The
Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls of
Portland, Oregon first occurred in the summer of 2001 and is happening again this summer (2002). Founded by
Misty McElroy, the basic idea is that young girls go to a
summer camp and learn how to be
rock musicians. McElroy said in an interview that the camp would "provide a real base for girls to
organize and
empower each other."
I used to think the camp was a great idea. But, recently I read an article in a zine called Matte (issue 2) which exposed the troubling and sad reality behind the project. The article, entitled "Exposing Girls" and co-written by a volunteer staff member at last year's camp, gives behind-the-scenes reports and offers in-depth analysis of the actions and stated goals of the organizers.
The article is excellent and insightful, but quite long; however the basic idea is this: the camp is perpetuating or recreating the same general worldview and problems that it was ostensibly designed to fight against.
The following are a few quotations from the article (by Tizzy Asher and Anne Elizabeth Moore) that hopefully will illustrate briefly what some of the authors concerns are:
As the first training piece of the day, the media session held a bizarrely prominent place on the docket.... we were instructed on how to answer questions from the media... There was little wonderment.... about why the media would be so intrigued. No consideration, I honestly believe, was given to the question of whether or not media would help serve the purpose of the camp...
...dominant culture wasn't portraying girls accurately, so the Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls decided on a different portrayal. Yet it's the difference that arises between, say, the media creating girls that conform to a certain sexualized model (say, Britney) and portraying girls that conform to a different sexualized model (say, Ani DiFranco)-- when you could be allowing girls to decide on their own sexual models.
So then introducing girls to rock music poses a double dilemma. Rock itself can be empowering, but rock culture can be as limiting as any masculine-driven culture. So I ask, is it possible to introduce girls to rock music only after it has been shorn of all its accompanying culture and negative imagery? Or should we teach girls who are interested in rock exactly what it means to be part of pop culture itself -- to have the camera eye focused on them at all moments and at all times, recording each and every inch of inhabitable space?
McElroy and her camp cronies are just as vehement as men about forming girls into something that they would find sexually appealing. In their assumption that all girls contain a trapped little rocker girl waiting to claw her way out, they normalize their own experiences as the "right" way to be. They are filtering everything through a "female gaze," one that assumes that all girls choose to be the alternative rocker girl with a guitar strapped to her chest and big black combat boots laced on her feet
Nowhere is this more evident than in McElroy's supposed goodwill toward girls interested in looking like Britney or Christina.... come to my camp, and I will fix you. I will teach you how to be someone that I myself will find attractive in a few years. I will construct you in my image and then, only then, will you be fixed.
[girls are not\ allowed to actively examine a myriad set of roles and images and choose the ones that they would like to be. Instead, they are given vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry and told that this is thirty-one flavors. It is implied that this is enough. They are told, in effect, "This is stage presence, honey," and whisked off to stand poised and ready before hundreds of prying eyes, both male and female.
In this day and age, false empowerment is much more dangerous than no empowerment at all. "We teach you how to act empowered," McElroy may as well have said in one of her interviews. Instead, she tells us about her plans for a class on stage presence. Tell me, now: Is there really a difference?
There have been and are numerous fundraising events going on in Portland for the camp. Because of the issues mentioned above, I would suggest that one think twice before attending any of these events and supporting the Rock 'n' Roll Camp For Girls.
(more information about Matte magazine: http://mattemag.com )