to get in touch with other brown punks and queer punks through writing, traveling and living in different cities over the years. I continue to write this column for the minority of kids who need this liberating tool that is punk rock but who might also potentially be alienated by the people who make up the majority of the subculture. I want to retain you. I don't want you to leave! We are each others' audience and your experiences validate mine. We can support each other, even from really far away.
Anyway, it's time to retreat for a while. It's finally cooled down in New Orleans. The days are short and the nights are long and that means I'm spending way more time inside writing songs, making plans for next year, talking on the phone to faraway friends, working on projects and listening to a shit ton of music. Listening to music is the number one way that I create my own ideal world for myself. Here is my winter listening top 10 in no particular order.
Trash Kit
Lydia Lunch – Queen of Siam
Fugazi - Repeater
Next Stop... Soweto: Township Sounds from the Golden Age of Mbaqanga
Neonates (tape)
Chin Chin – Sound of the Westway
Hans-a-plast – 2
Echo and the Bunnymen – Songs to Learn and Sing
Moss Icon – Lyburnum Wits End Liberation Fly
Mydolls – A World of Her Own
...and lots of old mixtapes!
Write me: shotgunseamstress@gmail.com
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