I figured that it would be good to start out with a loose definition of what a riot grrrl exactly is. Growing up in the 90’s, I didn’t find out about the riot grrrl movement until I roughly hit th
e age of 13 or so, and the was a good decade or so after its start.
The riot grrrl movement started in the early 90’s (according to a riot grrrl site it started in ‘91 amongst some Bikini Kill and Bratmobile members). It was an overall reaction to the male domination of the punk/alternative scene. Before this movement, it wasn’t exactly common to see girl-based groups with punk or alternative music roots. Bands of the riot grrrl era weren’t necessarily made up of “classically trained” musicians. Instead, the movement had a larger focus on DIY culture and made heavy usage of independently-run zines, the promotion of activism, self-made art, music, and so on.
Riot grrrl bands often had songs commenting on issues that women commonly deal with all around the world (rape, body image, sexuality, discrimination, and many other topics). The movement was about unification of women and equality amongst the sexes; it was hardly run by man-hating, radical lesbians (men were involved in this movement too). Although it lost its movement by the mid-90’s (say around the time of the popularization of the likes of the Spice Girls and the “girl power” movement), the effect of the riot grrrl movement can still be felt in today’s music scene, specifically through the presence of bands with heavy riot grrrl-influenced traits in the punk and alternative scene (Kathleen Hanna, former frontwoman of Bikini Kill, later started Le Tigre), and there are still Ladyfests on a yearly basis all around the world (the most recent one was April 10-15 in Leeds and there is another one scheduled for October in Leicester).
The movement was about breaking out of the mold and being heard. In this time, equality was being preached but hardly practiced, so the riot grrrl movement came around and taught people to open their eyes. It was all about progression and sisterhood, about total equality amongst the sexes (and not equality in the near future, but at that very moment).
Regardless of your personal thoughts about the riot grrrl movement and how effective it actually was, it did happen and it did have an impact. Hell, I think that Bikini Kill and Le Tigre (yeah, they’re the typical bands to be naming, but whatever) were among the first bands I listened to in my early, early teenage years that got me hooked into the alternative/punk/whatever-you-want-to-call-it scene. The popularity of small, girl-fronted bands in the scene today are probably a by-product of it too (take a look at the local band Relics, fronted by Karen from the vegan, also local, DIY band Ampere over at the Mercy House sometime if you ever get the chance).
2 Comments
September 16, 2007 at 12:27 pm
“it was hardly run by man hating radical lesbians.”
good i’m glad.. i just hate it when MHRLesbos try to say that they are riot grrrls and all that.. they are obviously stupid. People need to realize that feminism/riot grrrl stands for equality and not sexism. i am tired of all these lesbians talking thier trash and being sexist/hypocritical.
June 18, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Thanks for this article. I’ve heard of the riot grrrl movement, but I never knew what it was. Informative. Now I’ll go check out Bikini Kill and Le Tigre.
- F