Kicking from the 90’s all the way to this point, Riot Grrrls have been one of the most influential women of rock n’ roll.
Prior to the 2000’s, it was shunned for girls to be into rock n’ roll. Metal music was a male-oriented scene, making it difficult for girls to get into the scene. As a result, women were kicked out of rock concerts, or at the very least, did less major roles of doing background voices or doing props (Mcdonnell and Vincentelli, 2019).
In the 1990s, a group of young women had rounded up in the town of Olympia in order to create a space for women within the rock scene. Women were by then fed up with the sexism, and were willing to advocate for change. Many young, rebellious teenage girls took homage to the DIY culture of advertising their music through fanzines and word of mouth. This political movement would eventually grow to form its own rock genre, Riot Grrrl (Mcdonnell and Vincentelli, 2019).
“Riot Grrrl had originally started off as a joke, but it grew into its own music genre. The three r’s are meant to sound like that of a growling animal.” One anonymous punk stated. The genre spread from the city of Olympia, to downtown Seattle and eventually to the rest of the world. Some of the most prominent bands of the 90’s era were Bikini Kill, Le Tigre and Bratmobile. Songs would have centered around themes of challenging the patriarchy, radical feminism and female empowerment. Since Riot Grrrl falls under the punk genre, it would likewise challenge the social norms of what is considered ‘traditional’ and ‘conservative’. The slogan for punk women, “all girls to the front”, became a well-known root of feminism after lead singer of Bikini Kill, Kathleen Hanna barked orders for men in her concert spaces to move towards the back of her concerts, creating a safe space in order for women to mosh freely (Cipalla, 2022).
Despite the movement being a far cry from its heyday, it is of massive interest towards young women today. On algorithms such as Tiktok, a generation who grew up in a world which had succumbed to corporatism and lack of creativity, young women are taking towards social media platforms in order to find community-this includes sharing music tastes, engaging in thrifting and creating their own fanzines as well as making the rock scene more of a welcoming space. In some cases, the Riot Grrrl genre has extended to Riot Ghoul to be more inclusive towards individuals who fall outside the traditional gender identities of male and female (Feliciano, 2013).
“I feel like Riot Grrrl can be beneficial towards teens at hand”. One anonymous student states. “Now more than ever, there is clearly a need for more activism around social issues-not just for women, but for various degrees of topics in general”.
Regardless of what one might think about the Riot Grrrl genre, from how it carries on through the next woman who gets passed the baton, it is clearly here to stay-perhaps this will give room for more space towards equal rights, or will develop into its own unique subculture with its own unique philosophies and ideals. With the most recent forms of youth culture being emo and scene, there is always room for more improvement regarding alternative subcultures.
And like Kathleen Hanna had once said? All girls to the front.
