Glastonbury 2024: Kim Gordon hits out at state of Texas for “hatred for women”
During her assertive performance at Glastonbury Festival on June 30th, former Sonic Youth frontwoman Kim Gordon called out the state of Texas for its “hatred for women”.
Gordon’s performance included cuts from her new album, The Collective, which was released in March this year. She closed her emphatic set with the muscular, trap-leaning single ‘BYE BYE’, which features churning guitars, electronic textures and a swollen beat.
However, as a true feminist icon, Gordon also took a moment to call out inequality towards women in her native United States. Before tearing into her penultimate track, ‘Grass Jeans’, she hit out at the state of Texas for its perceived “hatred for women”. She claimed this contempt gets in the way of more important matters, such as calling out “big government”. The former Sonic Youth member revealed the song was inspired by this topic.
Gordon said: “Thank you so much. This next song is called ‘Grass Jeans’ and is inspired by things going on in Texas and other places. Somehow, I blame Texas more than other places in the United States, but, you know, their hatred for women just is kind of, uh, more than their hatred of, you know, big government, I guess, ‘coz they like to make a boatload of rules for women.”
Gordon released ‘Grass Jeans’ in December 2021. Throughout that entire month, all proceeds earned by the track were donated to the benefit of Fund Texas Choice, a nonprofit that pays for Texans to travel to abortion clinics. The song was her first since her 2019 debut solo effort, No Home Record, and was released with touring members Sterling Laws, Sarah Register, and Camilla Charlesworth.
“I often get asked ‘Can music change things for people in a political landscape?’ Hell yes it can… but it takes a listener, an audience to make it anything,” Gordon explained in a statement at the time. “So please join me in helping to protect and keep accessible a woman’s right to choose her fate by purchasing this song and supporting Fund Texas Choice and their collective efforts to secure abortion access for all. Thank you. It means so much.”
Gordon’s comments are also significant as they emerge after the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in June 2022. The historic ruling 51 years ago generally protected US citizens’ rights to have an abortion, striking down longstanding abortion laws. However, it stoked a moral and religious political debate, which came to a head after it was controversially overturned.
Elsewhere, during the politically-charged festival, Marisa Dabice, vocalist of the Philadelphia punks Mannequin Pussy, called out Glastonbury broadcaster the BBC for a “tired double standard”, regarding censoring their name. It was a vital point that fit in with the distinctly feminist angle of some of this year’s most important performers.
After Dua Lipa headlined on Friday night and Coldplay on Saturday, SZA takes to the Pyramid Stage tonight as the final headliner of 2024.
Watch Kim Gordon hit out at Texas during her Glastonbury set below.
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