DiFranco's sincerity has worked in her favor. In four years she's sold 150,000 copies of her six albums, through her own Righteous Babe mail-order service and a network of small record stores. The two make a lean, mean noise that's extremely musical, not to mention visceral. You can't market it, and my generation considers it uncool - which is great. Folk is what you make it, just like feminism.
Women are gun-shy of the word.
Feminist equals ugly, hairy, man-hating puppy eater.