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Blast From The Past: Riot Grrrls

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southernbitch
03/12/09

In reply to Blast From The Past: Riot Grrrls
eh. there's still female fronted punk, thrash, and metal bands. why always be looking back when there's still girls pushing forward?
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Cicada
03/11/09

In reply to Blast From The Past: Riot Grrrls
Back in the early 90s I was in a punk band. Our town had only two punk band with girls in them, and the local venue invited us to open for Bikini Kill when they came to town.

It was crazy because all of these skinheads showed up and started spitting on us and yelling "Dyke". I didn't see it, but apparently Kathleen Hannah went ballistic and started screaming at the guys running the show to do something.

*sigh*

I still have a girl-crush on Kathleen Hannah.
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SkipToMyLou
03/11/09

In reply to Blast From The Past: Riot Grrrls
Ooohhhh, Riot Girl! The very first things I ever looked up on the brand spanking new "interscapewebnetz" circa 1994 /1995 was fan sites for Riot Girl bands. Especially Bikini Kill, Hole and Babes in Toyland. I used to make spcial visits to my mum's work just to use Alta Vista to search "Courtney Love". Lo, I am a child of the 1990s.
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icingsugar
03/11/09

In reply to Blast From The Past: Riot Grrrls
I was just thinking of how I got introduced to feminism the other day (thank you Women's Studies 100) and thought back to being exposed to riot grrl at a young age. When I was 11 I had a subscription to seventeen magazine and in 1993 there was an article that featured that same picture of the knuckles with riot grrl written on it. I devoured the article but never knew how to get the music until a couple years later. I worshiped Bikini Kill, saw Sleater-Kinney about 15 times, my friend got dissed by the girl from Bratmobile.

I miss being in my teens and discovering music and feeling like a part of a scene. Ever since SK broke up I haven't felt that kind of connection at shows.
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whynotshesaid
03/12/09

@icingsugar: DUDE. I remember that picture. I cut it out and put it on a collage, I loved it so much.
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atinydream
03/11/09

In reply to Blast From The Past: Riot Grrrls
this post makes me so proud to be born and raised in olympia, WA! i currently live on sleater-kinney rd... as in, the same street the ladies got their name from. sorry, i just gotta boast a little.
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Ipomoea
03/12/09

@atinydream: Dude, why do you think I decided to go to Evergreen? And do you go to carnivals at the Lacey Mall?
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MockMyWorld
03/11/09

In reply to Blast From The Past: Riot Grrrls
Even though I was already a confirmed feminist when Riot Grrrl started happening, and even though I liked many of the individual bands, there was always something about the movement that made me unable to fully get on board with it. It was often too clumsily ideological, in spite of my agreement with a lot of the ideology. Too regional, maybe; too white, definitely. My ideal revolution would connect me with something much larger than my own demographic, and I didn't see Riot Grrrl doing that, much. Am I alone here?

In case I haven't already completely killed my cred with the above, I'll confess to something even more dubious: I also failed to connect with and love the shit out of Sassy like I was supposed to. I think I'm definitely alone here. I've never been able to put my finger on exactly why, but there it is.

Having said that, I plan to watch the above clips at my leisure - maybe I'll figure something out that has eluded me before. I also think it would be a bummer if this post died a late-night death. This is a totally Jezebel topic that deserves a thorough discussion.
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whynotshesaid
03/12/09

@MockMyWorld: This is old and I know it's dead but I wanted to say that your criticisms are shared by a lot of people I know, including girls who were heavily involved with the whole scene at the time. I've heard a lot about how it was super white and super middle-class and kind of snotty how ultimately it amounted to little more than cultural activism. A lot of ex-riot grrrls don't have very nice things to say about ladies like Kathleen Hanna and Alison Wolfe.

But as for me...well, I was a teenage girl in Utah who occupied weird space as both a Mormon and an out-and-proud feminist, and so things like riot grrrl and Sassy spoke to me in ways little else did. I was really nothing like those girls - I was not punk, I did not wear Doc Martens until I was 16 and I didn't pierce anything until I was 18 - but just knowing they existed gave me hope for life outside of what I knew.
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tomatoheart
03/11/09

In reply to Blast From The Past: Riot Grrrls
i had no idea of nomy's history when i played in a band with her...i wish i had...though i probably would have been more petrified of playing.
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tomatoheart
03/11/09

@tomatoheart: and nomy if you read this...i'm sorry for being such a twit, i was underexposed to any sort of political activism, despite knowing people who were very much in the scene. Live and learn.
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Ceiling Cat
03/11/09

@tomatoheart: Oh, shit, you totally one-upped atinydream!
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tomatoheart
03/11/09

@Ceiling Cat: if it makes you feel any better she can't stand me
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BicSharpie
03/11/09

In reply to Blast From The Past: Riot Grrrls
I used to live in a house in DC that previously housed Riot Grrrl Press. We used to get mail all the time addressed to them and I always felt bad about it.
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Phyllis Nefler
03/11/09

In reply to Blast From The Past: Riot Grrrls
I dunno, I always felt like the most revolutionary thing I could do was be a better musician and songwriter than the boys.

It's far more difficult than you'd think.
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girlnamedblue
03/11/09

@Phyllis Nefler: I whole-heartedly agree.
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Susan B.
03/11/09

In reply to Blast From The Past: Riot Grrrls
This is crazy. I'm in the process of writing/directing a play about riot grrrl, and suddenly all this stuff is popping up. The Guardian article was the most fortuitous, considering I'm in London. Keep it coming, Universe!
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bloodflower
03/11/09

@Susan B.: synchronicity ftw!
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marshmallory
03/12/09

@Susan B.: You'll have to let us know how it goes. That sounds interesting.
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TheFormerJuneBronson
03/11/09

In reply to Blast From The Past: Riot Grrrls
I feel like I missed this. I was too old, busy flunking out of college and working. I was never this cool, anyhow.
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The Real Janelle
03/11/09

In reply to Blast From The Past: Riot Grrrls
Also, I had my parents listen to Sleater-Kinney on a trip the other day and my dad said the following:

Dad: "What's the girl's name?"

Me: "Oh, she's Corin Tucker, and the band is called Sleater-Kinney"

Dad: "Are they all girls?"

Me: "Yup, they are, and they're awesome"

Dad: "Oh."

Then he commented on how angry they sound, and proceeded to call my music satanic for the next two weeks.
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Ipomoea
03/12/09

@TheFakeJanelle: My dad called Ani DiFranco "non-menstrual music", like she'd gotten so angry her period had just gone away.

@lookatmissohio: haha, my parents couldn't get Tori. "Who is she and why is she breathing so much?"
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mariamariamaria
03/11/09

In reply to Blast From The Past: Riot Grrrls
Who the hell would have ever thought that I would one day grow nostalgic for the 90's.
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Santos L Halper
03/11/09

In reply to Blast From The Past: Riot Grrrls
I was never into the whole riot grrrl thing (I thought I was cool and only listened to DC/Dischord bands at the time), but I think I only disliked it because of the way my friends bastardized it. You know, because mid-90s skater boys liked barrettes and plaid skirts. Ugh, no wonder I could never get a date.
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bloodflower
03/11/09

@SantosLHalper: for a second i thought the skater boys wore barrettes and plaid skirts.
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Ailanthus-altissima
03/11/09

@SantosLHalper: So many good bands released on Dischord. Nice choice.
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bloodflower
03/11/09

In reply to Blast From The Past: Riot Grrrls
...wait i think i've already watched this. or at least bits and pieces of it.
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