Riot grrrls, first formed in Olympia and Seattle in Washington, were influential women and girls who fought and dug and put every ounce of their fight into making a space for themselves and other women in the punk scene. Most might know what the punk scene is, but not exactly know that it was male-dominated until this movement was started by women who wanted to be punk. One woman from a popular riot grrrl band named Bikini Kill states, “Because we girls want to create mediums that speak to US. We are tired of boy band after boy band, boy zine after boy zine, boy punk after boy punk after boy… Because we need to talk to each other. ” (https://amplifyyou.amplify.link/2023/03/riot-grrrl-women-in-music/) From a group who held meetings about sexism in Olympia taking inspiration from the pioneering women of the ’70’s music scene, woman fronted bands and solo artists sprung, teenage girls and middle aged women bonded, and new zines by woman authors began to circulate.

If you know anything about the riot grrrl movement, you most likely know the band Bikini Kill, fronted by Kathleen Hanna with other band mates Tobi Vail and Kathi Wilcox. Bikini Kill released albums and singles throughout the ’90’s, while the individual band members released zines speaking out about female experiences. Many of their band’s songs talk about women’s feelings as well, which wasn’t common especially in the punk scene. Kathleen was known to shout from the stage during songs, saying things like “Girls to the Front!” or making the pit at concerts women-only. Kathleen was and still is an advocate for women’s rights, and she wrote a book called “Rebel Girl”, after the band’s hit single. In it, she details her feelings about male dominated spaces and media, challenging stereotypes in music and movies about women. Instead of letting “feminist” be used as a derogatory, insulting, mocking term, she turns it into empowering motivation to encourage us to speak out.

Women and other minorities definitely felt excluded from the punk scene and from shows, as they were primarily male fronted bands and there were rarely women in the pit at all. Many women didn’t go to shows because the men in the audience would either ridicule them for coming, or go the complete opposite and make inappropriate comments. In https://amplifyyou.amplify.link/2023/03/riot-grrrl-women-in-music/, they write, “Because in every form of media we see ourselves slapped, decapitated, laughed at, objectified, raped, trivialised, pushed, ignored, stereotyped, kicked, scorned, molested, silenced, invalidated, knifed, shot, choked and killed. Because a safe space needs to be created for girls where we can open our eyes and reach out to each other without being threatened by this sexist society.” Girls needed a place to go without feeling oppressed or threatened, and concerts with other artists like Bratmobile, Babes in Toyland, Hole, L7, and Veruca Salt were able to be those safe places.

Like any movement, especially new movements in that decade, riot grrrl was far from perfect. Though it was a space for women and girls to feel safe and empowered, the movement was led by middle class white women, which can exclude women of other religions or ethnicities from the movement. The focus of the movement was about individuality and coming together as women, but many still excluded those with disabilities and class difference. The punk scene today thankfully lets women and men mosh together with little animosity about gender. We still have a very long way to go with sexism in society, but riot grrrls and men in punk are able to sing and play together on stage for a diverse audience.