For the Record

Author: Melissa Marshall

I think the conversation may have been re-ignited when I was putting on a dress that completely inhibited breathing and three-inch heels in preparation to slide and swing to cheesy albeit wiggle-inspiring covers at this year's Winter Carnival. Certainly, "The Vagina Monologues," which was performed earlier this month, reminded me of my neglect, but it was through busting moves with my fellow gender in footwear that would make even the most heartless medieval torturer gleeful, that I reunited with my "vajayjay." Since I had already embraced my womanhood publicly on the dance floor, I decided that it was time to reconnect on a more personal level - my ipod. Nothing is more personal than somebody's music collection. It's kinda like the underwear drawer of a person's personality - there's going to be something sexy, something exciting and something embarrassing. And while going through my mp3 player, I discovered a few female artists who I have definitely under-worn.

With strumming acoustics, smoky vocals and a crop of unruly hair, Kris Delmhorst is the epitome of innocuous female folk-rock. Reminiscent of Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez, her songs have a certain intimacy interlaced in the delicate notes and wavering words that urge a second listen even though many of the tracks are indistinguishable from one another. Kris Delmhorst's 2006 third full-length release, Strange Conversation, is like a pair of worn, pink cotton briefs - by no means is it cutting-edge or remarkably memorable, but it has one quality that is indispensable: comfort. Delmhorst's songs, which are laced with an impressive array of literary allusions (some tracks are her emotional responses to certain works of poetry) create an audio blanket that is hard to crawl out from.

If you are feeling slightly more adventurous, you may want to slip into some lacy boy-shorts. Although less safe and conventional with their occasional hard-driving beats and lyrics that explore sexual license, the Montreal all femme five-piece Pony Up! still holds onto its virginal appeal with crystal-clear girlish vocals and an implied innocence in their inoffensive keyboard-laden tracks. Their first full length album Make Love to the Judges with Your Eyes, is an intimate balance between sexuality, maturity and purity - lead singer Laura Willis' childish, vibrato-free timbre penetrates the lucid beats with lyrics about desire on "Dance With Me" or heartbreak and loss on "The Best Offence." Even tracks with sunny rhythms such as "The Truth about Cats and Dogs," deal with darker subject matter, highlighting the paradoxical nature of the female psyche.

While the girls of Pony Up! mask their sexuality behind purrs, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs allows hers to roar. As the powerful front-girl for the east-coast based art-punk band comprised of guitarist Nicolas Zinner and drummer Brian Chase, Karen O exudes the confidence and liberation of going commando. Although they may be best-known for their 2004 single "Maps," their 2006 release Show Your Bones is a complex arrangement of raw energy and brooding introspection. Ms. O explodes on the volatile "DÈj‡ vu" while her multi-tonal vocals shine on "Turn Into," perhaps their best track to date. Although Show Your Bones may seem more indulgent than inventive for fans of the band's early years, their second full-length endeavor shows a shocking maturity and cohesiveness from a group that once bordered on garage-punk.

As I hobbled back from Kenyon Arena during the wee hours of Sunday morning, for once I didn't begrudge the boys their suit pants that offered considerably more coverage than my skirt. Instead, I twirled down College Street, reveling in the frigid Vermont air around my knees, until I was informed that I was displaying my music collection for the entire Middlebury College community. But, as these female artists teach us, being a girl is about embracing the bad as well as the good. And as I finally kicked off that last black pump, I didn't just feel good, I felt like a woman.