Ex-Babes in Toyland bassist says her rape essay in Boing Boing was "catalyst" for getting kicked out of the band

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2015/12/30/ex-babes-in-toyland-bassist-sa.html

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It sounds like her rape essay in Boing Boing did not get her kicked out of the band. It sounds like it was maybe the last straw.

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Sounds like the situation with the first black female tenured professor at Wheaton College: they finally found something they thought would be a “legitimate” excuse.

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Maureen wrote in her essay, “With one nudge of denial from an iconic Joan Jett, we witness the beginnings of the public collapse of Fox’s credibility.”

Just a suggestion, but I think this quote could use a little more context–when I first read the post, without already having read Maureen Herman’s original essay, I thought she was saying in this quote that Joan Jett’s denial made Fox’s account less credible in her own (Herman’s) view, and that her bandmates kicked her out because they were supporting Fox, when further reading reveals the opposite situation (but it left me confused for a while as I was reading).

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“Over all these years I’ve realized the only thing I can do when anything is negative and toxic, you have to let it go.”

Wow, I wouldn’t have figured someone from a punk band to be such a fucking Pollyanna. Why not just come right out and say, “I just can’t deal with anything that isn’t sunshine and rainbows.”

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When you find this even in punk bands, no wonder the mainstream society looks like it looks.

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On top of everything else, anyone who thinks “use of psychiatric medication” is a legitimate grievance needs to take a flying fuck at the moon, followed by a fatal lawsuit overdose.

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Maybe I’m missing something, but it seems sad to me that the reporter (Boller) is muck-raking for dirt between friends / partners during the holidays. Publishing a story about her without her?

Regardless, hugs to @maureenherman. No one deserves any amount of shit or shade when they tell their rape story.

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As a rule of thumb I never trust anyone who uses “toxic” referring to people.

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That’s often the thing in situations with humans rather than theoretical code.

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Joan, Jackie, Cherrie and Lita …they haven’t been able to get a story straight for the last 30 years, what would have made this one any different?

It really sounds like the Babes In Toyland relationship was already strained. It’s not like writing the essay brought about a full turn of opinion.

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Babes in Toyland, Joan Jett… Some punk music is a reactionary and crypto-fascistic aesthetic. Babes in Toyland may be tilting that way.

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So upsetting… I play in a band with a guy from the old Minneapolis scene, he was in Brutus and was friends with Lori. I myself am a HUGE fan of Babes In Toyland and it just kills me to think Lori would be this callous. Our heroes shouldn’t have to be angels, but it sucks and hurts when they fall down and fuck up like humans.

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I’m guessing you heard one or two people you dislike use it, and decided they represented everyone else? “Toxic” is broadly used by all sorts of folks.

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Is it the statement or the wording that you’re addressing? “Fuck it, I don’t have to deal with that shit so I won’t.” is just the same thing worded differently.

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I really like that rule.

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When “that shit”, refers to people you have been working with for decades, people who have been integral to your life, your success, etc… than calling them “toxic” and / or describing dealing with them as “that shit” doesn’t bode particularly well.

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Psychiatric medication ≠ alcohol or recreational drugs.

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“Toxic” when referring to “folks” is not used by all sorts of folks. And definitely not by “folks” I would like to spend more time with / know better. Unless, maybe, very rarely, when referring to Stalin / Hitler a.s. “toxic” really is the wrong word to describe humans.

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Maureen plays bass with a pick?!
No wonder she only lasted 23 years in the band.

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