1.) What do YOU want to see on this blog? (as in posts)
2.) Are there any changes I should make to this blog?
3.) What do YOU think about this blog?
4.) Any other suggestions for this blog?
5.) Are there certain topics that I should post about more often? If so, What topics should I post about more often?
6.) Are there any posts/topics that YOU would like to see me write about? (I'm not talking about the news posts that I make on this blog. I'm talking about personal opinions, experiences, thoughts, etc.)

I know I already post about alot of different things, but I'm wanting opinions and suggestions. As a blogger and for you, as a reader, it's important to know your thoughts about this blog, so I can improve this blog.

No, not a random magazine. Zines started back in the 1930s, starting off as sci-fi things called fanzines. The first-ever fanzine is generally acknowledged as The Comet, which was first published in May, 1930. You can read more about fanzines at its Wikipedia article, which links to a lot of different pages.

After a few decades, the 1970s punk movements in the UK and the United States created the modern zine. According to Wikipedia, a zine is a publication that has "circulation must be 5,000 or less and the intention of the publication is not primarily to raise a profit".

In the early 90s, a new scene helped push the zine revolution: the Riot Grrrl movement. The riot grrrls made zines more explicit and confrontational, keeping with its feminist roots.

Zines are definitely known for their DIY efforts, meaning that most are made on photocopiers or (in these times) on home printers. Some even say that blogs are the new zines: as long as they remain works of people's creativity and individuality and have a small "circulation," they will remain zines.

Some other zine sites:

• Zinesters
• Grrrlzines
• ZineStreet

If you are anything like me, you still love many of things you did as a teenager. Sometimes many of those things such as Dr. Martens' creepers or Screeching Weasel reveal themselves as ridiculous with a little age, but if you are lucky you can still count on some of your former interests to remain in tact.

The Gossip is one of those groups that no matter how huge they become (in the UK, wake up America!), they will always remain awesomely hip. Not simply because they have a fearless and sexy lead singer, but they make fun music. I've loved them since I was 18, and years later my adoration has only grown.

I was enthralled to see Beth Ditto in the music issue of NYLON magazine, no less rocking the Christian Louboutin Roditas in yellow. She's been in Paris Vogue, Vogue, Pop magazine, and it is great that her style is still being recognized, as she is a gem among plastics. I wasn't a fan of these particular Louboutins, as they looked too similar to something found in a Spearmint Rhino dressing room, but Ditto is making them look hot. For $500 they can be yours too.

Not familiar with the sounds of the GOSSIP?  Listen to our online mixtape, courtesy of muxtape.  More photos after the break

If you have a website you want me to link to, feminist/riot grrrl related or not, feel free to send me the link to your website, in a reply to this blog or by emailing me. Please let me know what type of link your submitting, example: riot grrrl blog, riot grrrl website, feminist organization, feminist blog, art link, band link, zine link, etc. If your link isn't feminist/riot grrrl related, I will consider adding it, depending on if it's a site I visit or think should be linked on RGO. Also, If your an online friend of mine and have your own website/blog, I will definitely add it.

ALL FEMINIST/RIOT GRRRL LINKS WANTED: Also, If you have a collection of feminist/riot grrrl links, please send them over to me. I plan on making the BIGGEST feminist/riotgrrrl links on the internet.

Help me build my links page, by replying to this post or by emailing me. Thanks!

in the obscure cult movie world, this gem is up there with Todd Haynes' Superstar:The Karen Carpenter Story. Starring Diane Lane, Laura Dern, Steve Jones + Paul Cook (of the Sex Pistols!!), Paul Simonon and many others, it is the story of young girls getting angry and making a band to express their volatile emotions. This movie inspired many of the formative bands of Riot Grrrl, amongst others. The fashion is also strange and exquisite.

No longer must you scrounge up a 5th generation vhs tape to watch the fabulousness, some 27 years after being shot L+G:TFS has finally been released.

here's a link to a little documentary about the making of the movie

and a clip to give you an idea of the awesomeness:

also, Tammy Rae Carland (olympia scene, kathleen hannah, miranda july)

I have had a lot of people tell me that they want to meet other riot grrrls (and boys) from their area, but there aren't any riot grrrls where they live. The reason I started this "Riot Grrrl Directory" is because I knew that the old riot grrrl directory was no longer updated and was looking for someone to update the website. I emailed the girl, but her email address was no longer in use. I decided to start up my own "Riot Grrrl Directory". Most of the riot grrrl chapters on the old riot grrrl directory website are no longer active or have dead links and dead email addresses.
With all that being said, I decided to make a new riot grrrl directory. If you want to see what's going on in your area, if you want to start up your own riot grrrl chapter, or if you have your own riot grrrl chapter...This directory is for YOU. If there isn't any chapter near where you live, Feel free to publish your own information so riot grrrls and riot boys can contact you and start something. This riot grrrl directory is for the WHOLE WORLD. The directory is listed at the bottom of this page.
If you want to submit a riot grrrl chapter (or make your own), grrrlsvomitcandy@NOSPAMhotmail.comEmail me with all the information listed below. If you do NOT fill out all of the information, I will most likely, Email you back and ask for it. If your riot grrrl chapter does not have a website or email address, You could always make one or type "no website" or "no email", when the form asks for the website or email link OR You could post your own email address and your own website link.

Chapter Name:
Your Name:
Age:
Location:
Email:
Website:
Language(s) Spoken:
Information About The Chapter:

The Riot Grrrl Retrospective series has 11 parts to it and it tells all about riot grrrl. Feel free to watch all 11 videos, which I will be posting up some. This is Part 9 of the series.

The Riot Grrrl Retrospective series has 11 parts to it and it tells all about riot grrrl. Feel free to watch all 11 videos, which I will be posting up some. This is Part 8 of the series.

The Riot Grrrl Retrospective series has 11 parts to it and it tells all about riot grrrl. Feel free to watch all 11 videos, which I will be posting up some. This is Part 7 of the series.

The Riot Grrrl Retrospective series has 11 parts to it and it tells all about riot grrrl. Feel free to watch all 11 videos, which I will be posting up some. This is Part 6 of the series.

The Riot Grrrl Retrospective series has 11 parts to it and it tells all about riot grrrl. Feel free to watch all 11 videos, which I will be posting up some. This is Part 5 of the series.

The Riot Grrrl Retrospective series has 11 parts to it and it tells all about riot grrrl. Feel free to watch all 11 videos, which I will be posting up some. This is Part 4 of the series.

Leonard challenges the notions of youth (typically male) sub-cultural activities existing primarily on the street (place) by focusing specifically on the production and distribution of Riot Grrrl zines as a networked operation that exists inside the home - thus the private space of the bedroom "becomes a site of activity"(107). The production of these zines usually involves just "pen+paper+photocopier" and can contain a variety of topics. Typically the distribution for these zines operated in a sort of mailing list fashion - or were distributed at punk shows (106) - and were produced in small editions. In this way the movement attempted to stay underground, not wanting popular media to represent them or their views. By not being sold publicly these distribution methods encouraged forms of engagement with the zine and their writers [also meants national/international participation: ie not bound by ones location...and this reminds me of online social networks...]. (108) Leonard mentions this regarding e-zines: "Whilst the e-zine has the potential to reach a very wide audience, it does so at the loss of individuality, lacking the personal qualities of paper zines." (103) Leonards analysis involves examining zines' as an alternative space for interaction and expression qualities and quotes many of the zines themselves revealing the way the zines were used to insert female, individual voice into history, the scene and contemporary displays of fashion and beauty. "By writing themselves into the text, through relating personal experiences and concerns, riot grrrls have expanded the discursive parameters of the fanzine." (107) These differences existing in each zine is celebrated by Leonard as it complicates traditional notions of youth subcultures, especially via the lack of a central location and a "unified progression." (111) The existence of the many pages about riot grrrl on the internet is, in Leonards explanation, a further complication of any "notions of a unified community" [this is tres obvious if one just googles "riot grrrl"] and in contrast to physical zines, the WWW is a space where a certain amount of anonymity is present and thus allows for an open space for women to discuss/express themselves.  (113)

"Using riot grrrl as a case study it will consider how a sub-culture can maintain a sense of 'community' when its participants do not meet in the collective space of a club or music venue, but are broadcast over a wide geographical area. This chapter will argue that sub-cultures should not be considered unified groups tied to a locality, creed or style but as dynamic, diverse, geographically mobile networks." (101)

things she mentioned & i learned about riot grrrl:

1. most members decided to be straight edge (102)
2. many older women did identify with the movement (102)
3. "Riot grrrl is a feminist network which developed in the underground music communities of Olympia, Washington, and Washington, D.C."
4. "..Kathleen Hanna, singer for Bikini Kill, states that the name 'riot grrrl' was inspired in 1991 by the Mount Pleasant riots in Washington, D.C." (102)
5. "During that time, Jean Smith, a woman we know who's a writer and musician, said something like, 'We need a girl riot, too"....At the same time, Allison and Molly from Bratmobile were also in DC, and they heard this and said, "We're going to start a fanzine called Riot Grrrl". (Hanna, quoted in Juno, 1996:97-98)" (103)
6. "Zine" is a shortened form of "Fanzine" (earlier: science fiction enthusiasts, later: punk fanatics) (103)
7. "Sara, writer of Out of the Vortex, comments: 'Only by controlling the medium do we control the message....for this reason zines are extraordinarily unique and powerful political tools' (quoted in Vale, 1996: 168)" (105)
8. 1992 - National Press creates a disruption in the underground nature of riot grrrl (109)
9. "Those involved in riot grrrl stress that no one viewpoint or cultural product (be it a zine or record) can be taken as representative or indicative of the whole." (110) Here Leonard offers the description of riot grrrl as "multiplicitous" and continues from this notion of multiplicity into the comparison of Deleuze and Guattari's "notion of a rhizome". She concluded by examining the nature of riot grrrl on the internet and relates the many many offshoots of using the term riot grrrl (or just grrrl) back to the rhizome.
10. riot grrrl mostly consisted of middle-class white women

The Riot Grrrl Retrospective series has 11 parts to it and it tells all about riot grrrl. Feel free to watch all 11 videos, which I will be posting up some. This is Part 3 of the series.

The Riot Grrrl Retrospective series has 11 parts to it and it tells all about riot grrrl. Feel free to watch all 11 videos, which I will be posting up some. This is Part 2 of the series.

The Riot Grrrl Retrospective series has 11 parts to it and it tells all about riot grrrl. Feel free to watch all 11 videos, which I will be posting up some. This is Part 1 of the series.

Here is the map:

What does everyone think of the idea of having a feminism forum? The forum would be about feminism, the many different types of feminism, will be for discussion of ALL types of feminism, discussion of women's rights, discussion of women's studies, etc. Yes, I am very aware that livejournal, myspace, last.fm, etc. have groups or coumminities as forums for feminism, however, there are more people interested in feminism out there that are not on those websites. If I get enough heads up for the idea, I will make the forum. If I don't get many replies to this post, then I will NOT make the forum.

I am thinking of using proboards or invisionfree for the forum provider. If anyone is interested in helping me out with the forum: layout, ideas, or being a moderator on the forum, Please let me know by replying to this post. Also, The forum will be discussed by email, so if you really want to help out or be a moderator, please leave your email address in a reply to this post OR you can email me here: grrrlsvomitcandy at hotmail dot com Thanks!

Anyhow, There are LOTS of feminist and riot grrrl communities. I decided to look around all the LJ communities and I found quite a few of them active and interesting, so I joined them. I have to say that there are lots of people with both or one of those interests listed on their profiles. The interest "feminism" is very popular on livejournal and it is listed as a popular interest. I think it's great that there are so many people out there on livejournal that are interested in feminism. Unlike a lot of websites, Livejournal seems to have a lot of feminism communities and users interested in feminism. I have to say, livejournal is inspiring.

What is my point in this blog post? I think livejournal is great. There aren't many websites out there that have a lot of feminists and/or riot grrrls on them. Livejournal is a bit more personal than a blog. I know that my livejournal is more personal and it's friends only. This blog is public to everyone and it's not about me, but about feminism and riot grrrl. I think everyone should get a livejournal, whether it's for reading the communities, for making/having friends, posting about your life, or reading about other people's lives.

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

I have found that the women I have studied have at least one thing in common – they

oppose the dominant media representation of femininity and resist the notion that

women should look and behave in specific ways. Other areas of commonality

amongst my examples are issue related to individual identity and a sense of belonging

to a community. These issues seem to be important within the three generations that I

have discussed. The legacy of Patti Smith’s gender resistance seem evident in

contemporary music, with females artists such as Tarrie B which justifies my

argument and her similar mode of resistance. The Spice Girls also made a
contribution, they had a limited effect on changing notions of femininity even though
they were much more mainstream than my other examples in my dissertation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

·   LEES, S. Sugar and Spice: Sexuality and Adolescent Girls. 1993. Penguin
Publications: London

·   FRITH and HORNE, S and H. Art into Pop. 1989. Routledge: London and New
York

·   WHITELEY, S. Women and Popular Music. 2000: Sexuality, Identity and
Subjectivity. Routledge: London

·   OCEANSOUL619. 2007. The Punk Years: Typical Girls [online] [Accessed 19^th
December 2007]. Available from World Wide Web:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lS_LdMypHw4

·   X-RAY SPECS. 1977. Oh Bondage, Up Yours. London: EMI. Compact Disc,
2mins 40secs

·   SONYBMG. 2007. Eurythmics-Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) [online].
[Accessed 28^th December 2007]. Available from World Wide Web:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QQHrspjw4aA

·   LAING, D. One Chord Wonders: Power and Meaning in Punk Rock. 1985. Open
University Press: Milton Keynes and Philadelphia

·   GAAR, G. She’s A Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll. 1993. Blanford:
London

·   WIKIPEDIA. 2007. Punk ideologies [online]. [Accessed 14^th January 2007].
Available from World Wide Web:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punk_ideologies>

·   BUTLER, J. Bodies That Matter: On The Discursive Limits Of “Sex”. 1993.
Routledge: London

·   WHITELEY, S. 1997. Sexing the Groove: Popular Music and Gender. London:
Routledge

·   HEBDIGE, D. 1979. Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Routledge

·   MCDONNEL AND POWERS, E, A. 1995. Rock She Wrote. London: Plexus
Publishing Limited

·   MONDOTRASHO. 2006. Riot Grrrl Retrospective [online]. [Accessed 20^th
Janurary 2008]. <http://youtube.com/watch?v=V0hS7hA133w>

·   BIKINI KILL. 1993. Rebel Girl. Washington: Kill Rock Stars. Compact Disc,
2mins 46secs.

·   MOUSNONYA. 2007. Bikini Kill – Rebel Girl [online]. [Accessed 19^th Janurary
2008]. Avalible from World Wide Web:
<http://youtube.com/watch?v=o5huGKZ-fY8>

·   WIKIPEDIA. 2007. K Records [Accessed 19^th Janurary 2008].
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_Records>

·   Myspace: Riot Grrrl Online. 2005. [online]. [Accessed 8^th February 2008].
Avalible from World Wide Web:
<http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=46989150&MyToken=1a76c7b1-c248-4811-992e-32ceff130c94>

·   BAULD, M. 2008. Interview with the author on 1^st Feburary 2008. Bristol.
[Cassette recording in possession of author]

·   NOMOREYOUTUB. 2007. Kylie Minogue: Better the Devil You Know. [online].
[Accessed 14^th February 2008]. Available from World Wide Web:
<http://youtube.com/watch?v=spyyKkOK20I>

·   DRISCOLL, C. 1999. Girl Culture, Revenge and Global Capitalism: Cybergirls,
Riot Grrls, Spice Girls. Australian Feminist Studies. Vol 14. No. 29.

·   DRISCOLL, C. 1999. Girl Culture; or, Why Study the Spice Girls? Australia:
Wakefield Press

·   Fay Weldon, Wednesday 5^th December 2007, “Girl Power?” Daily Mail

·   HALFPENNY, F. 2008. [Personal communication]. 28^th February

·   HARVEY, K. 2007. MSN Interview: Beth Ditto. [Online]. Available from World
Wide Web: <http://entertainment.uk.msn.com/music/interviews/article.aspx?cp-documentid=6462854>

CHAPTER IV

THE LEGACY

In this final chapter I would like to discuss what remains here in 2008 in terms of
female resistance through the means of music. In this final chapter I would like to
discuss the issue of whether we can find evidence of what I have described as ‘female
resistance’ in the contemporary music scene. I have broadly elaborated in the
previous chapters, two of history’s major movements that were made by women and
for women. The Punk movement being some what of a foundation for women to
begin to resistance in music and certainly how the influential Patti Smith inspired
women to do so. I have also examined the way in which the Riot Grrrls were a much
more overtly political force in terms of a feminism perspective. So essentially this
final chapter will discuss how these two movements have opened up a door for
women in music 2008. I shall discuss the self-professed feminist and lesbian Beth
Ditto of the Indie/Rock group The Gossip, Tarrie B of the heavy metal group My
Ruin, the Spice Girls and finally I shall briefly look at Riot Grrrl and where it is
positioned today. In looking at these figures I shall make note of aesthetics, lyrical
content as well as media intervention. I am limited here by a current absence of
critical work on these groups (although not doubt there is a wealth of ongoing
research waiting to hit the presses) and will be relying on some small scale
ethnographic work, some lyric analysis and the analysis of current journal and
newspaper articles.

THE SPICE GIRLS

I discussed in chapter one that I would include ‘Pop’ music and not predominately
‘Rock’ music as a way of being unbiased, this is why I felt it was important to also

incorporate ‘Pop’ in the final chapter, in this case the Spice Girls. In many ways the
Spice Girls are complex. They discuss the notion of ‘Girl Power’ (more so back in
1996 and their rise to fame) and use it as a force. (Note: ‘Girl Power’ was used in the
early 1990s by Riot Grrrl).

                                     Spice Girls (1996) promotion poster

The lyrical content in the song ‘Wannabe’ is quintessential ‘Pop’ as well as
conforming to dominant heteronormative ideals (as established earlier in the
comparison between the songs of Kylie Minogue and Bikini Kill). Note: I am not sure
that this song is as straightforward as that – it is also about an unthreatening version
of sisterhood – i.e. friends are as important as boyfriends etc. The objective of the
Spice Girls is complex- they aim and are seen by the public to resist the status quo
and live wild lives. Aesthetically each member of the pop group is made to appear as
sexual – each Spice Girl are also stylized specifically, which gives a potential male
audience a position to negotiate which style is sexual to them. For example Sporty
Spice may attract a person who prefers that ‘athletic’ type. “Are the Spice Girls
marketed as different flavours of sexual opportunity – versions of what a girl would
be like in bed? They certainly could, I would even say surely do, appeal to many
forms of voyeurism and desire” (Driscoll, 1999:212). This argument by Driscoll as
well as my argument becomes problematic in regard to strictly being sexually
‘available’ to the male gaze as they also offer a plurality of feminine types rather than
a singular normative model – including a lesbian group member (Scary Spice).

                    An example of the spice girls as ‘sexually available’ (2007)

The commercial side of the Spice Girls is also of interest. During December of 2007

the Spice Girls acted on a Tesco commercial, this itself supporting capitalism, the

commercial itself also portrayed the girls in a stereotypical sense of ‘women should

attend to the shopping’. The Spice Girls evidently and heavily rely on the media and

thus commercialisation in order to gain recognition in the world of music. This is

evident in their latest single entitled Headlines:

“Let’s make the headlines, loud and true
I wanna tell the world I’m giving it all to you
Let’s make the headlines, loud and clear
The best things suddenly happen when you are here
And if I lost my way you’d carry me home
Take me all the way to heaven, never leave me alone
And it’s just like everything matters when you are near”

                     Still image of Posh Spice on the Tesco commercial (2007)

Drawing back from chapter two and Hebdige’s critique on social class, Driscoll

looks at a potential social class audience by comparing both Spice Girls and Bikini

Kill “the Spice Girls direct their slogans and appeals very broadly, certainly with the

intention of including ‘domestic’ or home-oriented teenagers and preteens, while

Bikini Kill has primarily a college/university or adult audience, and market
themselves with specific reference to this delimited rather than general audience”
(Driscoll, 1999: 211). What Driscoll critiques here then is ‘college/university’ being
educated people – which traditionally defines as middle class. Driscoll (1999) also
states that there is a conflict going on between the Spice Girls and Riot Grrrl “While
Riot Grrrl zines and sites decry such pop phenomena as the Spice Girls, some of the
Spice Girl fan material describes the Riot Grrrls as dull and dour, whining, self-pitying and sexless –

which are, interestingly enough, some of the same accusations Riot Grrrls have

levelled at ‘second wave’ feminism.” (Driscoll, 1999:209). This indicates that rather

than women challenging and resisting men in 1991, women are now resisting women.

Driscoll also states that if ‘Girl Power’ is feminist, does this imply that a feminist

minority has now become popular culture than renders it as majority? Fay Weldon, a

British feminist essayist is furious over the come back of the Spice Girls. She openly

accuses them of killing feminism and thus a very bad influence on people. In her two

paged article that was placed in the Daily Mail she states that “a generation of our

young womanhood has taken to binge drinking, Saturday night sluttishness and

‘happy-slappings’, I blame the Spice Girls. There are one or two other factors, I dare

say, such as the cult of consumerism, the decline of religion … morning-after pills

and the rest: but, if we’re going to look for scapegoats, Posh, Ginger, Sporty, Baby

and Scary are, surely obvious candidates.” (Weldon, 2007)

BETH DITTO

During my research findings I found that Beth Ditto of Indie/Rock band The Gossip

would be a crucial figure to discuss in relation to female resistance in contemporary

music. Ditto has the characteristics of Riot Grrrl in terms of subversion as I shall state

below. Ditto herself is a self-professed feminist and also a lesbian, as I mentioned in

the previous chapter, I shall not specifically look at lesbianism but certainly look into

her feminist interest and lyrical content as well as her potential connection with Riot

Grrrl. Respondents to my research have suggested that Ditto belongs within the Riot

Grrrl trajectory stating: “I consider myself a ‘Riot Grrrl’, but I can't answer all the

questions, but I do believe Beth Ditto is one of the only true ‘Riot Grrrls’ in the music

industry to this date … It is also difficult for a women in the music industry not to fall

into the trap of having a good media image. We’re expected to have perfect bodies,

skin, hair, dress sense, and the papers will rip into you if there's the slightest thing not

up to scratch. The only person I’ve seen who doesn't care about that is Beth Ditto.”

(Online interview with member of Riot Grrrl Online, interviewed on 17.01.08).
Dittos performance is consistent with the Riot Grrrl approach; she subverts the

dominant norms of femininity in terms of her appearance and her actions. That of a

Riot Grrrl performance, she subverts what the media portrays as what a ‘woman’

should appear to look and act. There was a recent interview conducted by Microsoft

Network that asked Ditto a series of questions that are relevant to this context. The

author of the interview introduces Ditto in a positive way. “In a world used to seeing

‘perfect’ looking celebrities – where size zero is the ultimate accolade in every
celebrity hungry magazine, Beth’s laid-back attitude to her body is a refreshing

change” (Harvey, 2007)

Further into the questions, the interviewer asks “Have you ever tried to conform or
diet?” Ditto answers with “Still to this day I have to battle with ‘oh should I be on a

diet? It’s not that easy but it’s about confidence. I can’t shut off the entire world. I
feel

how I feel, but it’s not like it used to be. I challenge myself and no matter what I am

right. I’m the one who’s accepting myself and not trying to change myself. It doesn’t

mean people are f***ed up or wrong it means I’m just not going to let it work on me.

Life is too short.” (Harvey, 2007)

                                      Ditto and her perfect ‘size’ resistance

I find the question of “conformity” contradictory, Microsoft itself is a corporation –

capitalism’s godfather, and so isn’t this interview itself “conforming” to a norm? Like
I have stated, at this stage of writing I only find mainstream media articles on this
subject which can be misleading. The interview also suggests that Ditto is borrowing
the ‘Punk’ DIY ethic of self-made clothing. As one of the questions asks “What’s it
like being considered a style icon?” This is responded with “It’s hilarious, I have
stylists who bring in ridiculous things that don’t fit – they just don’t get it. Me and my
friends make things ourselves.” (Harvey, 2007)

             Ditto in performance at the Camden Bar Fly in London (May, 2007)

Dittos lyrics to Standing in the Way of Control are controversial and focus on positive

cultural and social change with regard to gay rights in America. As the MSN
interview questions “Can you tell us about the song ‘Standing In The Way Of
Control’?” Ditto replies with “Standing in the Way is about gay marriage and about
sticking together. There are a lot of violations of civil rights in America now…”

(Harvey, 2007)

“Standing in the way of control

You live your life

Survive the only way that you know”

TARRIE B

Although not commercial nor classed as a celebrity in terms of the media, Tarrie B

(front woman) of the American heavy metal band My Ruin is an interesting figure to

discuss in terms of women in resistance through the means of music. The band played

a show in Bristol at the beginning of February in which I asked their UK tour
manager

for a potential interview for the purpose of this dissertation, although I was refused an

interview with Tarrie B - I was advised to send her an email to conduct an online

interview (at this moment of time, she has failed to send me any form of response).

Nevertheless I studied the performance and found it very relevant to my research. The

lyrical content that contains criticism on media representations links very finely with

the work on Bikini Kill who also discussed that media notion of how women should

appear to be. For example the My Ruin song Made to Measure features the bridge

lyrics:

“I’m so fat…I’m fucked up
I’m so skinny…I’m sick
I’m so tired of those magazines
Talkin’ that bullshit
I’m not fat…they’re fucked up
I’m not skinny…they’re sick
I’m just tired of the critics
Talkin’ that bullshit”

It is evident here that there is a lot of anger for women in music here in 2008. The

performance of Tarrie B entails her frequently ‘gobbing’ which is itself an element of

Punk which I discussed in chapter two. The music video that accompanies this song

also encompasses a Patti Smith style, the idea of challenging gender roles. Certain

segments of the music video depicts Tarrie B dressed in a non-feminine way. As the

video progresses she gazes at us making sarcastic gestures that signify ‘Am I perfect

enough to be the front woman of a band?’ The title of the song itself is a critique upon

how adolescents and women are encouraged by the media to maintain a standard of

how they represent what a ‘perfect’ female should look like. Particularly in relation to

‘body size’.

Tarrie B anger is evident in this photo (taken from the Bristol show)

NEO RIOT GRRRLS

During my initial research of the previous chapter I found that the Riot Grrrls

continue to be active here in 2008. The symbolic bands of 1991 such as Bikini Kill

broke up in 1998. However there are a variety of MySpace profiles on the World

Wide Web such as Riot Grrrl UK, whose profile slogan states ‘Your Body is a

Battleground’ this slogan is placed on an image of a female’s face, aesthetically the

woman’s face appears to be resemblance of 1950s. I found Riot Grrrl UK particularly

interesting to look at after reading how the media intervened and disrupted a once
small community and now the result of this has made Riot Grrrl a world-wide
commodity. As a member of MySpace I immediately joined as friends with Riot
Grrrl

UK as a means of research and essentially to obtain ‘one on one’ online interviews to

learn where Riot Grrrls lie at this time and do these people follow the same principles
as in 1991? I posted a message on the profile and introduced myself as a student

researching into the movement’s theoretical side, although I only had two members

that replied to further my knowledge, I began to think that due to such bad publicity

that Riot Grrrl has had imposed on them, perhaps members were reluctant to answer

my questions in conscious fear that I am a potential critic. Although only two people
did respond, their answers were incredibly enlightening as one interviewee discussed
her personal perspective on why Riot Grrrl in the early 1990s was an important
movement. I am including a full online interview with another member of Riot Grrrl
Online as it answers and clarifies what this dissertation has been concerned with.

1)Why would you say the Riot Grrrls of the early 1990s was important?

It was another way for feminists to get their message across, without taking on the
persona of a men-hating masculine looking stereotype that the media has portrayed.

2)Do you think that perhaps, the feminist approach that they presented through
their music may have excluded the masculine?

I think it has.

3)If so Isn't the concept of 'feminism' about equal rights? So why the exclusion?

It is about equal rights for the liberal feminists, but for example radical feminists believed
men were biologically unfavourable, so this could be an explanation for the exclusion of
men.

4) Would you consider the Riot Grrrls as a neo-punk movement to some extent?

It has the same sort of DIY ethic borrowed from the original punk explosion so in some
aspects it is like a new punk revolution for the 90's.

5) Do Riot Grrrls still exist today with the traditional ethics?

I think that the newer female fronted indie/electro bands are trying to recreate the riot
grrrl movement, but I don’t think that they have the same effect now.

6) Do you believe that the 1991 movement had a long-lasting impact on the
music industry?

I think it did more in America, until the Britpop came along.

7) Would you consider figures such as Beth Ditto to follow similar principles of
Riot Grrrls? After all Ditto is a self-confessed feminist and she preaches that
looks do not matter

I think they do, but as I said in question 5 I don’t think that they are as influential now as
the original riot grrls were.

As this questionnaire states from a personal perspective of someone who considers

herself as a Riot Grrrl, 2008 also provides a host of female fronted bands that resist

but no longer have the same effect as they once did. The women in resistance today
resist the pseudo media representations and how they portray how a woman is
supposed to appear in public. Beth Ditto and Tarrie B continue to do this through their
music and what seems to be clear with the Spice Girls come back is nothing but
conforming whilst endorsing capitalism once again. It is indeed a complex issue of
mainstream versus marginal/elite/subcultural audience within contemporary music.

CHAPTER III

THE RIOT GRRRLS

Now that I have elaborated on the start of women in resistance through the means of

music, I will now discuss the next generation of women in resistance. In this chapter I

will be looking at the Riot Grrrl movement. I shall highlight the symbolic bands and

key figures involved in the initial beginnings of the movement such as Bikini Kill and

Bratmobile and thus discuss why such a female-centric movement was relevant and

where it obtained its influences. I shall be drawing from a range of relevant texts as

these figures have been written about quite widely. Interestingly enough, during my

research into the Riot Grrrls, I established that the ‘Riot Grrrl’ phenomenon actively

continues here in 2008, perhaps in a much more commercial sense than when it began
in 1991, nevertheless I shall briefly discuss this later on and introduce one of its
members who contributed to one of the leading internet sites which is used by

women and adolescents who consider themselves as ‘Riot Grrrls’ as well as follow

some of the traditional ethics. I will also elaborate on the work of Hebdige (1979)

who proposed that subcultures are predominately working class. So therefore by

incorporating Hebdige’s ideas, it will provide some exceptional theoretical
background with past debates in the field of arts and thus subcultures. It is essential to

discuss Riot Grrrl in relation to the late 1970’s Punk as it follows similar principles of

women’s feminist rebellion against patriarchal norms through music, as well as

potentially being understood as including tropes from the Avant Garde and
situationist style/approach, essentially a Punk ‘Do-It-Yourself’ aesthetic and ideology
predominately for women in this context. It would also be beneficial to note here that

the ‘Riot Grrrl’ concept was predominately active within the Indie and Punk genres, it
did not quite reach out to the mainstream Pop world back in its initial form and this is

what was intended by the principle ethics of the movement. I shall then look into how

the media intervened with the Riot Grrrl ideology and exploited and thus disrupted
the

movement through bad publicity in which their small and meaningful community
eventually became known as a subculture for feminist man-haters. It would also be
sufficient to note here and thus discuss later on that the Riot Grrrls have been
arguably understood within the framework or values of second wave of feminism as
their practices are underpinned by a similar set of ideas. Driscoll argues that “Riot

Grrrl thus re-articulates the tension between group identity and individualism which
characterises twentieth-century feminism more widely” (Driscoll. 1999:211).
However ‘waves’ will not be a priority field of study in this dissertation. Although I
must emphasise the words of the University of the West of England lecturer Mark
Bould “The problem with defining feminism by waves is that, it tends to assume there
are clear breaks between them, so there’s a lot of second wave feminism still going
on…clearly the dominant forms of feminism or at least the ones that circulate in most
obviously academic circles and popular circles are varieties of third wave feminism”
(Bould, M. 2008). Bould clearly rejects categorisation of feminist waves and certainly
in the context of Riot Grrrl 1991.

BIKINI KILL

Initially discussing how Riot Grrrl was conceptualized and thus categorized it would

be invaluable to give an explanation of what it entailed before the term came along.

The key figures to mention here are Kathleen Hanna, Kathi Wilcox and Tobi Vail

who worked together to produce the fanzine entitled Bikini Kill. This documented and

thus provided detailed information on the local bands that were circulating in Oregon,

the same location in which these figures attended University to read photography and

film (Vail had no formal education, but was an experienced musician and feminist

theorist in that she placed ideas and personal theories within the lyrics of Bikini Kill).

The general idea of the fanzine was to publicize their political ideals in a low-tech and

low-cost fashion. Aesthetically the ‘zine’ was constructed to demonstrate its rawness

and Punk-like montage of pictures and cuttings. The consumers of Bikini Kill and

indeed the writers belonged within a small Punk and Indie subculture community but

had no voice being women, in terms of music, so the ‘zine’ essentially acted as

medium in which their vocalization could be heard and thus create a community of

like-minded women. Many ‘zines’ circulated such as My Super Secret in which

messages and stories of rape would be placed, so it wasn’t just predominately Bikini

Kill that adolescents and women read. Hanna, Wilxcox and Vail would eventually

name their influential band Bikini Kill after their ‘zine’.

                               Example of the ‘zine’ low-tech production

“The most influential Riot Grrrl band is Bikini Kill” (Driscoll, 1999:209). They also

created the slogan “Revolution Girl Style Now” which was also the title of their first

album/demo on cassette tape, which was an evident political message that suggested

that women were frustrated by the male-centric music industry, they simply wanted to

be heard and thus recognised as important people just like men, rather than objectified

and represented as inadequate people which is how the media would destroy them.
Catherine Driscoll briefly summarizes the main objective and aspiration of Riot
Grrrls. “The Riot Grrrls interrogate dominant discourses on femininity – they aim to,
as they put it, ‘smash the mask’. They interrogate patriarchal and feminist gender
roles and both American society and international recording industries” (Driscoll,
1991: 213). A Riot Grrrl manifesto was released to the community and explained
what the movement required to make significance, although I have not included
further information on this as the original manifestos are rare to come by and
certainly in the United Kingdom. “The Riot Girl manifesto (a rushed, two-page
document that’s constantly being revised) declares, “We seek to create revolution in
our own lives everyday by envisioning and creating alternatives to the bullshit
Christian capitalist way of doing things.”. They urge their members to “resist psychic
death” and “cry in public” … “all girls to be in bands”... “girls rule all towns.” …even
encourage women to arm themselves” (McDonnell and Powers, 1995:397).

So as McDonnell and Powers suggest here the Riot Grrrls sought to completely

challenge men in everyway possible. The authors argued that their aim was “to form a

life away from men and invent girl culture” (McDonnell and Powers, 1995:397). The

Bikini Kill audio cassette itself was produced by Calvin Johnson who operated an

independent record label named K Records. The ‘K’ motto is “Exploding the teenage

underground into passionate revolt against the corporate ogre since 1982”. As the

motto suggests the idea of commercialization in music should be fought against.

Johnson produced many demos of bands based in Olympia that offered a political

message and for the bands who wanted positive cultural and social change, artists that

he recorded ranged from Hole, Bratmobile and Pansy Division, the former band here
established the ‘Queercore’ genre, which ultimately entailed a social and cultural
movement that was pro-gay and lesbian.

                               Bikini Kill in 1991 recording their demo tape

So just by this example and of course Bikini Kill, it is evident that Johnson was a
significant character in the early days of what is now known as ‘Riot Grrrl’
movement an obvious supporter of nonmainstream and politically inflected music.
“The Label has been so influential in anti-corporate independent music and
underground DIY punk culture” (K Records Online). The early 1990’s was a struggle
for women’s vocalization that had potential to change society. Bikini Kill’s ‘Rebel
Girl’ track openly discusses that there is indeed an urge for a revolution and that
women alone are able to establish a social and cultural transformation with no
indication of men taking place in this desire.

“When she talks, the revolutions coming

In her hips, there’s revolution

When she talks, I hear the revolution

In her kiss, I taste the revolution”

Rebel Girl is also known as the anthem of Riot Grrrl. “While Riot Grrrls war over

representing themselves in any way, the track ‘Rebel Girl’ by Bikini Kill is often

discussed as the Riot Grrrl anthem” (Driscoll, 1990: 209). As the lyrics suggest in

verse two of Rebel Girl it is predominately a female-centric desire for revolution. The

final lines of verse two “In her kiss, I taste the revolution” opens up a potential arena

for discussion on lesbianism and Riot Grrrl as there has been work published on this

such as the work of Mary Celeste Kearney and her essay entitled “The Missing Links:

Riot Grrrl – Feminism – lesbian culture” (in Sexing the Groove, Whiteley, 1997).

However in the context of this chapter I shall not be discussing that field. The lyrics
to

Rebel Girl indicate as a critique of heteronormativity sexual relations and sexual

desires that is present in ‘Pop’ music, where lyrics are bounded around the

heterosexuality relationship ideology or of course lust. For example Kylie Minogue’s

1991 single Better the Devil You Know. This heterosexual ideology is evident here in

verse two:

“Woh woh woh

Our love wasn’t perfect I know

I think I know the score

If you say you love me, oh boy

I’ll come if you should call”

The music video that accompanied Minogue’s Better the Devil You Know reinforces
this argument over the heterosexuality ideology as it features Minogue ‘in love’ with

a man. Whereas Bikini Kill’s ‘Rebel Girl’ accompanying music video features no sign

or indication of this, but rather a critique on what ‘Pop’ music entailed around this

time. Rebel Girl is resisting this by applying some kind of female revolution at work,

where each female portrayed is in military-type uniform and have complete control, it

is also of interest as it has colonial content, where the native women are being

dominated by this all-female army.

HEBDIGE AND SUBCULTURE SOCIAL CLASS

Dick Hebdige in his book Subculture: The Meaning of Style discusses specific

subcultures of the post World War Two period and their resistance against the
existing power structures - “the challenge to hegemony which subcultures represent
is not issued directly by them. Rather it is expressed obliquely in style” (Hebdige,
1978: 17). Hebdige imposes this ambiguous idea on every subculture that he surveys,
rather than researching into each subculture in depth, he is announcing this as a
general point that he believes to be relevant to them all. The Riot Grrrls were of
course a ‘subculture’ but they fo