Bubblegum Girls Need Not Apply: Deviant Women the Punk Scene

Abstract

Certain images surface when considering the history of the punk movement in the United States and England: The Ramones, Dead Kennedy’s, Sid Vicious and with him, the Sex Pistols. Punk is a subculture that prides itself on freedom of expression, and culminates in various art forms including music and fashion. Despite the movements’ unwritten policy of openness, women within the punk movement have experienced a complex record of rejection and abuse within the scene. Women who felt they did not have a place within society during their place and time looked to the punk scene for solace. In many cases, they were treated as deviants, and experienced disrespect or violence against them. This paper explores how a variety of female punk acts were seen as deviant, and how their philosophies and actions helped reshape the subculture itself. They themselves forged a place in history as some of the most influential leaders in punk, or within any subculture. This paper also interrogates the medias’ reaction to women in punk, and commercial efforts to commodify the attitudes and do-it-yourself nature of the punk scene. Author’s Note Anna Batt currently studies at Rutgers University, where she is pursuing a major in Journalism and Media Studies, with minors in Women and Gender Studies and Digital Communication, Information and Media. She is an Editorial Intern at the College Music Journal in New York, where she researches new music, writes album reviews and proves live concert coverage for the Journals’ website. In the summer, she will intern at Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Social Work. In her spare time, she loves listening to live music in basements of New Brunswick, reading comic books, watching television and trying to be funny on Twitter.