So what’s up with this Substack?
Well, the name of it came from one of my favorite songs, written by the cofounder of L7 and Rock for Choice, Ms. Donita Sparks.
To those who are unfamiliar, L7 was an all-female rock band from LA that often gets lumped with grunge bands from the 90s as they were Sub Pop labelmates with Nirvana and by God did they love a flannel shirt. I’m not going to get into the whole are-they-grunge-or-not debate, but suffice to say I’ve always liked them. I mean, look at those ladies in that video. Forget for a minute that the director made some fleeting stylistic choices—no, I do not know why everyone had to fly through music videos—but anyway, doesn’t matter. These women are clearly queens no matter what the era.
The band’s biggest hit, “Pretend We’re Dead,” became a witty feminist rock anthem back in the 90s, a middle finger back at those who would rather forget smart, strongminded women exist. I’m repurposing it here - robbing it of its sarcastic humor with that added “Don’t”, albeit, but to make the straightforward point that we should never be dismissed—as childless cat ladies, humorless feminists, or whatever the new stereotype-of-the-week is.
Not only should we not be dismissed, I think I actually have become addicted to the rush of meeting interesting new women over the years - fiercely independent women; go-their-own-way women; complicated and wise-beyond-their-years women; ridiculously strong, funny-as-hell women. Women who inspire me and make me want to do more, whether that’s get off my ass and write more, or get off my ass and try to help others out beyond myself.
I’ve started this newsletter and podcast so we can meet them together. The women I write about and interview give me a shred of hope in these dark times. And by god, who doesn’t need a little more of that.
And who the hell are you, anyway?
Well, my name is Corina. I used to write about TV and fashion and booze—sorry, “cocktail culture”— for The Village Voice, and I used to write about food and restaurants for The Stranger. More recently, my essays on mixed-race identity and the portrayal of single women onscreen have been featured in TriQuarterly, Los Angeles Review of Books, Electric Literature, Salon and Catapult (RIP).
Also, my favorite ice cream flavor is tiramisu and I’m still waiting for them to put Top of the Pops 80s-90s on BBC iPlayer, so I can call in sick for a month. Nice to meet you.
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