Mr Nice GuyGirl Power!!
January 2nd 2009 10:29
(Definately warranting the two whole exclamation points i gave it.)
The catch-cry of the 1990's. It was everywhere and I, an impressionable young thing could do nothing but take a deep breath and bid farewell to Nirvana, SIlverchair and the Pumpkins as the wave of peer-pressure and her good friend low self-esteem bowled me over.
Yes, dear readers (well, right now it's 'yes, dear no one' but we're pretending I have a following) I ignored every rule of being your own person and bowed to the pressure of being liked. Trust me, 10 year-olds can be cruel and i was already getting it for wearing boys clothes and dark purple lipstick (i never said i was a cool kid). I attatched butterfly-clips to my hair, invested in silver shimmer eyeshadow and zig-a-zag-ahh'd with the rest of them. It was fun, for a while, but there's only so many peace signs a girl can do before her hand starts to hurt. Whilst i loved the notion of 'Girl Power' (i had recently started my 'anything boys can do, i can do better' phase, which is still apparent today) the platform sneakers and coreographed dance moves were grating on my nerves. There were so many strong women releasing music in those heady years of the mid-late 1990's; Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, TLC, but what did we care? They weren't making movies with Richard E Grant.
Enter Shirley Manson and her band, Garbage.
Garbage began in Wisconsin, in 1994, when i was six years old and much too young to appreciate them. In fact, it was only recently that i discovered that Butch Vig produced Nirvana's 'Nevermind'. I fell off my seat with glee when I realised the connection between two of my most beloved bands. But I happened upon an interview with them a few years later, and was enthralled by Shirley's thick Scottish accent and flaming red hair. She kicked around in thick eyeliner, baggy pants and chains and rocked out with the boys. She proudly told us she was a redhead 'all the way down' before 'Firecrotch' Lohan was even filming 'The Parent Trap'. She kept her skin pale and had a voice like a motherbitch.
Enter, my new Role Model.
But why wasn't Shirley herself heading the new, Girl Power movement? She was the strong, independant female the Girl Groups claimed to be, and had the talent to back it up. Unfortunately, i suppose, the world wasn't ready for a veritable army of angry young women, rocking it as good, if not better, than the guys out there and swinging punches with the best of them, and this was before the indviduality which is encouraged, to an extent, today. This is a shame. We had several more years of floral dresses and those weird velvet hats with the roses on them to endure before bands with female leads became properly accepted within the Mainstream Music buisness. Remember when Hole was the band those alt kids at school liked? Or when No Doubt was this huge novelty? The Bad Old Days. (As a side note, what the hell happened to No Doubt? They used to be the cool punky ska band and all of a sudden Gwen Stefani's releasing songs with Akon and lugging around mute Japanese girls like they're pets?!) Bands were hairy men playing metal, hairy men playing rock, clean-shaven boys doing synchronised dance moves or fiesty young women in crop tops, shaking their hips and pouting. Garbage was fronted by a glamorous badass who stalked the stage and appeared in PETA adds. They were the anomaly.
But really, on a more personal note, Garbage have seemed to crop up everytime i'm having some sort of major, life-changing event. Shirley Manson was the first real Crush On A Girl i ever had. I didn't just want to be her, i wanted to be with her and hold hands and maybe even kiss. On the lips! (give me a break, i was ten!). Garbage had just released their album 'Bleed Like Me' in 2005 when the hottest girl in school (in my opinion) asked me out. The first several months of that relationship had Shirley's voice in the background.
The point is, this band heralded a return to alternative music, odd-looking clothes and thinking for myself. So, if anyone's out there, tell me your story! What did you do in the name of Peer-Pressure, and what jerked you bag into the world of quirk? Who was your first same-sex crush? Who's your Girl Power icon? Were you ever horribly sick during an innapropriate time with a hot girl to a specific band?
Not, reader, that this has ever happened to me.
The catch-cry of the 1990's. It was everywhere and I, an impressionable young thing could do nothing but take a deep breath and bid farewell to Nirvana, SIlverchair and the Pumpkins as the wave of peer-pressure and her good friend low self-esteem bowled me over.
Yes, dear readers (well, right now it's 'yes, dear no one' but we're pretending I have a following) I ignored every rule of being your own person and bowed to the pressure of being liked. Trust me, 10 year-olds can be cruel and i was already getting it for wearing boys clothes and dark purple lipstick (i never said i was a cool kid). I attatched butterfly-clips to my hair, invested in silver shimmer eyeshadow and zig-a-zag-ahh'd with the rest of them. It was fun, for a while, but there's only so many peace signs a girl can do before her hand starts to hurt. Whilst i loved the notion of 'Girl Power' (i had recently started my 'anything boys can do, i can do better' phase, which is still apparent today) the platform sneakers and coreographed dance moves were grating on my nerves. There were so many strong women releasing music in those heady years of the mid-late 1990's; Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, TLC, but what did we care? They weren't making movies with Richard E Grant.
Enter Shirley Manson and her band, Garbage.
Garbage began in Wisconsin, in 1994, when i was six years old and much too young to appreciate them. In fact, it was only recently that i discovered that Butch Vig produced Nirvana's 'Nevermind'. I fell off my seat with glee when I realised the connection between two of my most beloved bands. But I happened upon an interview with them a few years later, and was enthralled by Shirley's thick Scottish accent and flaming red hair. She kicked around in thick eyeliner, baggy pants and chains and rocked out with the boys. She proudly told us she was a redhead 'all the way down' before 'Firecrotch' Lohan was even filming 'The Parent Trap'. She kept her skin pale and had a voice like a motherbitch.
Enter, my new Role Model.
But why wasn't Shirley herself heading the new, Girl Power movement? She was the strong, independant female the Girl Groups claimed to be, and had the talent to back it up. Unfortunately, i suppose, the world wasn't ready for a veritable army of angry young women, rocking it as good, if not better, than the guys out there and swinging punches with the best of them, and this was before the indviduality which is encouraged, to an extent, today. This is a shame. We had several more years of floral dresses and those weird velvet hats with the roses on them to endure before bands with female leads became properly accepted within the Mainstream Music buisness. Remember when Hole was the band those alt kids at school liked? Or when No Doubt was this huge novelty? The Bad Old Days. (As a side note, what the hell happened to No Doubt? They used to be the cool punky ska band and all of a sudden Gwen Stefani's releasing songs with Akon and lugging around mute Japanese girls like they're pets?!) Bands were hairy men playing metal, hairy men playing rock, clean-shaven boys doing synchronised dance moves or fiesty young women in crop tops, shaking their hips and pouting. Garbage was fronted by a glamorous badass who stalked the stage and appeared in PETA adds. They were the anomaly.
Copenhagen, 2005
But really, on a more personal note, Garbage have seemed to crop up everytime i'm having some sort of major, life-changing event. Shirley Manson was the first real Crush On A Girl i ever had. I didn't just want to be her, i wanted to be with her and hold hands and maybe even kiss. On the lips! (give me a break, i was ten!). Garbage had just released their album 'Bleed Like Me' in 2005 when the hottest girl in school (in my opinion) asked me out. The first several months of that relationship had Shirley's voice in the background.
The point is, this band heralded a return to alternative music, odd-looking clothes and thinking for myself. So, if anyone's out there, tell me your story! What did you do in the name of Peer-Pressure, and what jerked you bag into the world of quirk? Who was your first same-sex crush? Who's your Girl Power icon? Were you ever horribly sick during an innapropriate time with a hot girl to a specific band?
Not, reader, that this has ever happened to me.
| 14 |
| Vote |
