ROCKRGRL

ROCKRGRL was started by Carla DeSantis (aka Carla DeSantis Black) in 1994 in San Mateo, California as part of the zine movement to provide a third-wave feminist perspective on women in music.[1]

Commenting on the magazine's founding, DeSantis recalled, “One issue of Rolling Stone was about Women Who Rock, and the writer asked everyone what their favorite perfume was, not music. Women were really shut out of music magazines like they didn’t exist.”[2]

ROCKRGRL started out as a 14-page, black-and-white photocopied zine. Its first issue, which hit stands in 1995, featured Gretchen Seager on the cover along with articles about that dog., the Go-Go's, Queen Latifah, and Au Pairs. In 1999, ROCKRGRL became a full-color glossy bi-monthly magazine.[3]

Throughout its lifespan, many famous and influential women appeared on the cover, including Justine Frischmann, Shirley Manson, Veruca Salt, Tori Amos, Johnette Napolitano, Courtney Love, Kathleen Hanna, Joan Jett, Kat Bjelland, Samantha Maloney, Tegan and Sara, Jessicka, Aimee Mann, Sleater-Kinney and Marianne Faithfull.

In the fall of 2005, DeSantis announced that issue number 57 would be the final issue of ROCKRGRL. Although single issues, merchandise and Discoveries CDs could be purchased through the site, they were no longer accepting subscriptions. However, full sets, all 57 issues of ROCKRGRL are now part of the collection at The Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. and other prestigious colleges and institutions including Harvard, Duke, Cornell, UCLA, University of Washington, Radcliffe Institute, Smith, Oberlin, Rutgers, University of Texas Austin, the New York Public Library.

ROCKRGRL billed itself as, "a real departure from the condescending and patronizing tone found in other "women in music" magazines and web sites. No beauty tips or guilt trips here — just shop talk with fascinating artists."

From its inception, ROCKRGRL created an atmosphere for women to address music industry sexism head-on. Here is an example from Gretchen Seager of Mary's Danish who appeared on the magazine's first cover:

I don’t want to be qualified as a female singer. I just want to be a singer. And I don’t think you should be qualified by your gender. That’s always bullshit. And unfortunately, it’s probably not going to change in my lifetime. But I just want to be considered a good lyricist and a good singer, not a “girl” singer or a “girl” lyricist. That’s not relevant. Just evaluate me on my music and my lyrics and I'll be happy.

— Gretchen Seager, ROCKRGRL Issue #1[4]

DeSantis recalled:

So many of the stories that women were able to tell in ROCKRGRL were stories they weren’t able to tell in any place else. What was different about ROCKRGRL was that a lot of the artists we talked to had cautionary tales. My favorite artists to talk to are the ones who can talk honestly about what happened. They were dropped by their label – why did that happen? Bands broke up, why did that happen? In ROCKRGRL, what I was looking for were career arcs and career stories – how people got started, what their career was like, how it went for them, and what unusual things they did to be successful.[2]

ROCKRGRL peaked at roughly 20,000 in circulation,[2] domestic and international, during the years of 2002 and 2003. The magazine was carried by most major retail chains, including Virgin Records, Tower Records, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Hastings Entertainment. ROCKRGRL could also be found in most feminist bookstores. During 2005, the cost for a yearly subscription was $14.95.

DeSantis explained:

I wanted ROCKRGRL to be in the hands of musicians. It was important to me that it found women who were playing music.[2]

Daisy Rock Guitars, a subsidiary of Schecter Guitars, is company that makes guitars for girls exclusively. Its first three prototype models debuted in November 2000 at Seattle's first ROCKRGRL Conference.