A Girl is a Riot: An Exploration of the “Riot Grrrl” Movement

There’s one statement that sends me into a fit of rage like no other – “Punk isn’t political.” Whether it be a weird conservative uncle who really loves The Ramones, or an uneducated new fan, the sentiment that a genre built on the foundation of extreme leftist ideology isn’t political is something that I have encountered several times in my life. From my perspective, it’s impossible for punk to be apolitical– it is irrefutable that the punk genre was built on the backs of leftist activists fighting for change. In fact, punk might just be the most political genre out there; it has always existed as an outlet to express anti-capitalist, non-conformist, and anti-institutional messaging. Bands like Sex Pistols, Black Flag, and Propagandhi established themselves as hallmarks of the genre, combining political messaging with the signature loud, brash, and unapologetic punk style. 

Despite the genre's focus on leftist ideology, one group of people has historically been excluded from and mistreated by the hardcore rockers that make up the larger punk scene– women. The punk movement, which was supposed to criticize the bigotry and inequality of the mainstream world, managed to still be ripe with misogyny. Like many leftist men, those involved in the punk scene during its conception believed that their leftist beliefs absolved them of their mistreatment of women. Just like that, a genre built on deconstructing the mainstream managed to copy one of its most vitriolic habits. In the early 1990s, a group of women from Olympia, Washington decided that they had enough of the mistreatment and started a movement that would go on to transcend generations. From the very rockers who mistreated them to the wider music world, soon everyone would be exposed to the Riot Grrrls. 

Riot Grrrl icons Bikini Kill performing in Olympia, 1991.

Olympia was not the premiere music destination of Washington; that honor went to Seattle. However, the focus on alcohol and drug use in Seattle’s music scene meant that a lot of the music venues in the city weren't accessible to fans of younger ages. Olympia had a much more inclusive Punk scene, where fans could enjoy the music regardless of their age. Artists in Olympia were also much more experimental and avant-garde, making the city a hub for creative exploration. However, Olympia’s inclusivity did not shield the city or its residents from the prevalence of misogyny in the Punk music scene. A group of female music fans who noticed the consistent mistreatment of women in the Olympia Punk scene began holding meetings to discuss the sexism that they were experiencing. These were the original Riot Grrrls– in true Punk fashion, they weren’t quiet about the issues they were facing. 

The Riot Grrrl movement began to expand beyond Olympia, with women across the country speaking out against their experiences with misogyny, racism, homophobia, and sexual assault in their local punk scenes. The simple meetings once confined to Olympia quickly evolved into country-wide performances, protests, and, most notably, zines. The Riot Grrrl zines, which initially started in Washington D.C., were a hallmark of the movement. The zines adopted a distinct messy and handcrafted style that is widely associated with the Riot Grrrl movement to this day. They served as a vital outlet for members of the movement, allowing them to vent their frustrations on a larger scale. Fans across the country were able to connect, seeing their experiences mirrored in other women who had faced the same struggles. 

The first ever issue of the Riot Grrrl fanzine, created by Bratmobile members Allison Wolfe and Molly Neuman, 1991.

In 1991, the “Riot Grrrl Manifesto” was published by Kathleen Hanna, the lead singer of Bikini Kill. In the manifesto, Hanna lists a variety of statements that encompass the core of the Riot Grrrl movement, each beginning with the word “BECAUSE” spelled out in all caps. Some of the statements include “BECAUSE us girls crave records and books and fanzines that speak to US that WE feel included in and can understand in our own ways,” and “BECAUSE we don't wanna assimilate to someone else's (boy) standards of what is or isn't.” The manifesto would go on to define the movement, with the popularity of Bikini Kill cementing Hanna’s statements in Riot Grrrl legend. 

The movement was able to birth some of the most iconic Punk bands of all time; musicians that, without the support of the movement, likely would never have gotten the recognition they deserved. Bands like Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, and Bratmobile paved the way for other female-led punk bands to find success in the genre. Like most Punk music, their songs often focused on activism, centering feminism in a way that more mainstream Punk bands didn’t. In a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, Bratmobile lead singer Allison Wolfe opened up about how she felt that the media backlash overshadowed the powerful change she was making during the height of the Riot Grrrl movement. She went on to clarify that “I think that the kind of documentation that came later, or the renewed interest in the things that we did, was important in a lot of ways to make us feel like we didn’t just waste our twenties, or just to feel that it actually meant something to someone.” 

Bratmobile's Allison Wolfe, 1997.

The Riot Grrrl movement was not free of its own issues, with one of the big ones being a lack of diversity. Women of color often struggled to find a place amongst the Riot Grrrls, not having their experiences fully understood or heard by the primarily white, suburban, and middle class women who made up the movement. As a result, women of color couldn’t really look to the Riot Grrrl movement as a platform or support system in the way that white women could. To combat this, a subsection of the Riot Grrrl movement called the Sista Grrrl Riots was formed by Honeychild Coleman, Tamar Kali-Brown, Simi Stone, and Maya Sokora in the late ‘90s. With the support of the Sista Grrrl Riots, Black women were able to participate in punk subculture more so than ever before. Bands like Whole Wheat Bread were able to build loyal fan bases after struggling to find punk fans who understood and appreciated their art.

The continued interest in Riot Grrrl over the years has evolved the movement from simply a moment in time to a genre-defining coalition. From its humble beginnings in Olympia, Riot Grrrl went on to represent the fierce devotion and grit of talented, creative, and outrageous female punk artists. Riot Grrrls are an example of how proactive change can start a revolution. Especially given today's current vitriolic political landscape, it’s important to internalize the core values of Riot Grrrl– fighting oppression and bigotry, standing up for what you believe in, and celebrating the power of music.