The Riot Grrrl Movement was a powerful movement of liberal feminism and punk music that was created in the early ’90s. Riot Grrrl music took the underground punk scene by storm. The female punk bands that embodied the Riot Grrrl Movement sang about rape, racism, sexuality, the patriarchy and most importantly, female empowerment.
The Riot Grrrl Movement was started by Bikini Kill most well known for their song “Rebel Girl”. Bikini Kill’s lead singer Kathleen Hanna led a meeting of women who were exhausted of the blatant sexism in the “cock-rock” punk scene. At the end of the meeting, they came up with a manifesto where they announced their goals, titling it the Riot Grrrl Manifesto.
Their manifesto included statements like “BECAUSE we wanna make it easier for girls to see/hear each other’s work so that we can share strategies and criticize-applaud each other”, “BECAUSE we are angry at a society that tells us Girl = Dumb, Girl = Bad, Girl = Weak” and “BECAUSE I believe with my whole heart mind-body that girls constitute a revolutionary soul force that can, and will change the world for real.”
Female artists then and now were seen as sex objects. On talk shows, they were always asked about their sex life and everything personal while male artists are always asked about their craft. For example in Joan Jett’s early music career, when she was part of The Runaways, most of her interviews centered on the sexuality of the band and if they acted that way they did because of past sexual abuse.
The Riot Grrrl Movement was labeled as because the punk girls at the meeting were so angry they wanted to start an all-girl riot “a ‘girl riot’ against a society they felt offered no validation of women’s experiences”. This meeting inspired Riot Grrrl zines, DIY self publications, such as Jigsaw. Tobi Vail, another member of Bikini Kill, created Jigsaw which focused on the punk and feminist scenes in the Pacific Northwest. After Hanna read Vail’s 5-page article on gender she reached out, resulting in her and Vail beginning to work together to publish interviews with women in the punk scene. Tobi Vail is also the creator of the label “grrrl” which is defined as “a young woman regarded as independent and strong”.
For many of the girls who were involved in the Riot Grrrl Movement, they credit Joan Jett for inspiring them. Especially Hanna, the lead singer of Bikini Kill, who heard Jett’s song “Crimson and Clover” which sings about loving a girl. Jett was one of the first females on the punk rock scene and was on the front lines with her punk girl band The Runaways which struggled to gain any momentum in the States because they were loud and sung about things like sex.
They weren’t what record labels wanted especially in the era of “90’s bubblegum pop”. Bubblegum pop can be defined as songs that are catchy and upbeat such as; Britney Spears’s “…Baby One More Time”, Boyz II Men’s “I’ll Make Love To You” or the Spice Girls “Wannabe”. However, when Riot Grrrl music really started gaining momentum underground she acted as a backer and mentor. She called Hanna after hearing Bikini Kill’s demo and offered to be a backer for the band.
Girl punk bands or even punk bands fronted by women were often criticized and faced a lot of backlash because of their gender. The Gits were an upcoming band coming up from Seattle, Washington, were following the footsteps of bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. They were predicted to be the next biggest band discovery. Just as they were about to sign their first biggest record deal their lead singer Mia Zapata was found dead. Zapata was last seen walking home at 2 a.m. and was then found dead later that morning in the middle of an alley.
She had been assaulted, raped and strangled to death. Zapata’s death sparked outrage in every female in the punk scene. They were tired of being seen as objects, moreover, they were outraged at the toxicity found in the male-dominated punk scene. It took 10 years however, due to advancements in DNA identification, Zapata’s murderer, identified as the murderer here, was sentenced to 36 years in jail. Usually, a crime like this carries a max of 28 years however because of the brutality the murderer got 36 years. The violence and brutality of her murder sent shock waves through the girl punk community. Resulting in Zapata’s murder solidified the Riot Grrrl Movement.
The popular slogan Girl Power was actually used as the title of one of Bikini Kill’s zines. However, it was then appropriated by the pop group, Spice Girls, who ultimately made it mainstream.
Nevertheless, this didn’t stop the Riot Grrrl movement, instead, it actually intensified the press coverage. Unfortunately, like many underground movements, the press distorted and misrepresented the true meaning that the Riot Grrrl Movement was truly about. The media called the movement superficial and said it was a “fashion statement”. The media basically made it seem like Riot Grrrl bands were only using it as a niche personality in a large market.
Unfortunately, as the ‘90s came to end a lot of the girl punk bands that were leaders in the Riot Grrrl movement began to disband. Groups either retired or broke apart to focus on different paths.
Some of the must-listen-to Riot Grrrl bands are; Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Gossip, Slant 6, Le Tigre, Sleater-Kinney and 7 Year Bitch.