Girl's Guide To Surviving Hardcore (RESTOCK)

My first ever zine is a chance to look into the lives of the women in the community surrounding hardcore punk.

My zine isn't universal; it doesn't speak for every single woman. However, it simply provides a platform for those wanting to make their voices heard. The name's a gimmick; the zine talks wholly about women being accepted and contributing to a community. That's what's great about hardcore.

I have tried to be as all-encompassing as possible, talking about the highs and lows of hardcore. Sexism is a universal problem, not just in hardcore. But it just so happens that I belong to a community of people where sexism still exists and I want to stamp it out. The zine also talks about women who are involved with hardcore yet still get "you're good, for a girl" on a regular basis.

One of the points that I talked about was women not having to feel pressured to be involved in the scene:

“He said that girls are happy enough to go out with a guy from a band without doing the ‘whole hog.’ There are two things fundamentally wrong with this statement. 1) Since when did going out with a dude in a band mean that you have to be active in the scene? And 2) This proves that there’s still the expectation for women to only be into alternative music because they want to be groupies. This logic is fucking poisonous and makes us feel like we can’t and shouldn’t date guys in bands because all we want to do is sleep with the vocalist. It’s bullshit.” – Women aren't obligated to be involved, but we should encourage and nurture those who want to be. This was taken from an interview I did with a GUY about my zine. If you want to attend shows and that be the only contribution you make, then that’s great. There’s no point being in bands or making zines or taking photos if there’s nobody in the audience.

Hardcore is a great community, full of plenty of females wanting to take part and the zine recognises this. I have interviewed so many women, some of which I had no idea where in bands and I am excited for everyone to be able to read about their projects. The zine isn’t mean to deter or victimise women, it’s meant to encourage and recognise the contribution women make to hardcore. Big up hardcore, big up women and big up everyone for making this community what it is.