http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyXGblps64M
Typical Girls - The Slits
By now many of you have heard of the recent passing of The Slits' lead singer Ari Up.
She was not only a "shero" but a friend. She served as an inspiration and a teacher to generations of women. Without Ari Up there would be no Madonna, there would be no Kathleen Hanna, there would be no Santogold, no MIA.
As girls we grow up within the constrains of society. We must conform to the standards of society governed by men, by the media, by the marketers who want to sell us beauty and fashion products so that we can become "typical girls". But Ari, born Ariane Forster in Munich, was never going to be that typical girl.
Ari Up was a revolutionary genius. At the tender age of 14 she was fronting an all female punk band. As Jon Savage wrote today " No one had seen young women behave like this on stage: enacting a flagrant parody of sexuality, at the same time seemingly tougher and more disturbing than the other (male) groups on the bill."
Ari Up is one of the very few women I have encountered with truly a free spirit, she worked on her own time line and frankly, she lived her life without fear. I've spoken with people in Brooklyn, in LA and as far away as Tokyo who are in a state of grief from her passing. She touched so many lives and really shined a light upon us all.
We've covered Ari Up many times on Ladies Lotto's blog and we were lucky enough to have her speak at a Ladies Lotto meeting a couple of years back. If you were able to attend that event,you know how powerful she was.
She will be missed very much and her memory will never be forgotten.
Here is a link to past posts as well as the gallery of photos of her explosive energy she brought to that event.
http://ladieslotto.blogspot.com/search?q=the+slits
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22759170@N02/sets/72157607542965661/show/
http://ladieslotto.blogspot.com/2008/09/revolution-at-socialista.html
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