Kathleen Hanna, you may remember her from bands such as Bikini Kill, The Julie Ruin and Le Tigre. She is largely responsible for the Riot Grrrl movement that took place in the 90s and is a powerhouse in the form of a small girl with a valley girl accent, never afraid to stand up to misogynists or anyone who gets in her way, for girls and women all over to take over the world.
Kathleen has had no issue confronting weak-willed boys that attend her shows with plans to assault her or her band members, she also has no issue with stopping her performance mid-show to debate with those boys that think women “ask for it” regarding sexual assault making her a huge staple in the feminist-punk scene, as well as the American history of feminism as a whole.
Riot Grrrl: New Feminist Values Brought to Light
Kathleen Hanna began the Riot Grrrl movement with the help of her bandmates Tobi Vail and Kathi Wilcox when they formed iconic punk band Bikini Kill. The band was started in the small town of Olympia, Washington in the early 1990s. Kathleen would hold Riot Grrrl meetings for any and all girls to discuss and address sexism in their scene. Riot Grrrl upheld the idea that girls should be able to go to punk shows without being mauled, harassed, or much worse. It was also imperative for the movement that girls should be able to be a part of the music creation. Girl-fronted punk bands were not respected or taken seriously, but Kathleen was determined to change that. When giving some of the most intense and personal performances of the 90s, she would talk directly to the audience, and personally tell certain people to leave her show or to get off her stage if they were disrespectful to her women audience members or her band. She screamed for every woman that had ever been through anything in her life; the veins popped out of her neck, her face was red, and she felt every word she sang as if she was reliving the experiences she wrote about.
Kathleen’s Impact on Today’s Feminist Values
Because of the Riot Grrrl movement, there are many woman-fronted punk bands in todays music scene. Women in rock today would not be taken as seriously if it wasn’t for the undeniable impact of Riot Grrrl, and while women musicians still face challenges and obstacles simply because of their gender, Kathleen’s courage, strength, ambition, and determination has helped -and will continue to help- women in the music industry.
Kathleen Hanna started and popularised many conversations back in the 90s that were often swept under the rug, but now there is more room in both general mainstream media and the music industry for women to discuss their experiences with more understanding and less judgement. She truly is an advocate for women everywhere.
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