Some lovely coverage has arrived from Germany following this year’s Rebellion Festival, with journalist Ferdinand Meyen putting the spotlight on LOUD WOMEN and the political voices shaking up punk.
Ferdinand’s new podcast about 30 years of Rebellion Festival features conversations recorded in Blackpool, including contributions about the LOUD WOMEN stage and the artists who filled it.
He has also written a feature for German public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk exploring women, punk and politics, with contributions from Witch Spit, HAWXX and I, Doris.
The article tackles sexism, sexual violence, femicide, reproductive rights, online misogyny and the menopause, as well as the continuing fight for women over 50 to be visible on stage.
I, Doris’s Lenie talks about the misinformation women have been given about menopause and the failure to invest properly in women’s health:
“Women have been told a lot of lies about the menopause. At the same time, we were denied medicine that actually works. That was because of money, and because nobody wants to invest in women’s health.”
She also speaks about the frightening reversal of rights that once seemed to be moving steadily forwards:
“It’s frightening how women’s rights are being restricted again. I grew up in the 1970s and always thought things were moving forwards. But now, all of a sudden, there are these huge steps backwards, and it’s fucking frightening.”
The feature also raises an important contradiction: how do we fight for greater visibility for women and marginalised genders in music without endlessly defining artists by their gender?
HAWXX tell Ferdinand that they don’t want their political views to be framed in terms of their gender, while Lenie questions the constant emphasis on bands being “female”:
“Why does it always have to be highlighted that a band is female? It’s really just about being accepted for it and for it to be completely normal.”
Quite.
The article concludes by pointing to the continuing male dominance of major festival bills, noting that perhaps when festivals such as Rock am Ring finally move beyond lineups that are more than 80% male, we’ll be getting somewhere.
Listen to Ferdinand Meyen’s Rebellion podcast
Read the full Bayerischer Rundfunk feature, in German
Huge thanks to Ferdinand for taking the time to talk to us at Rebellion, and for giving LOUD WOMEN, I, Doris and the artists we champion such thoughtful coverage.