Over the summer, I spent a lot of time with my mom, particularly on my birthday, when we visited the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. On the ride over, she turned to me and announced, “I’m sick of your music. Let’s play my playlist instead.” So, I hit shuffle on my phone, and the song that came on was “Rebel Girl” by Bikini Kill. She told me I’d like it, indicating I shouldn’t skip. I had already been listening to a lot of ‘90s grunge, but this exact moment changed everything for me. It was the best gift of all. From this moment forward, the feminist movement became an important part of my life.
When Kathleen Hanna was nine, her mother introduced her to feminism by taking her to a rally in Washington. Hanna was incredibly inspired. She knew she wanted to be an activist all her life, yet she had to keep her involvement quiet due to her father’s disapproval. After high school, Hanna started college at Evergreen State where she took an interest in photography. She held an exhibit with a friend that dealt with topics such as sexism, violence against women, and AIDs. However, school administrators took down the photos before they had a chance to be viewed.
She decided to open up an independent art gallery called Reko Muse. Hanna had a lot of up-and-coming bands play there, most notably Nirvana. She was good friends with Kurt Cobain, and her involvement in activism made them even closer. One night, the pair decided to vandalize a fake abortion clinic by spray painting the side of the building. The next morning, Hanna had written the message “Kurt smells like Teen Spirit” on Cobain’s bedroom wall. This, of course, became the title for Nirvana’s most popular song. The cover for the album Bleach was also shot at Reko Muse.
Hanna had been doing spoken word for quite some time until she met her idol, Kathy Acker. Hanna told her she felt like nobody listened to her, to which Acker replied, “Then why are you doing spoken word? No one goes to spoken word shows! You should get in a band.” Hanna took this advice to heart and formed a few punk rock bands such as Amy Carter and Viva Knievel. Unfortunately, these bands broke up due to financial issues. Sometime later, Hanna bounced back from this and started Bikini Kill. She gained a lot of popularity by inspiring young women and even produced singles with Joan Jett. This led to the creation of the “Riot Grrrl” music genre, featuring bands like Babes in Toyland and Bratmobile.
Around the same time, Hanna began creating a corresponding zine, also called “Riot Grrrl”. This became a call to action for young women to embrace feminism and equal rights in the punk rock scene. It covered mosh pit safety while mainly representing feminist ideas. By the second issue, the “Riot Grrrl” Manifesto was born, which urged women to defy society’s expectations for them and to form a collective where women could freely discuss their takes on topical events. This movement gained a lot of traction and prompted Courtney Love to feature her disapproval of it on songs in Live Through This, such as “Rock Star” and “Gutless”. She even went as far as punching Kathleen Hanna at Lollapalooza in ‘95.
To prevent harassment at their shows, Hanna would ask women to come to the front of the stage. She faced a lot of backlash but eventually created a positive atmosphere for women in a largely male-dominated scene. Although “Riot Grrrl” was a major success, Hanna noticed the primary demographic was cis-gendered white women. In an attempt to diversify, she created more zines seeking out POC and transgender people to attend the meetings. This completely backfired, and Hanna did not have a way to bring in those new members. She also started getting hate from her fans. She was shocked to discover she had created such an unwelcoming community and moved away from Olympia to distance herself from the “Riot Grrrl” scene.
Hanna began a new band called Le Tigre and produced their self-titled album in ‘99, but eventually had to resign due to her battle with Lymes Disease. She now resides in Pasadena, California, and is married to Adam Horovitz from the Beastie Boys. She is still big in the feminist scene and often speaks at protests and lectures. All of this can be found in her recently published memoir titled “Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk”. It’s crazy to think that I discovered all of this important history from one car ride with my mom. I can’t wait to come across more pop culture — and great music.
Sources
“1991: The Riot Grrrl Manifesto | Marshall.com.” Marshall.com, 2022, www.marshall.com/us/en/backstage/nineties/1991-the-riot-grrrl-manifesto.
Bernheim, Colette. “Is There Room for Riot Grrrl in a Modern World?” Lithium Magazine, 24 May 2021, lithiumagazine.com/2021/05/24/is-there-room-for-riot-grrrl-in-a-modern-world/.
Brannigan, Paul. “Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna on the Enduring Impact of Nirvana and Her Friend Kurt Cobain.” Msn.com, 2024, www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/bikini-kills-kathleen-hanna-on-the-enduring-impact-of-ni rvana-and-her-friend-kurt-cobain/ar-AA1nUYso. Accessed 17 Oct. 2024.
Lockett, Dee. “Courtney Love’s Incredibly Petty Feud with Kathleen Hanna Lives On.” Vulture, 23 Jan. 2019, www.vulture.com/2019/01/courtney-loves-kathleen-hanna-feud.html.
Wikipedia Contributors. “Kathleen Hanna.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Oct. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Hanna.
