Reading

I am halfway through reading the Lost Women of Rock Music, to see where the new interview material will fit in. It will be hard, as I spent so much time getting the 'flow' right in the first place; but one thing I know now, to be sparing in what I use and to find the most perfect quotations from each person because it is not a 'fan' book but a history book. I suppose at a later date I could publish the transcripts separately. They are very interesting in themselves, particularly as they involve conversations with extremely strong and interesting personalities. Some of the women became quite angry and animated as I spoke to them.
What I would never publish however is the stories of sexual violence, which were quite horrific.
I warned the Offsprogs to be careful at Glastonbury, and they laughed.
 Of course they did! Everyone thinks they are invincible when they are young, and I am sure the two young women who got raped at the Latitude Festival felt like this too.
An endless flow of tales of stabbings, shooting and bullying by and of young men stings us as though we are walking, vulnerable, through fields of nettles and thorns; but if this is happening to teenage men, what is happening to girls?
None of the rapes I was told of were reported to the police. the police were not seen as friendly or helpful, or the young women concerned were terrified of losing their teenage freedom, of being put under house-arrest for someone else's crime.
Many human males are primitive creatures under their suits and uniforms. Females who are concerned about the behaviour of some sections of male society are frequently laughed at and marginalised.
Get a credit card! Buy a dress! Pour another gin and tonic!
Make a smokescreen and you won't remember it, you won't see it, and we can all carry on as we were before.
The problem is, as any woman who has been raped will tell you, life for her will never, ever be the same again.
It is a wound that never heals, a silent scream that will never be heard.