How The Riot Grrrl Movement and Feminism Changed Music

Riot Grrrl was started in the early 1990s, which combined the idea of feminism and punk music. Riot Grrrl bands would touch on topics like rape, sexual assault, empowerment, weightism, racism, and anarchism. Allison Wolfe and Molly Neuman, members of Bratmobile, formulated the phrase “girl riot,” which quickly developed into the known phrase of Riot Grrrl. This was the third-wave of feminism, and Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill) felt it necessary to emphasize on the word “girl” rather than “woman.”

“Grrrl” meant more than just “Girl.” It was to emphasize the young women who were perceived as strong, independent and/or aggressive in their attitude towards men.

Bikini Kill, Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, and Bratmobile were just a few bands involved in this movement, with a few other bands following them into modern day: The Regrettes, Girlpool, and Tacocat.

BIKINI KILL

When Bikini Kill had become more popular in the early 90s, the man-dominated media attacked each member of the band. In 1993, Rolling Stone had published a review about their self-titled album, describing it as a “Moronic nag-unto-vomit tantrums over stock school-of-Sabbath riffage.” Articles such as that consistently triggered Bikini Kill, but more in a way for them to strive harder with their music and what they stand for. And it wasn’t just the media that was attacking them. Men would attend their shows just to antagonize the band as they performed, which started the bands motto “Girls to the Front.” In the documentary about Kathleen Hanna, The Punk Singer, Hanna stated that she felt more comfortable playing when girls were in the front. It was her safe space.

One of Bikini Kill’s most popular songs, “Double Dare Ya”, encourages, and in a way demands, girls to become apart of the revolution and to “do what you want” and “be who you will.” The song also powerfully states “you got no reason not to fight,” which delivered a big message to their female listeners to speak up for themselves and make a difference.

Bikini Kill rarely talked to the press, but when they did, it was “to encourage girls everywhere to start their own bands.”

SONIC YOUTH - KIM GORDON

The Sonic Youth song “Tunic (Song for Karen)” was written about Karen Carpenter, drummer and singer of the two-piece band The Carpenters which she formed with her brother, who died from anorexia nervosa. The song was sung by Kim Gordon, frontwoman and bassist of the band. Gordon explained a small portion of her backstory for writing this song: “Eating disorders are kind of a metaphor for how far women will go please other people. The feeling that our body is basically the one thing we have to work with. It's a powerful thing. Women's bodies. It's a challenge to talk about things like that in a way that isn't overtly political.” This song is sending a message to girls, with or without eating disorders, saying that they don’t need to change themselves to please men or anyone else who they might think is judging them based on appearance.

“Swimsuit Issue” off of their album Dirty, spoke about the harassment suit against an executive at Geffen Records by the name of Marko Babineau. A secretary who also worked there sued Babineau for sexual harassment. The case was posted all over the news, and it struck a chord with Gordon so much that she wrote “Swimsuit Issue.” The song starts off from the point of view of the secretary: “I'm just here for dictation I don't wanna be a sensation Being on sixty minutes Wasn't worth your fifteen minutes,” and follows with this verse: “Don't touch my breast I'm just working at my desk Don't put me to the test I'm just doing my best.” This song is confrontational to any men that violate women, especially when they are just trying to do their job.

Since the breakup of Sonic Youth, Gordon kept herself occupied by writing a memoir titled “Girl in a Band.” During a Vice interview, she was asked “What is the girl’s job in the band?”, in reference to the title, and she responded with “I think being a girl in a band's job is to add an element of chaos, mystery, an unknown energy. Like, What she's going to do next? It makes it slightly unpredictable.”

BRATMOBILE

Bratmobile was asked to play a show with Bikini Kill, but at that time they were not officially a band and they didn’t have any content written. They tried to turn down the offer, but after it failed, Bratmobile decided to finally write some songs. Allison Wolfe, lead singer of Bratmobile, asked her friend from Some Velvet Sidewalk, Robert Christie, what they should do. Christie advised them to listen to the Ramones to find some inspiration, but Wolfe’s thought “if most boy punk rock bands just listen to the Ramones and that's how they write their songs, then we'll do the opposite and I won't listen to any Ramones and that way we'll sound different." This was the start of Bratmobile’s unique sound that emerged them into Riot Grrrl.

In 1999, Wolfe created the first Ladyfest, an art festival focused on feminist music and arts, and since then, the festival has gone global.

“Cool Schmool”, being one of Bratmobile’s most popular songs, starts of with saying “Fuck you too, Cool Schmool”. Using the phrase “cool schmool” was their message of saying that there shouldn’t be a stereotype of what is cool and what is not, especially directed towards the youth. The rest of the song reflects their meaning: “I don't want to hear how many friends you have”, “I don't want you to tell me what's so cool”, “I don't have to try because I know where you're at.”

Modern Bands Continuing Their Legacy

THE REGRETTES

“Poor Boy” is a very powerful song via lyrics written by the point of view of an abusive man, one of the verses stating “Push it under and gimme that twirl Silence is the perfect sound For the man that tried to Hold you down”, but the strong guitar riff really carries the message across. This song was written about Kavanaugh and all the men that think it’s okay to get away with rape, sexual assault, or anything along those lines. Through this song, The Regrettes are encouraging their fans to donate to RAINN, an anti-sexual assault organization. At the end of their music video for “Poor Boy”, the number for RAINN is displayed (800-656-4674) for their fans to know that “You’re Not Alone”.

The beginning of the song “Ladylike / WHATTA BITCH” starts off with Lydia Night, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, listing off things that women were/are expected to do, forced upon by society: “Be soft, be shy, read a book and learn to cook Be nice, be dumb, clean the floors and wash your pores Be light, be small, wear a dress below your knees, not less Be insecure, be a wife, cater to a man for the rest of your life.” The rest of the song reflects on Night confronting the people that would negatively talk about her behind her back in high school. She was majorly shocked when she found out, so in retaliation, she wrote this song.

“My parents have always raised me in a feminist manner. What really got me into it was when my mom took me to see the documentary on Hole. I had never heard of them and I didn’t really understand that sort of music since I was younger; that kind of changed everything for me” - Lydia Night

“As a young woman at that age and in that time period, you need that kind of power and confidence” - Lydia Night

GIRLPOOL

“Jane,” featured on their self-titled album, was written to empower girls to speak up for themselves and to seek out healthy relationships, which was heavily influenced by Bikini Kill’s “Liar.” The first two verses of the song tells a story about Jane and how she punched a boy named Tommy in the mouth due to that fact that “he’d been shady.” Girlpool ends the song with quite a powerful message to everyone saying, “Girls and boys if you are listen Don't ever feel imprisoned Feeling like your mouth is glued tight shut You were born for a reason Share all your feelings If you are a Jane put your fist up too.”

Another song from Girlpool, “Slutmouth,” sends a message to go against slut-shaming and the expectations that are put on people about their gender. The beginning of the song starts off with the point of view of the teller, “Sometimes I wanna be a boy Never really wanted girl toys” then quickly follows with the aspect of an observer, “Why don't you cross your legs Lady please.” The chorus touches on the slut-shaming aspect of the song: “Do you wanna make out I heard you had a slutmouth From the boy down the street Baby please.” This song brings comfort to the girls or boys that have ever felt insecure about their gender and that have been put down for being labeled a slut.

TACOCAT

Tacocat’s music has always reflected their feminism, especially through the songs “Men Explain Things to Me,” “Crimson Wave,” and “Hey Girl.” “Men Explain Things to Me” speaks out to the power of men’s words. “Don't tell me what to do My feelings won't subdue Just because you told them to.” The chorus to the song repeats “Tell me to call down” which is a common tactic used during arguments spoken by men. The song as a whole is their way of activism, to speak up for girls in bad situations.

“Crimson Wave” touches on menstrual cycles, using metaphors to artistically describe it throughout the whole song, such as “Surfin’ the crimson wave” and “Sew a scarlet letter on my bathing suit, ‘cause I’ve got sharks in hot pursuit.”

“Hey Girl” sings about the wrong way to be catcalled, saying things like “Who do you think you are Yelling at me from your car.” To hear more on Tacocat’s proper way to catcall, read http://www.mtv.com/news/2226540/tacocat-cat-calling-interview/ .