She's Real, Worse Than Queer

She's Real, Worse Than Queer is a seminal documentary film of the mid 1990s period of the queerpunk movement.

Related Topics:
Queer - Punk

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Directed by Lucy Thane, who has also made It Changed My Life, a documentary of the Huggy Bear and Bikini Kill tour of the U.K. and its effects on the young women in the audience, She's Real, Worse Than Queer talks similarly about the creation of the Queercore scene and its impact on the lives of the women interviewed.

Related Topics:
Lucy Thane - It Changed My Life - Huggy Bear - Bikini Kill - U.K. - Queercore

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Released in 1997, the film features performances by Tribe 8, Ce Be Barns Band, Fifth Column, Cheesecake, Team Dresch, The Third Sex, Phranc, Cypher In The Snow, Sister George, Sta-Prest and Anti-Scrunti Faction. Interposed between the concert segments are shots of various band members working at their everyday jobs such as waitressing or construction work, with Phranc speaking about earning enough money as a swimming instructor to pay for her first record. The film continues to offer a view of a down-to-earth approach of creating culture as the musicians talk about buying second hand equipment and learning to play an instrument and Team Dresch member Jody Bleyle talks about starting and running her own independent record label Candy Ass Records. The director emphasises her commitment to the do-it-yourself philosophy by stating in the credits that "She's Real has been made by borrowing and working in exchange for equipment." Particular songs are integrated with themes that arise in interviews with members of the bands and other women, such as self defense instructor Alice Stagg, who talks about touring with Team Dresch for the Free To Fight tour and giving instructions on self defense to the audience, promoting the double LP of the same name released on Candy Ass Records, which addresses the issue of women's safety.

Related Topics:
1997 - Tribe 8 - Ce Be Barns Band - Fifth Column - Cheesecake - Team Dresch - The Third Sex - Phranc - Cypher In The Snow - Sister George - Sta-Prest - Anti-Scrunti Faction - Jody Bleyle - Independent record label - Candy Ass Records - Do-it-yourself - Alice Stagg

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Interviewees include Leslie Mah, Lynn Breedlove and Lynn Payne of Tribe 8, Phranc, Ellyot Dragon of Sister George, Donna Dresch and Jody Bleyle of Team Dresch, G.B. Jones, Rachel Carns of Kicking Giant, Radio Tragedy of the Ce Be Barns Band, Tammy Rae Carland, Joanna Brown, who co-ran the queer punk venue Homocore Chicago, and many others. Director Lucy Thane has stated, "Women, especially dykes, have been central to the development of Queerpunk, finding in it a mode of expression that can be accessed without privilege, can speak an uncompromising message, and is revolt against the exclusive and mainstream face of lesbian culture which desires assimilation and acceptance."

Related Topics:
Leslie Mah - Lynn Breedlove - Lynn Payne - Phranc - Ellyot Dragon - Donna Dresch - G.B. Jones - Rachel Carns - Kicking Giant - Radio Tragedy - Tammy Rae Carland - Joanna Brown

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Excerpts from the video Lady Faggots and Wannabe Outlaws by Tammy Rae Carland and the Super 8 film The Yo-Yo Gang by G.B. Jones are utilized, as well as work by fanzine makers, to provide a full spectrum of the scene in all its manifestations and mediums at that time. Filmed in the U.K. and across the U.S. between the years 1994 and 1996, She's Real, Worse Than Queer is a panoramic view of Queercore.

Related Topics:
Lady Faggots and Wannabe Outlaws - Tammy Rae Carland - Super 8 - The Yo-Yo Gang - G.B. Jones - Fanzine - Queercore

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