A trail blazer who knows no bounds in the feminist realm!
In honour of seeing Bikini Kill earlier this year, I thought today would be a great kick off point for a new series celebrating women in the music industry. Let's take a look at Kathleen Hanna, the mother of all things Riot Grrrl!
If you don’t know, Riot Grrrl was a feminist movement originating in Washington in the early 1990s. It was formed off a DIY culture, with handmade zines being a focal point of what many believe to be birth of the third wave of feminism. The movement was headed by bands like Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, and Sleater-Kinney, but was ultimately built off the innate rage of thousands of teenage girls trying to navigate a world that was still inherently sexist towards them.
Kathleen Hanna is often pictured at the forefront of the genre and movement due to her inspiration on other bands, and how she helped formulate meetings and conventions for girls from day one. For instance, she wanted to make the punk scene more accessible for girls, hence the song ‘girls to the front’, which promoted the front of the crowd being a safe space for them, away from heavily male-dominated mosh pits where you were often groped.
Hanna also had an enigmatic performance style, and is pictured with words like ‘Slut’ written across her stomach, with otherwise minimal clothing on because it meant she couldn’t be degraded as such if she had already reclaimed it.
Her lyrics were personal and expressed the female experience in a way that truly expressed that rage, and that's why the band became so popular – because she voiced the struggles of so many. She has always been an outspoken activist, running her own brand ‘Tees 4 Togo’, with shirts depicting fellow rock legends like Kim Gordon, with the profit of one shirt going towards sending a girl in Togo to school for a full year. The brand has also funded mentorship programs, Id cards, and health care access to hundreds of girls so far.
And sadly, her messages still ring true over thirty years later, hence why songs like Rebel Girl have become the anthem to multiple generations of female teenage angst. Hanna was also is/was a part of Le Tigre, and the Julie Ruin – which adopt a more electronic pop style to the brash tones of Bikini Kill. There is an amazing documentary on Kathleen Hanna called The Punk Singer which is available to watch online, and definitely worth the watch if you want to find out more about her motivations and influences. She’s also just released an autobiography which I’m looking forward to getting my hands on in the future!
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