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Description
A discussion of the 1970s British punk scene, this book foregrounds the participation of women as performers and songwriters in early British punk, and examines how women in the scene crafted expressions of social alienation that were informed by the intersection of classism and sexism.
Early British punk rock is often associated with male bands like the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned, the Buzzcocks, or The Stranglers, whose songs capture and reflect a historical moment in Britain that was defined by unemployment, nationwide strikes, racial strife, and the growing sense of hopelessness within a seemingly deteriorating British Empire. While lesser-known, the work of female punk bands like Penetration, The Raincoats, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Slits, and X-Ray Spex also engaged with these themes, but added a gendered perspective on what it meant to be “an underdog” in Britain in the 1970s.
Through a close reading of punk art, fashion, and music, this book examines how female contributors to the early British scene responded uniquely to the alienation expressed by their male peers, and demonstrates how social alienation was inflected by the intersection of classism and sexism in the work of those women who helped to shape the early British scene.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. “She Doesn't Have Political Views”: Gender, Class, and Race in Punk-Era Britain
2. “This Is Just a Fairytale Happening in the Supermarket”: Punk as Text
3. “Some People Think Little Girls Should be Seen and Not Heard”: Punk Imagery
4. “Don't Create, Don't Rebel”: Punk as Music
Epilogue: “Nostalgia for an Age Yet to Come”: Female Punk Life Narratives
Product details
| Published | 22 Jan 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 208 |
| ISBN | 9798765124727 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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Plenty has been written about male British punk rockers, but no one has analyzed the important contributions of women in this landmark musical moment with as much detail as Fournier does in this impressive study. Interweaving British social history with close feminist readings of text, art, fashion, performance and sound, Fournier reveals how punk women addressed issues of work, domesticity, sexuality, violence and more through their trailblazing efforts.
Theo Cateforis, Associate Professor of Music History and Cultures, Syracuse University, USA
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Punk and Disorderly traces a significant path through the history of punk rock, unveiling the work and experiences of British female punk artists in the late 1970s and early 80s. A genre that is characterized by resistance to political oppression, Karen Fournier exposes the male-dominated perspective of the punk scene and illuminates the challenges faced by female artists. Fournier's intersectional approach to gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class and age offers an impressive reflection on the barriers these artists confronted and leads the reader to an enlightened understanding of “female punk” identities.
Lori Burns, Professor of Music, University of Ottawa, Canada




















