1

WOMEN AND
SUPER
HEROES
Women and superheroes have one of the worst relationships in
my opinion. Because superheroes were mainly targeted at men
from the beginning, wanting a role model to show them how they
had to behave. Someone that taught them to be the good guy and
save the damsel in distress, so she can then continue her
mundane life, while the man is the dominant figure. It’s the
classic “man = work // woman = house” type of thing and it’s
terrible.

And when comic artists try to cater these icons also to

women it’s always a crappy wannabe version of the original
male one. Maybe sometimes we’re lucky enough to get our
own independent character, but 9 out of 10 they’re so
sexualized that they’re just there for male pleasure and
not for any other reason.

Two examples of this are Black Widow (Marvel) and Wonder Woman (DC
Comics). Why do the others get protective and covering armor and
they just wear a really tight spandex suit that don’t even cover
their breast or their legs? I feel like it’s so dumb cause it’s so
clear that whoever designed that wasn’t thinking about
practicality.
I do think it’s great that nowadays there are
more women in positions of power in movies
(in this case, superheroes) but we shouldn’t
settle for less than we deserve, which is a
decent heroine that isn’t hypersexualised.

There’ also a lot of sexism and misogyny when

talking about female superheroes, men saying
that we shouldn’t have them cause we could never
be that powerful. And you know what?? Shut the
fuck up. I’m fed up with male superheroes, we
have enough. I think rapresentation is a key
aspect in movies and tv shows, there should
definitely be more black female (and also male)
heroes. I’ve rarely seen any, maybe I haven’t
searched enough but it shouldn’t be this hard
to find them, compared to the white ones.

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 celebrity skin
When I started to think about writing this piece it was about
Courtney Love and her offences, but in all honesty, I love Courtney
Love. I’ve felt guilty over that fact because of things she’s done,
but do those things matter? I love her music with and without Hole,
her style in all its eras, and her general attitude. I think she’s
so fucking strong with everything she’s been through. And for her
fucking disgusting past I won’t try and defend her, she was entirely
in the wrong. But what I’ve really been thinking about is how much
my opinion doesn’t matter. She’s a celebrity with more money than
I’ll ever have, and more blind supporters and haters than I could
imagine. I should not have to defend why I like a celebrity, because
in the grand scheme of things, celebrities are so far disconnected
from us that we shouldn’t feel guilty for enjoying a celebrity. You
can pick and choose what parts of a celebrity you enjoy and dislike
because you don’t know them, their actions are not your own, and if
you can just differentiate their bad and good decisions
and moments you aren’t creating any problems. You should
not feel inner turmoil simply for enjoying someone
you think is fun is cool. You can disdain parts of
a person and love other parts. I think that with
stan culture we get wrapped up in every little
detail and have to enjoy only the very best and
unproblematic of people without being
criticized or called out. We need to live life
focused on ourselves, not the people on
pedestals. If you know that you are good, you
should be confident in yourself to enjoy
things and people critically. If you don’t
criticize things you love, you get into
blind faith and cultism. Basically, I’m
saying, don’t feel bad for what you like.
You and your opinion matter and you
shouldn’t let others guilt you in to
feeling other ways. If you are aware and
cognizant of negative actions and choices,
you’ve done a good job. Peel back the skin of
your idols and if you still like them, go ahead
and like them. Don’t idolize, hold
accountability in your brain and your heart. So
yeah, Courtney Love stan on main.

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 “You’re So Strong To Do That As Your Job!”
caring so much has made me grow cold
I wake up hearing people cry, I hug them and I’m
empty
of the empathy that once made living a worthy
sacrifice
years spent studying the all the reasons
people sweat blood and disintegrate, wishing
the pills doctors hand out were more than candy to
distract their brains
I talk to people whose stories are fetishized by
those with a hunger for what they will never see
in their Stephen King inspired movies
they envelop my every thought that isn’t spent
wishing I could walk out on my own PG-13 memories
so that at least one life would be made better by my
overbearing dedication to mental health

the only reason I’m not a photo frame on the wall

left haunting the closets I’m still a little scared
of
is to care for people with nothing left inside
discovering I’m immune to tragedies
death, blood, ghosts, vampires
school shootings, overdoses, genocide, survivors
meet me calmly at eye level, we
have chats about the weather and how we want to
destroy
everything we see that have eaten our hearts
subtly, adorably licking the edges as they drip
melting holes haphazardly scattered across organs
“Oh, to be a cannibal instead of vegetarian” I think
to myself
“Here are recipes for sides you can make
that pair well with roast pork, the flesh of Prince
Mammon”
they enjoy my banter, they trust me, it makes me
feel like I chose to become a monster

@myaoakoah
Hey everyone, I’m just a college student who’s spent her whole life writing as
her preferred method of kicking a$$. When I entered the punk scene I felt like I
finally came home, and if your reading this I want you to know that every time
life beats you up, people like me are here to give life a black eye :)

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 Art by Bri (she/they)
Ig: @bri_vinkels
hi, I’m Bri! (she/they) and my
art work includes things I
care about and am inspired by
like for example there are
pictures of people protesting
against police brutality and
racism and there is also
picture of Angela Davis and
musicians I like, like Kat
Bjelland, Kurt Cobain and L7.
And thank you for giving me a
chance to share my work <3

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 interview with

Based in Kent, UK, Cherry and The Fever Dreams is

an all-girl band that formed in early 2020. Their
influences include The Strokes, Placebo and Riot
Grrrl bands. Today I (Dafne) sat down with Emily
Stolton (vocals), Emia Demir (guitar) and Zara
Kumbasaroğlu (drums) to talk about their latest
release “On Your Back” and their Cherry Bomb zine.

1. What’s your favorite thing about being in a band?

Emily: I think for me it was just having people to write songs with, cause
I've been writing music on my own for a long time. Emia was in a band
before, but this is my first band so just the experience of writing and
developing songs with people other than myself times. We have a similar
taste in music as well, so just sharing that is pretty cool.
Zara: For me it's being in a band that actually worked out and having reckon
an outlet for my music. I've been in like a couple bands that never really
went anywhere, we just said “let's make a band” and then we just played
covers a few times. This Cherry and the Fever Dreams project that we’ve made
is actually gone somewhere, at the start it was a perfect way I could use
this hobby of mine and actually do something with it. Music's always been a
passion of mine since I was a small child but I've never thought that I
would have like the chance to actually do something with it. The fact that
this light came up in my life is like the best.
Emia: It feels quite special because as Zara said I've been in a band before
and it hasn't really like worked out the best. But from the very first time
we rehearsed together there was just such a musical chemistry. None of us
were friends at all before, I just knew someone who was friends with one of
Zara’s friend, and it has all worked out really well. I love how it's like
an all girl band, when I was young I wanted to be in one so bad.

2. Did you learn to play your instruments by yourself or did you take any
classes?
Emily: I started Piano lessons when I was really young and then I taught
myself guitar. I don't think I've really learned how to sing, I just kind of
make noise.
Zara: I just started playing guitar when I was seven I think, I had lessons
but but when I was a toddler I always hit on my mum's pots and pans, so my
parents could tell i had like a thing for rhythm. The place where I did my
guitar lessons also had drums, so they offered me some classes. I seemed not
to be terrible at it and I carried on, so I had a few drums lessons but now
I kind of do on my own.
Emia: In primary school I heard that they were doing guitar lessons, in my
head I was thinking of electric guitar. I think I saw an Avril Lavigne music
video where she was playing it and I really wanted to learn how to play it.
But then it was like classical guitar and it was the worst thing. For ages I
thought I just hated music but then I started picking up the electric guitar
and just learning every My Chemical Romance song when I was 12. So I'm kind
of self taught in that aspect cause I really don't remember anything from
the lessons I used to have.
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 3. Who’s your biggest inspiration? 14
Emily: we all have different inspirations that we kind of bring to the
table, so for me like the Strokes and Julian Casablancas. I listen to a lot
of Hole and that’s a big inspiration. Lately lyrically as a whole I’m quite
inspired by Hayley Williams and Phoebe Bridges. They’re two people that
inspired me on an individual level, especially Hayley, just being a really
cool female in the music industry.
Emia: It's weird because there are some bands that like I'll listen to and
they'll really inspire me in terms of them being so cool and successful. But
when I write stuff it won’t really sound like them. But when I listen to Red
Hot Chilli Peppers or Placebo I notice that when I go and write something
later - I don't rip them off but I just get really really inspired in terms
of guitar. Artists that just inspire as a whole I'd have to say like
Kathleen Hanna is just one bad bitch, she just is so cool and really knows
what she's talking about. With a lot of Bikini Kill stuff musically it
doesn't inspire me that much, cause a lot of the songs are just like 3
chords. But in terms of the emotion that they give off, it makes you feel so
pumped and I just love that kind of thing.
Zara: I feel like in terms of like fans I'm inspired by a lot of the music I
listen to, so Royal Blood – I love their drumming a lot. Also Bring Me The
Horizon, I listen to them since I was young like since my emo days. Nowadays
I really like Black Honey and those kinds of bands. I'm just inspired by
every time I listen to a song, like the beat or the drumming I'm just like
that's so cool.

4. What was the song writing process behind “On Your Back”?
Emia: I started off just with this really weird
guitar riff and I remember just sending it to my
boyfriend cause I was like “oh this sounds so
weird”. He does music as well and he told me to
actually finish that one. So I did and I thought it
was kind of cool. Then I sent the instrumental to
Emily and I remember it was in like the peak of
lockdown and Emily was like “ohh this is like the
most inspired I've been in awhile”. We tried to
write a couple of things before and they weren't
bad, we didn’t really have that feeling of “this is
really cool” with the things we were writing then.
I sent her the instrumental for that and I did it
all in like one night, except for the opening riff.
I think like a week later you sent me the vocals
for the verse and it was really cool.
Emily: Before this song we were writing songs just for gigs,
with the purpose of getting a crowd to like them, but that was
the first song that we kind of and pulled more emotion into.
Emia: It was such a weird time as well, the song
lyrically and musically it's quite like chaotic I
think, which is something I kind of love about it. The
structure is so wacky and it just really reflects like
that weird time that we're still not really past. Now
we kind of know what’s going on but back when we wrote
the song there was just so much confusion.
Emily: we were quite stressed a lot of the time,
about lockdown and all being separated. It was also
a massive coping mechanism of us being kind of angry
and depressed and stressed, but hopeful at the same
time.
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5. Will there ever be an official release for your single “1817”?
Emily: We were having a debate well we had a debate about this the only thing
that is harder to agree on. only thing I think we might at first I was kind
of is.
Emia: I think we might, Emily suggested it and then
Zara as well they were both saying that a lot of
their friends would just prefer to have it on Spotify
for convinience. I think the song was a good first
release, but I'm glad that we did it on SoundCloud
originally, just so we could sort of test the waters
a bit, just to have more experience before we
released something properly. I reckon we will put it
on there, maybe not as a whole single but we could
have it as a bonus track, just as like a little “oh
here you go” - for anyone who wants it.
Emily: We’ll definitely do something with it some point, but I think for now
it's going to live on SoundCloud for a little bit longer.

6. How did you come up with the idea of making a zine, and will there be
more?
Emia: I think it was a couple of days before On Your Back came out, I
messaged Zara just being like “oh by the way the zine’s almost finished” so I
sent her other pages and she was like hyping it up. I'm not saying we're
definitely going to do it, but it would be really cool if we could release a
zine for every “big release” that we have, not every single song but for
every like, important thing I would really love that.

I saw you interviewed some artists for the zine, did you get the chance
to link up with someone that influenced you?
Emia: I got to interview Crawlers, and I write for this site the music
website so it was sort for that as well, but we love Crawlers they’re so
cool.
Emily: We managed to make like friends, interviewing and knowing them a lot
better, Emia you spoke to Girli as well.

Emia: Yeah Girli is really cool. I'm really glad

we did it, cause I remember like just before the
zine was finished it felt like we were doing so
much work for it, and the scene just wasn't like
happening. There are like 24 pages in it and it
was the first zine we
ever did, once it
arrived and I
saw them I
thought “this
was such a good
idea, I'm so
glad we did
this”. It was
really cool,
getting to chat
with other
bands.
 7. If you could choose a decade to be a band in, which one would
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it be?
Emily: I feel like this is really generic but I'm going to say the
90s. I feel like that’d be pretty interesting, especially for the
music that we are predominantly into. If not, flipping that
completely I'd say the 70s.
Zara: I was thinking the same thing!
Emia: I think this might be like a cheesy answer, but I think right
now like with the furthest in the future that like you know music
has been. I think it's great for us firstly,because we're at all
girl band so it means that - I mean I'm sure we're still going to
face some shit, which we've accepted that, it's fine - but like
there have been so many women before us who have sort of, paved the
way for things to be easier for us which like we're really grateful
for. It's also really cool how now, because streaming services, I
listen to a song from the 60s, then a song from 2005 and then I
could write a song that is inspired by both of those. So we
basically have this massive music catalogue.
I guess if we went back to the 80s we could invent grunge, if we
have the knowledge of what we know now we could just like rip off
every Nirvana song. Or maybe we could like, all of us be Kathleen
Hanna. So I guess either now or the 90s.

Despite forming just a year ago, Cherry and the Fever Dreams
is one of my favorite small bands. Their music styles work
so well together, creating some amazing songs. I really
recommend listening to their singles “On Your Back” and
“1817” and supporting them in any way possible. Check out
their Cherry Bomb zine and their mixtape with some awesome
bands.

Instagram: @cherryandthefeverdreams
cherryandthefeverdreams.bigcartel.com

Making a zine was an amazing idea they had, and if you need
another reason to get yourself a copy just know that all
profits are donated to Girls Rock London, a charity that
provides music programming for adult women, trans and non-
binary people.
@meganl3onard
Hello! I’m Megan, a 16 year old from Ireland,
and I love creating art of what drives and
inspires me and the riot grrrl cause and
community is really close to my heart!

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 SMALL ARTISTS YOU 18
SHOULD LISTEN TO

Pinkshift
Pinkshift is one of the best emerging punk
rock bands. They have four singles out and
they’re all amazing. Their writing is
inspired by 90s grunge and 2000s pop punk,
creating a beautiful contrast.
- Rainwalk (2020)
- Toro (2020)

Delilah Bon
Where grunge meets rap there’s Delilah Bon
and her new single “School”. With roaring
riffs and empowering verses, Lauren Tate is
amazing both in her grunge / punk band
Hands Off Gretel and the newest hip hop
project Delilah Bon.
- Where My Girls At? (2020)
- School (2020)

Pleasure Venom
Pleasure Venom is *the* band. Their new
single “Fascist” is exactly what punk is
supposed to be. They released their debut
EP in 2015 and haven’t stopped rocking
since then.
- Fascist (2021)
- Deth (2018)
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Froggy
With two singles out, this riot grrrl trio
from the philadelphia area formed in early
2020. Their main influences are the Dead
Milkmen, Sleater Kinney and Joan Jett.
- Key Your Car (2020)
- Livvie Folds (2020)

Nova Twins
The Nova Twins are one of the most iconic
duos out there, and if you’re into punk and
don’t listen to them, what are you even
doing?
- Play Fair (2020)
- Taxi (2020)

Gurldoll
Their music is like a scene/hip hop mashup
and it sounds like nothing before. Their
songs are all pretty dark in subject matter,
so major trigger warning if you’re easily
bothered by edgy stuff.
- Three AM (2020)
- Survival (2021)

Hoity-Toity
Hoity-Toity is a band from California. This
all girl band rocks, with catchy lyrics and
driving riffs, they're perfect for dancing
alone in your room or jamming out at shows
- when those are safe again :) Their
newest EP Not My Kind packs a punch, surely
a standout for 2019.
- Y'know (2019)
- También (2016)
 Brooke Fennie
@brookeisprettycool
actually on ig

Listen to Froggy here:

Hi!! I’m Brooke I’m in

a riot grrrl band
called Froggy from the
Philly area and music
like sleater kinney,
Joan Jett, black flag,
and the dead milkmen
inspires my writing
and my art itself. I
started making
collages in quarantine
of the random food /
music / art magazines
I had laying around
the house. Needless to
say I love making
them. Hopefully I can
get more magazines
again!!

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 interview with venus grrrls
21

1.Who/ what are your biggest inspiration both musically and

atmosphere wise?
We have such a wide range of musicals tastes within the
band, but we all share a love for areas of the rock genre.
Bikini Kill in particular, was a band that brought us together
and still influences our music.
GK is heavily into Riot Grrrl music and listens to bands
such as Garbage and L7, this is the core to the band.
Hannah is more into Indie Rock music like Arctic Monkeys,
Stone Roses and the Beatles, she really brings forward massive
riffs that are arena worthy.
Gabby is more into Classic Rock bands and dance music, she
knows how to get a party going thus she knows how to play a
really up-lifting, heavy beat.
Grace’s music taste delves more into the experimental side
of things with a love for Dream Pop like Fear of Men and Men I
trust, this inspires the reverb atmosphere and space to our 22
songs.
Whilst Jess loves Soul, Motown and Disco alongside bands
such as the Runaways which heavily inspire her guitar solos.
2. What is your favorite part of making music?
I think it is the
results of making music
together which is our
favourite part of being in
a band. As a band of five
best-friends, we get to
tour and work alongside
each other a lot. This is
something that we have
really missed this past
year and we are so excited
to get back on the road
when it is safe to do so.
We can’t wait to create
and spend time with one
another again.
3. Dream collab?
Our dream
collaboration is
definitely with the band
Dream Wife. Dream Wife
have been a massive
inspiration to us since
the start and they are
lovely people. We really
hope we can meet them in
the future and hopefully be on the same bill as them!
4. Which song of yours is your favorite release?
I think as a collective, our favourite release to date is
Goth Girl which will be released on the 22nd of January 2021. We
have really invested our time into this track and sat on it
until the right moment. We are really excited to release it.
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@freakthatiam
i was playing with texture when i made this,
just trying to input some more emotion into my
work. i think i succeeded? maybe?

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Art by Sophia
I was called a slut for the first time when I was 9. Around the same time,
I was also told that my body was my best chance to get attention—that it
would be the only way I could get men to like me. My body was both shameful
and desirable, the line blurring the two nearly invisible. But the shame
and desire attributed to my body carried the same core message— my body
was not my own. It was something to be viewed, to be used for pleasure,
to be sexualized, to be judged. Not knowing anything else, I allowed my
body to be used in ways I was uncomfortable with because deep down I did
not believe that my body belonged to me. When I first found Riot Grrl
music I was jolted into a world where a person’s body was their own, where
beauty standards were ignored, and where autonomy was valued. The more I
listened the more I craved control over my body. I wanted nothing more
than to scream Fuck You to anyone who tried to use or judge me. With Riot
Grrl as the soundtrack, I slowly started to come to terms with my body. I
started to learn acceptance. I started to listen to what I truly needed
and what I merely wanted. Some days, exhausted by the constant messages
from society, I want to slip back into the role they want me to play.
Allow the world to take hold of my marionette strings and numbly relax
into that painful reality. Some days it is a struggle not to take this
path, but I am not going back to that. I am going back to bitch.
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