Riot Women

I have been saying for ages that middle-aged women are the most punk of all. We’re angry. We have so much rage and so few fucks. We deserve the catharsis of punk.

Which means of course I was delighted to hear about this:

"Alison Dunne – stage name Fish – has formed a punk band at the age of 58 because, as she said: “I’ve got no fucks to give any more about what anyone thinks of me.”"

And then, of course, we have the amazing Sally Wainwright masterpiece that is Riot Women. Wow. This show is 6 hours of pure gold, and the perfect demonstration of why women over 40 need punk! I watched this with tears streaming down my face and I fell in love with every one of these remarkable women. A must watch.

One thing in particular about Riot Women that almost ended me was the use of Hole’s Violet as a recurring motif. A song that is baked into my bones as an existential howl of womankind everywhere.

And then I went down a bit of a rabbit hole and ended up reading not one but two amazing lady punk books - Revenge of the She Punks by Vivien Goldman, and Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys by Viv Albertine (of The Slits). I highly recommend both - the first as a sort of primer of how women fitted into the punk scene, and the second as a rallying cry for doing the thing you love against all the odds. Brilliant!

None of this has done anything to quench my lifelong dream of fronting an all-girl punk band. Maybe one day I’ll make it happen…