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...we're feeling the Women's History Month vibes and ready to celebrate like the truefeministsoulcrusaders that we really are. 

I wrote this fun International Women's Day roundup for THE LE SIGH, and drew some feminist emoji to accompany it. [view on tumblr]

GIRL GERMS: A BROOKLYN SCENE REPORT

Holy shit! I am so excited to ring in my favorite season with some really exciting news. I just got the October issue of Maximum Rocknroll (the Queer Issue) in the mail. I wrote up a Brooklyn scene report for it and to my surprise... it's the first article after all the regular columns and it's a fucking 2-page spread! Right before queercore in Brazil and an autobiography by Gary Floyd! What in the world?

Also, they forgot to credit the photographers (or maybe they didn't have enough space) - but in order, thank you to Orlando Perez, Dave Sanders and Konstantin Sergeyev for letting me use their photos.

So without further ado... here's the unedited version I sent to MRR. I also uploaded PDFs of the printed version here & here (these files are HUGE - they're 300 dpi and meant for printing in case you can't get your hands on a copy - though for now the issue is available at Maximum Rocknroll!)

GIRL GERMS: A BROOKLYN SCENE REPORT

by KATE WADKINS

(featured in Maxmimum Rocknroll #317)

ON JODI TILTON

I contributed to a zine about my dear friend Jodi, with the excerpt that I read on the panel we organized in her rememberance at last year's Big She-Bang. The zine will be available this week, printed by Eberhardt Press.

Here's the post about it on the Team Colors blog: http://teamcolors.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/new-zine-jodi-tilton-one-of-the-womyn-the-world-requires/

There is a PDF of the zine available here: http://www.scribd.com/full/16909776?access_key=key-1wz2rgok6bdp2d14fh6y

PUNK AS PARADOX

I wrote this back in April and submitted it to the I Stopped Talking an Hour Ago zine (which will be availabe at this Saturday's Big She-Bang! - http://myspace.com/thebig_shebang). I re-edited it and have just submitted it to Scene not Heard, which is due out at some point next year.

punk as paradox

To begin with, punk is a paradox. It simultaneously represents the best thing that ever happened to me, and the worst. It gives girls and women like me the chance to reclaim our voices, yet it silences us as much as the white, male, hetero-dominated mainstream culture. This could be because punk does not exist in a bubble, it exists within the patriarchy; therefore, it reproduces the patriarchy.

I've Got A Proposition, Goes Something Like This: A Brief Herstory of The Big She-Bang

Beth and I have been working on this for weeks now. I think this is the final copy which will be going in the Big She-Bang zine. [Poster by No Guts No Glory]

I've Got a Proposition, Goes Something Like This:
A Brief Herstory of The Big She-Bang

by Beth Puma and Kate Wadkins

In late 2003 there had been many rumblings of the girls and women in the Long Island DIY punk and activist community wanting to organize on their own. Modern Times Collective had been around for years, ideas for Freespace were quickly developing, and the Freewheel Bike Collective had really taken off. A lot of folks were engaged in a variety of projects at this time, ranging from animal rights to various social justice groups. The younger women involved in the community wanted to organize in a more direct way, to deal not only with all of the social justice issues they were fighting for, but for their own space in this creative and active community.

A small group of girls decided that they wanted to focus on self-taught, skill-share workshops as a stepping stone to self-empowerment. They began with a series of skill-shares on knitting/crocheting, playing guitar and bass, silkscreening, and bike maintenance, among others. They met in each other's houses and in Argyle Park, Babylon. As with many other feminist collectives, their shared experience with their immediate community brought about common frustrations. Similar to consciousness-raising groups of the 70's and riot grrrl meetings of the 90's, they started to work from their own experience, and identify the sexism they experienced on an every day level in their surrounding community. These women named their group the Long Island Womyn’s Collective (LIWC).

NEW NEW NEWS

1. Myself and Cynthia submitted comics to NOT YOUR MOTHER'S MEATLOAF: A Sex Education Comic Book. More information can be found at: sexedcomicproject.blogspot.com. It will be debuting this weekend at the Intersextions Conference at the New School: http://intersextionsconference.eventbrite.com

It's just a preliminary version of the comic, but we're stoked -- and we'll be at the conference Saturday morning for the Everyday Sexism and Modes of Resistance panel/discussion. Afterwards we're heading to Purchase for CULTURE SHOCK, so shout yr girls a holler if you'll be at Purchase College.

2. We also submitted to I Stopped Talking an Hour Ago, a zine about women in punk, compiled by our friends Jes and Megan. I will be finishing the cover art for this within the next week or so, and that'll be available over the summer.

3. My first show playing with Carnal Knowledge is May 13, with Tobi Vail's band, The Old Haunts, and Molly Neuman's band, Love or Perish. It's at the Fort.

4. Cheeky news: we're going to be recording for an Art of the Underground single ASAP. Choke 7"s should be coming soon from Freedom School. We also have a bunch of fun shows coming up, and tour June 4-14 with Screaming Females. Other stuff too, but I don't want to count my eggs before they hatch!

5. Cover show Sunday! 4/20 at 6pm
1410 Lincoln Pl. Crown Heights, Brooklyn

DISCOUNT (me, Angie, Cynthia, & Krista!)
SAVES THE DAY
NIRVANA
GORILLA BISCUITS
HUSKER DU

Come early for BBQ, baked goods & outdoor activities! Hope to see you there.
Happy spring, y'all!

feminist cultural analysis of Law & Order: SVU

if you really wanna read this, e-mail me for it! katewadkins@gmail.com