Dr. Helen Reddington Talks About Women In Rock Music

In an industry where there’s still a dearth of prominent female musicians and the supposedly ‘empowered’ artists of pop push a choreographed, glossy image of what femininity should be, the topic of women in rock music needs raising. That’s where RIOT GRRRL comes in. Organised by Dr. Eoin Devereux, the symposium takes place in the University Of Limerick on April 16. Musician and academic Dr. Helen Reddington is among the speakers, discussing the punk-era in particular. Having played in bands like The Chefs back in the ’70s, she was perfectly placed to analyse the experiences of female punks, penning a PhD on their long-neglected stories.

“Until fairly recently, I’ve been telling people about something that they know nothing about whatsoever,” Reddington says. “That’s why I wrote the book (’07’s The Lost Women Of Rock Music) in the first place. It was particularly after the riot grrrl thing in the ’90s – I just felt, ‘But what about all of us?!’”
Initially firing off letters to 200 local newspapers to find her contemporaries, she talked to the likes of Gay Animals’ Liz Naylor and the late Poly Styrene of first generation UK punks X-Ray Spex.
“I think people liked the idea of an academic study because I was valuing them and their work.”
While Reddington was struck by the diversity of the musicians, they were all united in their surprise at being swept up in the punk storm.
“You never in a million years thought you’d be in band,” she proffers. “Going back to when I was six, I used to draw pictures of girl bands. It was a fantasy. When I was in sixth form, the lads were all playing stuff like Led Zeppelin. You know the ‘squeeze my lemon’ song? Everything on the record player was what the lads wanted. A lot of it was stuff that had lyrics that said really horrible stuff about women. I think that was the thing about punk. It made you feel that you could have the adventures that the guys had. And we did. It gave us an opportunity to be protagonists. Heroes in
our own films.”
Unfortunately, Reddington reckons progress was stunted when Thatcher ushered in an atmosphere of conformity in the UK. Although Reddington is cautiously optimistic that the current DIY scene can bring about a more inclusive future, she feels the legacy of punk is lacking regarding women.
“In terms of doing anything for female politics or feminism, punk was a bit of a failure. It didn’t have a chance to ‘think through’ its legacy. When you have any sort of change, there needs to be some follow-up. Whereas punk was too spontaneous.”
To extend the dialogue and instigate change, events like the UL symposium are vital.

RIOT GRRRL: Women & Rock Music takes place at the University of Limerick on April 16.