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Home » Blogs » Jen Sabella's blog » Riot Grrrl turns 15

Riot Grrrl turns 15

by
Jen Sabella

Last week, Guardian writer Laura Barton gave readers a history lesson, taking us back 15 years to Olympia, Wash., where Riot Grrrl was born.

It’s hard to imagine what my life would be without riot grrrl, despite the fact that I got to it well after many of its founders were on to other things. Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, Bratmobile and Team Dresch proved to the world that punk rock was not just a boys club, and, let’s be honest, got many of us through high school.

Bikini Kill

“By conventional standards,” Barton writes, “Riot Grrrl, the underground feminist punk movement that began in the early 1990s, certainly wasn't pretty; it was angry and subversive — it mocked the doe-eyed, perfectly groomed cheerleader aesthetic, it was pierced and tattooed and wore its skirts short. It was loud and unapologetic and vocal."

“Broadly speaking Riot Grrrl was about the female voice. It was about music — being in bands, not watching them or being groupies &mdash but it was also about finding a voice through writing, via fanzines; and it was about a political voice: anger about society's treatment of women, with domestic abuse, rape, sexuality, the need for safer streets, abortion rights and equal pay among the issues.”

The Butchies

You didn’t have to live in Washington to be part of the movement — The Lunachicks in New York, The Muffs and L7 in L.A., The Butchies in North Carolina, Babes in Toyland in Minneapolis, Huggy Bear in Brighton, England and dozens more decided to take the stage and tell the sexist, punk rock boys clubs to f--k off. The bands also got young women fired up about political issues, surely spawning some of today’s fiercest activists.

Sara Marcus, a writer, former member of Washington D.C.’s Riot Grrrl chapter in the 90s and curator of a queer reading series in New York is penning a history of the movement.

"Riot Grrrl was a total blast," Marcus told Barton. "All of a sudden I had this posse of girls, girls in my town and girls I hadn't met yet. We'd go to shows together and dance right up front, and we'd pour our guts out at meetings and write the most passionately honest letters and zines to one another."

The article discussed how, when Nirvana and grunge took off, Riot Grrrl became written off as a fashion craze rather than a feminist movement. But for those of us inspired by it, that could not be further from the truth. Meeting like-minded women, challenging gender stereotypes and becoming aware of how patriarchal and homophobic leaders can eafect your life was a lesson we all needed — through zines, songs, whatever.

"In the early 90s, feminism was largely the domain of academia," Marcus says. "The women's movement didn't have a language for reaching young women. The language and ideas of Riot Grrrl have permeated the culture and made this more participatory, messy, vernacular feminism available to everybody."

The impact Riot Grrrl had can be seen musically today. You can’t listen to bands like Mika Miko, The Dials, The Gossip, Erase Errata and the New Bloods without knowing what some of these band members listened to growing up.

Mika Miko

No word yet on when Marcus’ book will be released, but we will definitely be keeping you posted. Until then, I have some Bratmobile to listen to. It’s been too long.

Did Riot Grrrl change your life, too?

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    • Submitted by
    Jen Sabella
    on March 11, 2009 - 2:42pm.
    TAGS :: 
    GrrrlRomeo's picture

    And my name turns 13

    Submitted by
    GrrrlRomeo (1355 posts)
    on March 11, 2009 - 3:25pm.
    Ah yes... I made my username "GrrrlRomeo" from Riot Grrrl when I was 19 in 1996. It was great to have something other than folk music. It was definately influential during my high school years....when I just said "fuck it" buzzed my hair and came out.
    scribegrrrl's picture

    not the only namesake :)

    Submitted by
    scribegrrrl (5513 posts)
    on March 11, 2009 - 3:54pm.
    (though I was quite a bit older than 19 in 1996!)

    Great post -- I need to take a little listen down memory lane too. Off to read that Guardian piece and cue/queue up some Babes in Toyland...
    Hollywood Marie's picture

    What's next?

    Submitted by
    Hollywood Marie (189 posts)
    on March 11, 2009 - 4:08pm.
    Ok, so if we're old, and Riot Grrrl's 15 (wow), then what's the new movement? I think it's time to start one. Ladies?
    In The Morning's picture

    Now

    Submitted by
    In The Morning (27 posts)
    on March 11, 2009 - 4:11pm.
    It's weird I suppose to find that the bands that started it all are still helping kids get through high school. Me being one of them. When I came out, their music and those bands influenced by it, were the first thing I turned to. And a new movement sounds like a great idea, I missed the good times in the 90's and the new millennium hasn't really seen the zine movement as much. 
    Genesis's picture

    amen to that

    Submitted by
    Genesis (7 posts)
    on March 14, 2009 - 6:18pm.
    ha ha in 1996 i was five years old, but if you press shuffle on my ipod you're sure to run into as much riot grrl as there ever was. i get teased for the inane amount ok bikini kill that i possess. who cares, they got skills. as for the new movement? rest assured my band will be sure to bring it.
    oxy.smoxey.'s picture

    :)

    Submitted by
    oxy.smoxey. (21 posts)
    on March 11, 2009 - 5:10pm.
    i became aware of riot grrrl when i was around 12 or 13. my friends and i all used to listen to le tigre and then i quickly learned about bikini kill and the whole scene. i def had no idea i was gay or anything back then but i was such a little feminist and riot grrrl was a huge part of it. i'm a little younger than that generation but the riot grrrl movement is still a large influence in my life and beliefs. i think all young women should be aware of what riot grrrl was about and how it effects them even today.
    Anonymous's picture

    Riot Grrrl Movement

    Submitted by
    Anonymous
    on March 11, 2009 - 5:26pm.

    www.myspace.com/lunakiss7.com

    Don't feel bad GrrlRomeo I was 19 in 1996 too. Yeah,I remember the Riot Grrrl movement well. The movement was unknown to me until I read about in zines or in Curve magazine. The movement had such impact in a different way  back in the day that some of the riot grrrl bands  were mentioned like Bikini Kill in an  ACT essay question which I had to answer  in 1992(?) (I sh&t you not). Seriously, it was. Later by attending a predom white small university  in the midwest I met  a few girls who were in bands and they're music were heavily influenced by riot grrrl bands like L7, The Butchies and Bikini Kill. Some of the riot grrrl music I liked and some of it I simply didn't get the style of music at all. Each her own I guess.  Now 15 years later, some of the essence of the  Riot Grrrl movement  is still there like in The Gossip; you can feel the 90s Riot Grrrl movement in their music.

    Thanks for the spotlight on this.

    Girl Afraid's picture

    hey girls

    Submitted by
    Girl Afraid (23 posts)
    on March 12, 2009 - 12:52am.
    i was 18 in 1996 =). i just wanted to get involved...
    lol_femme's picture

    I won't play girl to your boy no more

    Submitted by
    lol_femme (18 posts)
    on March 11, 2009 - 9:22pm.

    Aw, this post is after my own heart. The other day, something from Bikini Kill's "CD of the first 2 records" came onto my ipod, and I said to my best friend "I was listening to this album when I drove to my first ever job interview!" (1995, I was 16). Really, though- I could start dozens and dozens of stories off of cues from Riot Grrrl songs. ("Remember when I got kicked out of a Lunachicks show?" etc).

    I got into riot grrrl because I was into Sassy magazine. I would not have heard about it otherwise. I grew up in a very small Pennsylvania town and there were some boy punk rockers, but NO women in bands. When the internet actually became a thing (later 90s), the first thing I EVER searched for was "riot grrrl." I made some riot grrrl friends in other countries and states that are still close friends of mine to this day.

    I also used to write letters to Bikini Kill, and Kathleen and Tobi always wrote me back! I have some of their letters and zines in my parents' attic. I also made myself a "Rebel Grrrl" tshirt with iron ons that I still have somewhere. 

    I know it's cheesy to say that something "changed my life," as I was only a teen, but it really, truly shaped my existence and influenced my politics, taste in music, relationships with other women- etc. One of the best things about my girlfriend is that she was into the music as well and when we met it was like "Oh you love Team Dresch? You're such a dyke!" And we didn't have to explain anything at all to each other about our teen years or our early influences- everything was just understood. 

    jaydock's picture

    Wonderful!

    Submitted by
    jaydock (65 posts)
    on March 11, 2009 - 10:26pm.

    I really appreciate that this website has acknowledged the Riot Grrrl movement on multiple occasions.

    I'm definitely one of those teens who got through middle and high school listening to all of these bands (well, one more trimester of high school left, haha). Plus I've been lucky enough to have the Rock N' Roll Camp For Girls in my hometown of Portland, OR. If those of you reading this don't know about it, check it out at www.girlsrockcamp.org. It's become a worldwide association of camps, proving that riot grrrl is alive and well.

    Honestly, nothing makes me happier than seeing a band full of girls rocking out and screaming on a stage. It's so empowering, so...Wonderful. We are who we are. We are strong. I love it.

    Girl Afraid's picture

    Don't Need You: The Herstory of Riot Grrrl

    Submitted by
    Girl Afraid (23 posts)
    on March 12, 2009 - 12:41am.

     

    a film by kerri koch

     

    my friend kerri koch did this documentary! you should totally check it out!!! i saw it at an l.a. screening a couple of years ago and mika miko played at the after party =).

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Panik's picture

    Yes!

    Submitted by
    Panik (43 posts)
    on March 12, 2009 - 9:23am.

    Ah! Riot Grrrl saved me in high school. I though.. was only like 9 in 1996, haha.

    But sometime in my early high school years, my brother gave me a Le Tigre CD and told me about Kathleen Hanna. From there I basically went crazy learning about all the bands, listening and attaining every song possible, joining forums, and reading up on this different side of feminism. 

    It really helped me come to terms with myself as a feminist, woman, queer, and musician (I started playing guitar by learning Bratmobile songs)

    <3 riot grrrl. It very much helped form who I am today.

     

     

    "Stacey Merkins is a fu**ing c*nt! Say it say it say it!"

    ella's picture

    revolution girl-style, now!

    Submitted by
    ella (15 posts)
    on March 12, 2009 - 9:47am.

    queercore and grrl punk changed my fucking life. I became a women's studies major (was already a queer)...now I'm in grad school for it 15 years later.

     

    I firmly believe we are STILL going through 3rd wave feminism and roller derby has replaced riot grrl as the vehicle. 

     

    Fagetarian and Dyke by Team Dresch is still one of my FLAV-OR-RITE songs, evah.

     

    ella

     

    Radicalmind's picture

    ...

    Submitted by
    Radicalmind (287 posts)
    on March 12, 2009 - 10:55am.

     indeed riot grrrl played a big part in my life I don't like them as much as I used to but they opened me up to all forms of queer music.

    ~The whole world will tell you who you are, until YOU tell the world! 

    Jamie's picture

    "subversive — it mocked

    Submitted by
    Jamie (108 posts)
    on March 12, 2009 - 12:43pm.

    "subversive — it mocked the doe-eyed, perfectly groomed cheerleader aesthetic, it was pierced and tattooed and wore its skirts short. It was loud and unapologetic and vocal." 

    This is how I live my life. 

    ________________________________________________________

     

    http://stuffqueerpeopleneedtoknow.wordpress.com/

    lwrdTalice's picture

    Woot

    Submitted by
    lwrdTalice (244 posts)
    on March 12, 2009 - 2:09pm.

    I`m the same age as Riot Grrrl!! I love Riot Grrrl so much! Just great music!! <3

    <3almostme<3

    Hellboi's picture

    THE BUTCHIES

    Submitted by
    Hellboi (250 posts)
    on March 14, 2009 - 6:52pm.

    i love them with some sort of awesome passion! But i had no idea they started in NC where infact i live. Oh AE you teach me so much.

    "Butch/Femme is all about relating to each other like ladies and gentlemen—no matter our genitals."


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