Siouxsie, straight edge women, other punk research

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This music video is called Siouxsie and the Banshees – ICON.

On 13 December 2020 was the first day of the Punk Scholars Conference on the Internet. After the 5 December 2020 Punk Is Not Dead internet conference about France had been a prelude.

On 13 December, it was about Britain and other European countries. There was interest from many places, including Indonesia.

First, Orla Fitzpatrick on Irish band The Virgin Prunes. This band rarely played outside their native Dublin in other places in Ireland. According to Orla, they were more successful in other countries, like Switzerland and the Netherlands. I have not found any Dutch 1977-1982 punk fanzines mentioning them, Breda band Waste did name them as an influence. And on 1 May 1982, they played in Vera in Groningen. Were there contacts with other Irish bands then, like Stiff Little Fingers, the Undertones and the Starjets? Hardly, Orla replied. These bands were from the six counties Northern Irish area, not from Dublin. The Virgin Prunes were often more theatre than music, unlike the three Ulster bands.

Hüseyin Serbes spoke about punk fanzines in Turkey. They were often anonymous and illegal because of dictatorship.

G.W. Sok (formerly singer of Dutch band The Ex) was interviewed about the history of his band.

Then, a panel on the straight edge pigeonhole of the hardcore pigeonhole of punk. Francis Stewart spoke about straight edge women in Northern Ireland. She estimated that about 12% of all punks in Belfast were straight edge. And about 80% of local straight edgers were women. In that the northern Irish six counties are very unusual. Caused by big drug and alcohol addiction problems there. In about all other countries, women are a minority in straight edge. A factor for that is toxic masculinity, eg of religious fundamentalists in the Krishnacore and Jesuscore sub-pigeonholes in straight edge. Many Ulster straight edge women, Francis said, were pro-choice (unlike aforementioned religious fundamentalists).

Paul Hollins and Martin James spoke on the recently rediscovered archives of the Siouxsie and the Banshees fan club. They had found that the media image of Siouxsie Sioux as an ‘ice queen’ supposedly arrogant against audiences was not true.