On Thursday March 3rd, Bryant University’s SPB in conjunction with Alliance for Women’s Awareness, presented Speak Like a Girl, an interactive, feminist spoken word performance. We had the honor of interviewing the founding duo, Megan Falley and Olivia Gatwood, on how Speak Like a Girl has impacted them, and how it can inspire others.
Our personal favorite slogan at the show
HC: How long have you been writing and performing spoken word?
Megan: About a decade for each of us.
Olivia: Speak Like a Girl has been around for about a year, but both of us as individuals had about a decade of spoken word and poetry.
HC: Did you know each other before Speak Like a Girl?
O: We started in spoken word separately and naturally came into each other’s line of vision.
Megan and Olivia’s poetry books.
HC: If someone were to listen to one of your pieces for the first time, which would you recommend they listen to?
O: “Princess Peach”
M: “Say No” captures our performance in a show best, but if you want to get a sense of what we’re like live, I’d say Princess Peach or Collapse the Economy; they’re funnier.
HC: Do you change up your setlist based on the location in you’re in, or does it stay mostly the same? If so, what is the goal of that?
O: Yeah, we try to change our setlist pretty frequently, both to keep it fresh for ourselves and also depending on the audience. We might be at a school that’s mostly male, or a school that has a strong military presence; we might be at a school that is an all girls school, we might be performing for an LGBTQ center or a Take Back the Night event, so we try to change it based on that setting.
M: Or the history of the location. We did the University of Wyoming and it was really important for me to be very outwardly queer the whole set because of the history there. I definitely think if there’s something specific, especially if there’s something going on, we try to stay pretty up to date with current events, so if there’s something we could reference, like high numbers of sexual assault on the campus or the social climate.
M: I think the goal for this show is to encourage learning about feminism. I also hope that college campuses to become safer with more educational language.
HC: Who are some of your favorite writers and/or activists?
M: I think we were both heavily influenced by music. Olivia was really influenced by hip hop in high school. The poetry of music, like when I was little listening to Joni Mitchell and Annie Lennox with my mom was what started my poetic brain.
O: In terms of social thinkers, together we read a lot of bell hooks. We’ve been reading a book by Laurie Penny. We try to read as much as we can.
M: And i think even the poets that we reference are also activists; it’s a form of activism for sure.
HC: Do you have any advice for budding writers or people who would like to follow similar paths as you?
O: READ. A lot. I don’t think you can be a good writer without reading so make it a habit to read. Figure out what you like and then read more of that. And I don’t think it hurts to try and mimic things either. There’s this culture of having to have your own brand new, unique voice, but I think that will come later. It’s good to see what writers are doing and see what you like about it and try and copy it. (That does of course not mean plagiarize).
M: I agree with that. I also think that a lot of people feel afraid to share. I have never regretted going up and saying a poem, but I have regretted staying in my seat. I know that some people still get very stage fright-y when they’ve been performing, but you feel lighter and happier in many ways.
HC: Do you have any advice on how to navigate broadcasting feminist views on a conservative, mostly male campus?
O: Create a community!
M: A lot of people have an image of a feminist being an angry, hairy, man-hating lesbian because that is the the image of a feminist that the media has fed to us so that [fewer] women will identify as feminists. It would be scary if a lot of women were feminists because it is a very powerful thing to feel sort of enraged and empowered and our society really does not want that. There’s a Chimamanda Adichie quote — can you say it?
O: Social economic and political equality of all.
M: So giving somebody that definition of feminism, I think once they have that and can illuminate that feminists are portrayed [poorly] to make sure there are [fewer] feminists. But maybe with that you can convert those people who have this dirty image of it.
O: It’s important for people to take care of themselves by forming communities and awareness. It’s pretty remarkable how important it is for people to not feel alone. If women on this campus and being outnumbered by men or feeling silenced just gather and let the thoughts marinate.
The performers took selfies with fans after the show at a selfie booth they created to promote self-love.
HC: Have you ever received any backlash for your performances, and if so, how did you handle it?
O: Most of the backlash comes online. A large percentage of it does not happen in a scenario in which we can comment back, such as YouTube comments. In terms of at shows, we haven’t had much backlash. We’ve had experiences with some folks who’ve seemed pretty homophobic. I had a guy approach me and say “I’m attracted to you but intimidated by you, what am I supposed to do?” and he was kind of yelling and I just engaged in the discussion with him. Even though we have not had a large amount of backlash at our shows, we still get nervous. We get nervous about the fact that the same people who are online threatening to hurt us also have access to our schedules. It’s a scary thing but we’ve been lucky not to have much at our shows.
M: The worst feedback I’ve ever had has always been well intentioned. It hasn’t happened on this Speak Like a Girl tour, but when I was touring alone I would read Fat Girl and somebody would come up to me and say “You’re not fat, you’re beautiful” and that really was upsetting to me because it invalidated my entire experience, and also the idea that you can’t be fat and beautiful simultaneously.
HC: What are some morals or messages that you’ve learned while performing, especially in any negative circumstances? do you gain more from going out and performing or having your poems online?
M: Performing in front of people.
O: It humanizes you.
M: People are able to share their stories with you after. If you can watch somebody’s face be moved by it, then I feel less alone and I can feel that person be less alone. That’s been really powerful.
M: And folks who might come in being resistant, who might see it on the internet and think it’s okay to be violent verbally, may come into the audience and be more humanized. Maybe they can learn. Maybe when you’re forced to sit and listen you can take something away from that .
HC: Do you have any plans laid out for the future of Speak Like a Girl, or how do you see it growing?
O:We thought about various types of avenues besides touring. We thought about summer camps and how we can reach a younger audience, which is really important. We also thought about forming our own agency and having other women be apart of Speak Like a Girl and be brought out to campuses.
M: Like other poets working under the Speak Like a Girl name.
O: Giving lessons on consent and rape culture.
HC: Finally, if you could describe your performances in a couple of words, what would they be?
O: Megan likes to say “brass knuckles and blush” which i think is fun, so that’s that.
If you’re interested in learning more about Speak Like a Girl (which you totally should be, because they’re awesome), please visit their website, which has tour dates, their merchandise, and more.