strength in brooklyn – feminist, all-ages show organized by women
tomtom magazine
for the birds feminist collective

henry rollins of black flag – interview

minor threat live (bad quality)

In the early 1990s, many young women involved in underground music scenes throughout the United States articulated their feminist thoughts and desires through the “Do-It-Yourself” methods of making punk-rock fanzines and forming garage bands. The political model of collage-based, photocopied handbills and booklets was already used by the punk movement as a way to activate underground music, leftist politics and alternative (to mainstream) sub-cultures. Many women found that while they identified with a larger, music-oriented subculture, they often had little to no voice in their local scenes, so they took it upon themselves to represent their own interests by making their own fanzines, music and art.

Uses and meanings of the term ‘Riot Grrrl’ developed slowly over time, but its etymological origins can be traced to the actual Mount Pleasant race riots in spring 1991. Writing in Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation’s Capital, Mark Andersen reports that early Bratmobile member Jen Smith (later of Rastro! and The Quails), reacted to the violence by prophetically writing in a letter to Allison Wolfe: “This summer’s going to be a girl riot.” Other reports say she wrote, “We need to start a girl riot.” Soon afterwards, Wolfe and Molly Neuman collaborated with Kathleen Hanna and Tobi Vail to create a new zine and called it Riot Grrrl, combining the “riot” with an oft-used phrase that first appeared in Vail’s fanzine Jigsaw: “angry grrls”.

Although they’re known for frequently denying exclusive credit for the movement, two bands in particular remain inextricably linked to its early formation: Bikini Kill and Bratmobile.

As media attention increasingly focused on grunge and alternative rock in the early nineties, the term ‘Riot Grrrl’ was often applied to less political female alternative rock acts. To their chagrin, riot grrrls found themselves in the media spotlight during 1992, accused of dragging feminism into the mosh pit in magazines from Seventeen to Newsweek. This increased press coverage led to conflict within the riot grrrl community as many felt that the culture was being misappropriated by the media against the movement’s will and its radical message marginalized, as well as adversely affecting their private lives, with the media often deliberately lying and relying largely on erroneous speculation and conjecture about personal information and motivations. Fallout from the media coverage led to resignations of people like Jessica Hopper, who was at the center of the Newsweek article. Kathleen Hanna called that year for “a press block”.

By the mid-nineties, riot grrrl had severely splintered. Many within the movement felt that the mainstream media had completely misrepresented their message, and that the politically radical aspects of riot grrrl had been subverted by the likes of the Spice Girls and their “girl power” message, or co-opted by ostensibly women-centered bands (though sometimes with only one female performer per band) and festivals like Lilith Fair.

Until about 1983, the term hardcore was used sparingly, and mainly as a descriptive term. (i.e., a band would be called a “hardcore band” and a concert would be a “hardcore show”). American teenagers who were fans of hardcore punk simply considered themselves fans of punk – although they were not necessarily interested in the original punk rock sound of the mid-late 1970s (e.g., Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Clash, or The Damned). In many circles, hardcore was an in-group term, meaning music by people like us. Since most bands had little access to any means of production, hardcore lauded a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach. In most cities the hardcore scene relied on inexpensively-made DIY recordings created on four-track recorders and sold at concerts or by mail. Concerts were promoted by photocopied zines, community radio shows, and affixing posters to walls and telephone poles. Hardcore punk fans adopted a dressed-down style of T-shirts, jeans, and crewcut-style haircuts. While 1977-era punk had used DIY clothing as well, such as torn pants held together with safety pins, the dressed-down style of the 1980s hardcore scene contrasted with the more elaborate and provocative fashion styles of late 1970s punk rockers, which included make-up, elaborate hairdos and avant-garde clothing experiments.

While the “godfathers” of the hardcore genre—Bad Brains, Black Flag, Minor Threat—usually did not deal with overt political themes, many bands that followed in their wake took strong left-wing political stances against Republican US President Ronald Reagan. Others promoted anarchist views.