The Life, Death, and Rebirth of Riot Grrrl in a Modern Era
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“Girls to the front,” was the little phrase that sparked a fire in the Pacific Northwest thirty years ago, demonstrating the embers of a passion that had refused to die out in women across the globe. The Riot Grrrl movement united women through feminist punk music, zines, and a tangible ‘fuck you’ attitude toward a society that had heavily silenced them. These punks were fed up with misogyny. They wanted to create a space where they felt heard. After holding multiple “girl riots” and conventions, the creators Allison Wolfe and Molly Neuman of Bratmobile, coined the term ‘Riot Grrrl’ in their zines, shaping the movement thereafter.
all images from the Riot Grrrl Archives
Bands like Heavens to Betsy and Bratmobile headlined underground festivals centered around female empowerment and the revolution. Adopting the anti-capitalist of punk while focusing on ways women could retaliate against the sexism of punk and dominant society, they were a home for many women and girls. Gaining momentum, Riot Grrrl implanted itself into the consciousness of the world, not just the confines of the punk community.
Samantha Simmons, the writer of This is Not a Test Zine who recently gained a platform on Tik Tok, said “The media attempted to report on the movement as it gradually moved into the forefront of cultural awareness, but failed time and time again — because apparently, it’s very difficult for anyone to treat the lives of teenage girls as if they matter. After feeling continually misrepresented and misunderstood in the media, the Riot Grrrls had an unspoken agreement to shut out the media altogether. During that media blackout, the Grrrls kept the movement alive within themselves and in their community, but fewer and fewer people were introduced to the revolution and slowly it began to fizzle out.” Shortly after, as the movement ran into the 90s, it died out. They left behind them a scorched trail of empowering punk music, an anti-establishment credo, and a demonstration of potential to resist.
This is not the end of the story, however. As Simmons said, “very little has changed in the intervening decades regarding the way women are treated. Abortion laws, the 19th Amendment, the consistent rise in rape cases and domestic violence, the normalization of sexism across all media platforms, the constant degradation of women in everything they do; the world (particularly America) has been fooled into believing that women are treated equally, and it’s simply untrue.”
The disquietening fire present in Bikini Kill’s music and in the sentiments arisen by Riot Grrrl is still very much alive in women today. The discrimination women face is still left unaddressed. Women’s voices, particularly trans women, are still heavily muted, especially within the music industry.
Seemingly, this is why the movement has found new footing on social media. Simmons states, “social media is a great way to introduce those people to this movement meant to channel those feelings… [It] reaches so many people from all around the world living completely unique lives, and now I’m able to connect with them and share with them the goal for this movement from the comfort of my own home, my own town, state, and country.” Simmons, and other modern-day Riot Grrrls, are now able to promote their music, zines, and ideas through platforms like TikTok and Instagram. This allows it to be more accessible to the general public, while still representing their core ideologies.
Female punk sentiments have found new life on social media. Bringing about festivals like the Loud Woman Fest in the UK that stands for the inclusivity of women and the subversion of sexist expectations they are often laden with. Without social media, this gathering of like-minded women would prove difficult and stands as a microcosm for the impact social media has had on reviving the message and music of the movement.
Now, the music scene attempts to represent all Riot Grrrls, not just the white, cis, middle-class ones of the 90s. Popular bands, like Pussy Riot and Skinny Girl Diet, symbolize the intersectionality that the feminist movement has come to encompass today, and some modern, feminist punk music discusses immigration, police corruption, race relations, and queerness. However, we cannot ignore that most still centers around the experiences of white, upper-middle-class women, which is where the Riot Grrrl movement previously fell short. The question becomes, in a modern era, is Riot Grrrl able to expand to include this new representation and ideology?
MY LIFE WITH EVAN DANDO, POPSTAR, KATHLEEN HANNA, 1993
Personally, I found the Riot Grrrl movement through Tik Tok (of all places) and instantly fell in love with it. Growing up, I was taught women have to succumb to the male gaze - that girls must dress, speak, and act in ways that do not upset men, but rather appease their every demand. I was angry, and I refused to sit still and look pretty, but everyone around me refused to acknowledge my passion for subverting this patriarchal stricture. The music, writings, and people in this movement helped me feel seen while providing a safe haven for my emotions to be expressed freely. This is why Riot Grrrl is so importan — especially to typically silenced voices. It is a place where anger is not discouraged or bottled up, but rather used to create empowering art to uplift generations of women.
This is why, in Simmons words, “the expansion of the Riot Grrrl movement to trans women, non-binary people (and not just femme-presenting non-binary people, but all non-binary people), people of color, people who don’t necessarily identify as ‘punk’ and basically anyone who is an intersectional feminist, is essential.” Womxn of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community must be able to use this space and have their voices heard for this movement to rise from the ashes.
Simmons points out that “unstoppable revolution is easily possible when we recognize that oppression also affects the people who don’t look like us or who don’t look the way we want them to. Patriarchal violence is universal and if we join together to fight for everyone and not just ourselves, then the spirit of Riot Grrrl can rise once again and we can quite literally take over the world.”
Only when the movement centers on intersectionality, can it create the momentum to ignite women’s collective fire to burn down the oppressive regime we all face, and finally, implement long-lasting change.
