First gig! Yes, as a matter of fact I DID think I looked cool.

I think I’ve always been somewhat of a feminist, even if I didn’t know it.

When I started playing in bands when I was 9, I didn’t have any idea that my gender would be an issue. Music was what I loved, and to my Trash and Vaudeville size 00 jeans-wearing self, playing super-distorted covers of Clash songs seemed like the most natural thing in the world.

But as we kept playing and as my nievaté began to dwindle (I had reached the age of 12 and my peak of intellectual maturity), I started to notice something weird. In interviews, I was asked to talk not about my music but about my favorite lip gloss flavor or my latest boy-band crush (which all young girls presumably have, I mean, why not?). Sound-men walked me through using a guitar amp as condescendingly as when Emily Gilmore called Luke’s diner “rustic” (Gilmore Girls, anyone?). Apparently, not everyone thought my being a girl was quite as normal as I thought it was.

And it was just as I discovered sexism, that I discovered Riot Grrrl. I knew that there was absolutely no reason that I should be treated any different than a male musician or be judged on a different scale. And that was exactly what the Riot Grrrls were saying. I liked the grinding guitars on Bikini Kill’s Rebel Girl and the manic vocals on Sleater-Kinney’s album The Woods. I liked listening to records with titles so explicit that iTunes felt the need to change them to P***Y Whipped, which my 12-year-old self of course took to stand for “Party Whipped.” Way to go iTunes, mission accomplished. Mostly, I loved the idea that music wasn’t just a guys’ world, but that girls could, and should, be a part of it too.

Kathleen Hanna with Bikini Kill

But I didn’t really catch on to the Riot Grrrl or feminist community until this year, when my band played the absolute coolest show in the world: a Kathleen Hanna tribute show at the Knitting Factory, which was put on for a documentary being made about the goddess herself.

For the first time, Riot Grrrl wasn’t just me alone in my room jumping around to Bratmobile, it was me as part of a community of people who love the music I love and who believe in what I believe in.

After that show, I ran to the bookstore and bought the Feminine Mystique. I started reading feminist blogs like Feministing and Ms.Magazine. I practically memorized the Riot Grrrl Manifesto. I know “empowered” is such a predictable word to use to describe my reaction to all this stuff, but it’s totally how I felt. Finding out that I am one of many, many women who aren’t ok with sexism and want to DO something about it gave me so much confidence in my ideas and in my ability to act on them.

Why can't boy bands look like this anymore?

And I started to wonder, why am I just finding out about this community now? How could this fascinating, incredible world have remained a secret to me for such a long time? I think it’s partly because I was just too wrapped up in my own world of school and my band and stuff. But mostly, I think it’s because Riot Grrrl and feminism just aren’t part of the current teen-universe (the teen-i-verse as it shall now be referred to). The teen-i-verse is limited, mostly to bad, swoopy-haired boy-bands and pop princesses whining about the swoopy-haired boys; and as a result, lots of teenagers who would be totally inspired and empowered by Riot Grrrl and feminism, just aren’t given that chance.

Recently I decided to start a zine called Grrrl Beat. I want it to be a super-cool forum where people can go to read and talk about music, culture, fashion, art, books, feminism, you name it! It will also be a place where young artists and musicians can post their work and receive feedback from our online community. But I don’t want this to be just a website with me ranting and raving about whatever pops into my head (as fascinating as that would surely be). I’m looking for contributions!

I know this zine may not solve the larger problem at hand. I know this zine may not give our culture the radical transformation it so desperately needs.

But a grrrl can dream! Right?!

Sophie Rae is the lead singer/guitarist for the band Care Bears on Fire (blogged about on the FBomb back in 2009). Check out Sophie’s new zine, Grrrl Beat, and consider submitting!

Kathleen Hanna

I love Kathleen Hanna and Bikini Kill. A lot. So when I saw this very recent interview with her, considering she doesn’t do that many, I knew I had to share! She talks about zines v. blogging, the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, feminist leadership and…*sigh* she’s just awesome.

GRITtv writes:

Kathleen Hanna came into a music scene in the 90s that was angry, violent, and full of men. She and her bandmates in Bikini Kill, along with the rest of the riot grrrl movement, pushed back against that culture and helped usher in a new “wave” of feminism. After Bikini Kill, Hanna went on to make feminist dance music with Le Tigre and has kept pushing boundaries ever since. Recently, she donated her zine archive to NYU’s Fales Library as part of its new Riot Grrrl collection. She joins Laura in studio to talk feminism, rock’n'roll, and why she’s hopeful for the future.

This week – a little history lesson. The post on Care Bears on Fire, and the comments about the riot grrrl movement got me thinking. Most girls my age don’t even know what the riot grrrl movement was. 

Riot Grrrl Online describes the movement (they’re also a great riot grrrl resource): 

Riot Grrrl began in 1991 at Olympia Washington, when a few girls (mostly from Bikini Kill and Bratmobile) decided to get together and talk about their main interests: feminism and punk rock. The first time they met it was all fun, they put up posters to get attention of other open minded girls. Then they found out they had other things in common: they were all vegetarians; against drugs; and had been molested as children.

At one meeting a very smart girl took notes, photocopied them and turned them into a cool fanzine. That’s how it all began. Some people think that Bikini Kill started it all, in my eyes they did. Bikini Kill, however does not think of themselves as starting the riot grrrl movement.

In Bikini Kill’s songs, they sing about different women issues such as: rape, incest, and other issues that some women face. Some people think that bikini kill, riot grrrls, and feminists are ‘man-haters’. They’re not. They just want to be equal to men, not better to them. Zines are a BIG part of the riot grrrl scene. Most riot grrrls believe in DIY. (do it yourself) That means that they start riot grrrl chapters, zines, etc. of their own around the riot grrrl movement.

Bikini Kill

So, Bikini Kill = a huge part of the riot grrrl movement. Included Kathleen Hanna, Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox, and Billy Karren. Was awesome. 

If anybody who was part of this movement wants to comment and enlighten our teenage minds, please do! 

Rebel Girl

Strawberry Julius

Rebel Girl on iTunes:

Strawberry Julius on iTunes: