feminist playing cards

Michelle Northam by Ramsey Beyer

“I chose to draw Michelle Northam of Sick Fix. At first I had just chosen a few random mainstream feminist musicians I really liked, but then it dawned on me that I hadn’t even thought to include friends in my choices of who to draw. Michelle is an obvious choice for me. I spent my first 18 years in a farm town in Michigan with little to no music scene. My idea of punk was what I could scrape together from Punk O Rama comps and other label samplers I could find at Best Buy. Thanks to the rise of the internet, I could tell there was something more out there, but I certainly had no tangible scene to call my own. I always knew that if I moved to a city I would find something to be a part of. I moved to Baltimore for art school and found exactly what I was looking for, a thriving diy scene and a way to get involved. I joined CCAS and met Michelle shortly thereafter. When I first met Michelle (or Moshelle, as we affectionately referred to her), she sang for an indie band called Proteus. They were right up my alley. If you’ve seen Michelle sing in Sick Fix, imagine all that energy, stage presence, and confidence behind a beautiful voice. Proteus ruled and I loved that a bunch of hardcore folks were playing indie rock. In my 18 year old, new-to-diy head, punks played punk and that was it. I had always been straightedge but didn’t want to apply the label to myself because it seemed like mostly a boys club, and although all the principles applied, it didn’t feel like MY scene. Michelle was the first straightedge lady I met and one of the few punks over 25 that I knew who were straightedge (like I said, my exposure up to that point was limited). I decided, thanks to her and a few other older rad Baltimore straightedge folks, that it WAS something I could be a part of, and I started using the label so I could add to the list of people who made straightedge approachable and friendly, especially to women. In short, Moshelle rules.” - Ramsey Beyer