PART TWO | SUBCULTURE BLOG

Riot Girl/riot grrrl

Noun

a member of a movement of young feminists associated with aggressive punk-style rock music

The riot girl movement originated as such in America, specifically in Washington in the early 1990s, it began as a response to a largely male dominated punk scene which females wanted to change, the movement allowed women their own space to create music and political statements about issues in the punk rock community as well as those they faced within society. The sounds produced by these all-girl bands were of alternative punk music overlaid with lyrics expressing political themes that spoke out against sexism and oppression.

The movement was and still is popular amongst young women across the world, however, this subculture is often referred to as 'underground' meaning that it is beyond mainstream culture, sometimes this is to assert that the content of music is illegal or controversial but mostly it refers to bands that are signed to small, independent labels who may hold DIY, spontaneous gigs and do self recorded shows.

Riot girls are very much concerned with changing society through active and creative means, in particular: equality and women's rights. In the beginning the riot girl momentum was strengthened by the distribution of zines which were another outlet for creative expression as well as the main form of communication in the scene. The zines themselves were completely homemade and compiled various forms of writing, art work and cut and paste collages that attempted to draw out political implications in personal experiences like sexism, homophobia, racial and sexual abuse and body image.

Riot girls are also very much into a DIY ethic amongst women, the movement was more anti-consumer in the past than what it is today which was encouraged through the popularity of zine making, band making, clothing and art works. Although the movement evolved from the punk scene, the clothing made was not as distinguishable, on the DIY front, often t shirts were screen printed with doodles and slogans but girls generated a new style nicknamed 'kinderwhore'. The style maintained the punk essence of torn and ripped garments, leather boots and heavy make-up but came with a more feminine edge through low cut, tight baby doll dresses, nighties and mary jane shoes. The kinderwhore style is noticeable in many photographs of Courtney Love and most recently has been revisited in Meadham Kirchhoff's spring/summer 2012 collection.

Bands associated with the Riot Grrrl movement include Bratmobile, Bikini Kill, 7yearbitch and Sleater-Kinney as well as Huggy Bear representing the british explosion of young feminists and although the movement was largely lady fuelled, male musicians played a part in some of the leading bands at the time.

Some say the Riot Girl genre was short lived, it isn't as popular as it was in the 1990s however it was not momentary, artists and musicians are still influenced by the do-it-yourself essence and girl power subject matter: Kate Nash who's most recent album; Girl Talk emits a heavier, rock sound and lyrics drawn directly from riot girl culture in comparison to her previous, pop albums and Beyonce, a leading female artist in pop culture released her self titled album that tackled more complex and darker themes last year, track five (Flawless) in particular samples a speech titled 'We should all be feminists' delivered by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at a TEDx conference.