Riot Women and Lesbians in the 1970s | Sally Wainwright

Tiff Packer may have been misled by the title Sally Wainwright BBC series Riot Women (There’s a great TV series being made about a post-menopausal rock band – Right Riot Women, October 22.) Ms. Packer goes back to the 20th century to make her point, saying that “lesbians have always been invisible in society.”

Lesbians were visible and heard in the feminist movement of the 1970s. My late friend Sheila spoke about the ideas behind the lesbian nation Written by Jill Johnston, and tried to convince me that “feminism is the theory, lesbianism is the practice.” In a career almost unthinkable without feminism in the 1970s, Sheila became a rabbi.

Through circumstances and solidarity, Frances was encouraged by his late friend to write, sing and make music with others. She became Vi Subversa, the lead singer, lyricist and rhythm guitarist of the Anarcho-punk band. Poison girls. They have played benefit concerts for the peace movement and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Their song Bully Boys Making them a target for the National Front.

Moments in Riot Women remind me of Frances when, unexpectedly, she began writing about her experiences. I’m sorry Ms. Packer can’t appreciate Riot Women For what it is rather than detracting from it for something it is not.
Janet Dobie
Peebles, Scottish Borders

Tiff Packer criticizes Sally Wainwright’s approach to Riot Women as superficial. I feel so foolish for not realizing that this series was purporting to celebrate the feminist punk movement in the American Northwest. I thought I was watching and enjoying a drama about the fraught lives of a group of women dealing with honesty, generosity, and humor—a drama that once again demonstrated Wainwright’s exceptional writing.
Kathleen Hamilton
Besenhall, Suffolk