girlblog! is an arts and culture webzine providing intersectional feminist commentary on alternative film, TV, music, and lifestyle.
Founded by Rachel Gambling in 2025, girlblog! covers a wide range of alternative topics.
Hi, I’m Rachel. I made girlblog! after getting my pitches rejected from traditional entertainment news outlets and decided to make a space for myself to chat about the weird shit I liked: horror, punk, and Marxist-Feminism.
I studied English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Warwick, graduating in 2020, then went on to study an MA in Gender, Sexuality and Culture at Birkbeck College. I ended up dropping out and began my full-time work in sexual health outreach and education.
I made girlblog! to recommend and analyse my favourite feminist horror films and punk music from the 20th century to the people I knew, and it eventually grew into a platform for others to talk about the same things, as well as other aspects of non-mainstream culture such as queer resistance, global film and TV, and climate change.
girlblog! takes heavy inspiration from the 1990s third-wave feminist movements of Riot Grrrl and Sista Grrrl, where bands and musicians such as Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Tamar-kali Brown, and Honeychild Coleman began making zines and playing gigs to protest violence against women and girls and create safe spaces for them to discuss their experiences with violent misogyny.
girlblog! exists to build on the foundations created by Riot and Sista Grrrl pioneers and revive the movement with Marxist, intersectional principles.
Film, TV, Music, and Lifestyle
Expanding beyond the initial fanzine focus on female punk bands, girlblog! dissects horror cinema and television whilst critiquing our culture with an alternative worldview.
This means looking at the media we consume through a class-conscious lens. Where does feminine rage come from, and how does capitalism exacerbate this? How does it motivate our favourite horror heroines? Who is talking about our material circumstances in their music? What are the current grassroots movements fighting oppression?
Let’s talk about it. Nuanced, thoughtful discourse is an important part of Marxist-Feminist cultural commentary, and I want to hear your perspective.
the latest girlblogs
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Lily Hopkins of The Meffs Chats Burn It Down and Touring With Joan Jett
Hailing officially from Colchester, The Meffs have made themselves one of the most talked about bands in the UK's punk scene. In the run-up to the release of their second album, Business, and their show at Burn It Down, girlblog! Music Editor Bailey had a chat with their lead vocalist Lily Hopkins.
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Debbie Gough of Heriot on Burn It Down Festival
Before Heriot’s much anticipated set at Burn It Down, girlblog! Music Editor Bailey Ewers-Smith had a chat with Heriot’s co-lead vocalist, Debbie.
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Pol Mills of BE N!CE Talks Burn It Down Festival and Their New EP
girlblog! Music Editor Bailey Ewers-Smith had the chance to chat with Pol Mills before the release of BE N!CE's second EP IT'S GETTING HARDER and performance at Burn It Down Festival on the 2nd and 3rd September.
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![Crowded beach with numerous people under colorful umbrellas, some standing and some sitting along the shoreline, enjoying a sunny day.]()
Why Does British Summertime Make Us All Feral?
girlblog! Lifestyle Editor Tenai Palomino takes us through the reasons why the British people all go a little feral during our currently never-ending heatwaves, and what this means for our changing climate.
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![A woman with blonde hair wearing large sunglasses and a red dress is relaxing on a wooden lounge chair outdoors on a sunny day, with a rocky background and green foliage.]()
The People We Don't Meet On Vacation
Avery Jay, girlblog's Film & TV Editor, picks our some perfect recommendations for your flight to your next vacation destination. Muy bien!
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![A woman with long dark hair and facial bruises, wearing a floral top, looks frightened with wide eyes, pressing her hands against a yellow wall.]()
Four Favourites: June
This month’s Four Favourites from girlblog! Editor-in-Chief Rachel Gambling cover ground from recently released horror and thriller titles Die My Love, Backrooms, and Faces of Death to Coralie Fargeat’s feature debut Revenge.
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![Ice hockey players face off during a game, with two players and a referee in focus.]()
CanConnections: A History of Canadian Media
With the success of Heated Rivalry going viral on social media, Canadian native Alex Stevenson explores the history of the True North's media.
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![Four young women dressed in schoolgirl uniforms standing against a column, holding guns and looking in different directions.]()
girlblog! Recommends: Morally Reprehensible Queers
girlblog! Editor-in-Chief Rachel Gambling dishes the dirty, filthy, film recommendations for Pride Month: Morally Reprehensible Queers. Including cult classics like Showgirls (1995), D.E.B.S. (2004), and Shiva Baby (2020).
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![Three women and a child holding a large peeled pear against a white background.]()
Three Models On Visibility and Identity in the Age of the Algorithm
girlblog! Lifestyle Editor Tenai Palomino interviews three models — Raya Pascua, Sabrina Khouiel, and Ebony Hope — on how they navigate the changing modelling landscape in the age of the social media algorithm.
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![A woman with red hair and pale skin holding a bloody, severed finger while smiling.]()
Jungian Archetypes and Womanhood in Horror Cinema
Writer, poet, and witch Reia Wood uses Caroline Myss’ Archetype Cards, to decipher the feminine archetypes presented in horror films: Maiden, Mother, Lover, and Crone.
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![Three women with platinum blonde hair and dramatic makeup posing against a green background. One woman is lying down with her head resting on the ground, the second is with her leg raised and wearing fishnet stockings with decorated high heels, and the third is sitting with her arm around the second woman, all dressed in fashionable clothing with bold accessories.]()
Drag Artistry as Rebellion
Filmmaker and writer Jenny Smart details the essential characteristics of drag: performance, parody, and rebellion, and why this makes it a weapon against oppressive societal structures.
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gimme your money !
girlblog! is run purely out of the love from my heart. also from the small amount of disposable income i have.
If you want to provide a small token of appreciation, please consider helping with the running costs of this website and send me a donation.
Thank you!