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Support our Riotgrrrl Revolution!

An interview with Pinkpunkies' Lil

Buenos Aires, Argentina


by Elke Zobl
October 2002




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I discovered the
SUD(A)MERICAN RIOTGRRLS
on the web and was curious about the group. I wrote to Lil from the PiNkPuNkies CoRpoRaTion to find out more about the scene in Argentina. Read here what she has to say!


Can you tell me first of all a little bit about yourself? How old are you, where are you originally from and where do you reside now?

Well, my name is Lil, but most of my friends know me as Virginia which is my second name. I'm 21 years-old, I study Biochemistry in the University of Buenos Aires. I live in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, in a small flat with my parents, I'm a low class girl fighting for what I believe is right. I grew up with punk music, now I'm more open minded than a few years ago, so I started listening Oi! music, Crust, and many other styles.

What do you do besides your website?
I'm a student, I'm looking for a job, but nowadays my country is in a critical situation, and the crisis leaves my generation out of the system. We are in a constant struggle to get a job, to live better, but i'm hopeful and I'll keep on fighting against this corrupted system. I also organize concerts to receive contributions and give them to poor people.

For how long have you been running your site now?
Uhmm almost 2 years.
I renovate it constantly.

Are you the only editor or is there a team?
Yeah, it's just me, the other girls just make me suggestions and give me opinions about the site. Sometimes they give me material that they consider could be useful.





What made you decide to start this project?

The first time I published my site it was totally apolitical and it was just for fun. There were just pics of me and the other girls, a few stories and a lot of stupid stuff. Then, the website started to have an unexpected repercussion which surprised me a lot. A lot of girls and boys from all ages started to visit the site, some good opinions, some bad opinions... anyway, I decided to make a good use of that repercussion, and I wrote some articles and put some interesting information, so that the visitors could take the website more seriously. I made it now all about Riotgrrls, music, pics, opinions etc.

How did you come up with the idea and the name?
The true story its quite ashaming. I was with one of the girls having a soda, we had a notebook and we were making drawings... then a punk girl entered the place to go to the bathroom, she went up the stairs and went into the bathroom. We kept on drawing and talking, about half an hour later we notices that the girls hadn't came out of the bathrrom yet! We thought that something wrong could had hapenned, then just 10 minutes later the girl came out, she went down the stairs almost running. We were really surprised about the whole situation and we started laughing, then my friend said "ohh she's goin to fall down the stairs! we're gonna see her underwear!", we kept on laughing really loud, and then again she said "maybe she has a PINK underwear!". Then we said "she is a PINK PUNK", so.. that's the story about the name of the website, it's really stupid I know, but it's true! I started bulding the site under that name.

What topics are most often discussed in your site?
A lot of guys aways sign our guestbook insulting us and criticisin our punk and feminist attitude, so we always reply those insults with an explanation about what we do and what we believe in. We always focus on the equality between men and women, we have the same rights and obligations. You can also find information about our favourite bands, and a lot of people suggests us many bands too. I also put a long and interesting article about "Feminism and Anarchism" and a forum of "Freedom of Thinking".

What do you hope to accomplish by establishing your site?
I want to make all the young girls who are just starting in this punk world take consciense about what a girl can do. I'd like to trasmit a lot of messages, but the most important is "Make people respect you and respect yourself, you are a girl, not a bitch". I also want to abolish sexism, I mean, I'm a girl, I decided to expose my ideas and have a website? is that wrong? I dont think so, well... believe or not it bothers a lot of people, why? I have no idea, I think it's envy.

What does site making (and reading) mean to you?
It's a pleasure, it's getting to know people from all over the world and from my own country, i'ts to share ideas and opinions, it's to learn and teach, it's to open my mind and help others to open their minds. It's a very good and fun way to get information without all the bullshit that tv or radio give.

What do you love about site making?
Making it, makes me feel more creative and makes me thinkg a lot, cuz I dont want to make it look stupid and useless.


What’s the most challenging aspect of making sites?

That you always want to be different, you want to give something that people cannot find in any other website. And make people visit the site frequently, to see the changes, any new pic or anything attractive.

What was your first exposure to websites?
There was and special offer in a Pc magazine, in wich they gave a free cd-rom with a 10-hour internet access. So I bought it and started exploring the web!

How did you find out about them?
Through Yahoo! I didnt know anything about internet so I used the yahoo to guide me.

What have they come to mean to you?
Everything, just everything.

Do you consider grrrl zines/sites as an important part of a movement of sorts?
More than important! It's time for us to show what we think and what we can do, we're not just disposable materials for men and society, we're part of everything and we need to express ourselves, through websites, zines, magazines, anything.

Do you think zines/sites can effect meaningful social and political change?
It could... but not many people are interesting in reading them. And we need a huge repercussion to make a real change in society, nowadays I see it as a far dream. But it's a good start!


What does the website community mean to you?
We're pioneers of this cyberworld, we found a useful, cheap, and challenging way to start a revolution.

What advice would you give others who want to start a website?
Just be sure you know what you want others to see and learn from you. Dont waste your time in publishing bullshit. And make it look beautiful, make yourself your number one FAN... and it will work.


What are some of the sites you admire?

Anarchist ones, political in general. I like editors with guts! I've visited incredible sites, with great ideas and interesting format. My favourite ones.... not all of them are feminist but they support the Feminist cause! Stillborn-oi, Punks Unidos, Resistencia Skinhead, Indymedia Argentina, Girlpunk.net, Nodo50... and many many others.

Could you please describe a little bit the grrrl website community in your country?
Not many grrls here have a website, mmmmmmm some of my friends started to build sites but they quit. It's a hard work, maybe the girls are not patient!

Do you define yourself as a feminist?
Yessssssssss! but I dont hate men or anything like that. I think we both men and women can be together in this social revolution against the system. We're equals and as equals we should respect each other.


What are the most pressing issues you are confronted with in daily life (as a woman/feminist)?
Sexism of course! I heard some punk guys saying "girls are all hookers!" or maybe "shut up! you're a girl you cannot discuss about soccer!" grrrrrrrrrrrrr those things PISS ME OFFF!!!!! Or many other prejudices like "you're a punk girl you're surely a lesbian". There are a lot of situations like that in any girl's daily life, but it doesn't make me weaker, it encourages me to make more things pro-feminism!


Are you active in the feminist movement? How?

Yes, al least I try to make everybody understand the women place in society, which it's not the kitchen guys!!! I spread information about Riotgrrls and Skinhead girls, what we do, what er are looking for etc.

What do you think about feminism today?
I'm for it. But I don't like extreme feminism, which means to hate men or to be masculine, and think we can share thins world with men in peace but showing them how string we can be. The feminist movement is growing since women take part of it.

Which role plays the Internet for you?
Its essential for me, I use it almost all the time! It's the easier way to get information from all kinds.

Does it change your ideas of making zines and doing/reading zines?
Yes, because I learn a lot from the other editors, maybe I have a wrong idea about something and through reading I can get to the truth, or not! But I can see different ponts of view about different topics.

Do you have something you want to add?
Girls, support our Riotgrrls Revolution! Believe in yourself and always do what you feel. Let's fight against sexism! racism! and anything that stops our Revolution!



PiNkPuNkies CoRpoRaTion
:
http://pinkpunkies.8m.com
pinkpunkies@hotmail.com


All images are from the Pinkpunkies web site and copyright Pinkpunkies.

 


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