The Story Of Riot Grrrl
Ever heard about the Riot Grrrl phenomenon is the 90’s? If this is your first time hearing about this, then let me tell you the story behind the Riot Grrrl ethos. It is basically an underground feminist movement based in Portland, Oregon; Washington, DC; and Olympia, Washington. The term is heavily associated with the music scene , but Riot Grrrl is also part of activism, zines, art, political action and DIY meeting.
A number of female rock and punk musicians in the late seventies and early eighties influenced the core philosophy of Riot Grrrl, which include the some of the following female bands:
- LiLiPUT
- The Runaways
- Chalk Circle
- Bush Tetras
- Anti-Scrunti Faction
- Fifth Column
- Scrawl
Most Riot Grrrl bands depict social issues such as sexuality, racism, female empowerment, rape and domestic abuse in their song lyrics. The eighties featured a handful of NY folk singers who came up with socio-political, realistic and personally intimate song lyrics. In the early nighties, a cosmopolitan DIY infrastructure was formed in the Seattle-Olympia Washington Area. A lot of young women get involved with underground music as their means to articulate their stand on feminism. They formed their own garage bands and created punk-rock fanzines. The feminist group used collage-based booklets and photocopied hand bills to promote underground music. While most of these women are identified in a large music subculture, many of them realize that they have minimal or no voice (at all) in the local scene. No phlebotomist training there for sure. And so, they represented their philosophy through music, art and fanzines. In 1991, feminist voices coalesced under the name ‘Riot Grrrl’. They had their first collective but unorganized response in the same year where feminist voices were heard in various events, actions and a number of protests.
As the attention of the media centered on Alternative and Grunge Rock during the early 1990’s, the term ‘Riot Grrrl was used to refer to less political female rock performers such as the Breeders, L7, 7 Year Bitch, No Doubt, and The Gits. By the middle of the nineties, the Riot Grrrl movement has been heavily fragmented. A lot of women who joined the movement felt that their message has been misrepresented and the politically radical aspect of the movement had been capsized by the likes of ‘Spice Girls’ and overshadowed by their ‘girl power’ message.
Although the popularity of Riot Grrrl has diminished over the years, a lot of women associated with the movement are still active in making politically-charged musical pieces.