The Riot Grrl Movement of the 1990s
This angry girl stigma was born out of the “punk” scene where rebellion was expressed in attitude, appearance, style, and music (Revolution Girl-Style Now). Much like the punk movement, there is no direct organization or definition; the Riot Grrl movement encompasses an attitude that attempts to empower people, er women, to create a personal culture through do it yourself activities.
As sprawled all over the Riot Grrrls fanzines, the ladies explain their position within their image:
“Because we know that life is much more than physical survival and are patently aware that the punk rock ‘you can do anything’ idea is crucial to the coming angry grrrl rock revolution which seeks to save the psychic and cultural lives of girls
and women everywhere, according to their own terms, not ours.”
The Riot Grrl movement intended to ‘nurture a pierced and studded daisy chain of hard-rocking female bands (H irshey).’ Riot Grrrl has created a supportive environment for both girls and young women because of its concern mostly with feminist issues that are used as a platform to sing about, or yell in many cases. “When the Riot Grrl movement began in America in 1991, its intention was to redress the balance of power via the punk rock underground using slogans (words like ‘rape’ and ‘slut’ written in black marker pens on exposed stomachs or bare arms), fanzines, meetings and women-only shows (The Free Dictionary).”
The Riot Grrl movement evolved from the Seattle/Olympia, Washington music scene as well as the Washington D.C. one with the term “riot grrrl” stemming from an all-female opening night at the International Pop Underground convention in Olympia. However, Hanna isn’t the only influence within the movement, Bratmobile member Alison Wolfe declared that night that “we need to start a girl riot!” These women – empowered, strong, independent feminists, never used sex appeal to sell their records.
One of the most influential bands, or prime instigators in the Riot Grrl movement, Bikini Kill, encouraged both feminism and sexism in their music. They and a series of other girl bands created a mini-movement to combat what they saw as the male-dominance of the punk scene, and the rest of the world. The band’s performance can be described as a “willful, nightly leap into a mosh pit in order to head butt, the pierced, ecstatic sisterhood of fans [below] (H irshey).” In their song, “Double Dare Ya,” lead singer Kathleen Hanna taunts listeners with “Dare ya to do what you want / Dare ya to be who you will / Dare ya to cry right out loud (Haley).”
Hanna’s lifestyle and personal relationship showcase this angry attitude. In the book, We Gotta Get out of this place, the author explains in great detail why this feminist has justification for her angst. Her first enemy is the mainstream media. She believes they ‘suck,’ because of an article in The Washington Post claiming that she admitted to her father raping her because of her song “Daddy’s little girl” about incest. However, she claims the subject for the song was actually someone she met at a domestic violence shelter she had worked at.
This brewing angst attitude enveloped ’90s society. With television, in-your-face women were portrayed as the norm. These women defined the time with angry housewives such as Rose anne to single mother journalists such as Murphy Brown. Their overall attitude was – ‘we’re loud, and we’re in charge.’ Within society, outrage electrified the nineties. Religious, political, and sexual anger reached a high point. Mass rapes & genocides were occurring in Bosnia and racial issues spiked in South Central L.A. at this time. The world was angry with itself.
This mainstream infiltration created a group of strong solo artists who portrayed the female rocker with an edgy, smart alternative attitude. Female rock musicians have had difficulty making it in the predominantly white male rock world (Sch ilt). This new genre of women in rock with artists such as Alanis Morisette and Fiona Apple, didn’t shy away from addressing their issues with men. While, they were grouped together in theory, each of these “angry women in rock,” were different in musical style and lyrical subjects (Sch ilt).
Hailing from Canada, Alanis Morisette, deemed the ‘screech queen’ by Newsweek seemed to create a new genre of mainstream music, very similar to that of the Riot Grrrls. The press immediately looked to her as a new focus of in-your-face rock n’ roll. Her first hit single, ” You Oughta Know,” described a relationship that went wrong in angry, sexually graphic descriptions:
“You seem very well, things look peaceful
I’m not quite as well, I thought you should know
Did you forget about me, Mr. Duplicity?
I hate to bug you in the middle of dinner
It was a slap in the face
How quickly I was replaced
And are you thinking of me when you fuck her?”
Lyrical anger had a very female voice in Morisette’s lyrics (Sch ilt). Jagged Little Pill, the angst album full of in-your-face anthems, sold nearly 48,000 albums in 1995. One music review site reviewed the album as “full of angst, top quality bitching and one of the most important records in my life.” Hailed as a heroine for young girls by the New York Times, her voice captured that of a generation in which women were beginning to fight back against the norms of society. She was given more press because she made an attempt to keep a friendly relationship with the media, which allowed her to be brought into the light more often.
These women sang most of the same topics that the Riot Grrrls did including sexual abuse, however these new feminist divas were more successful in exposure. One of the greatest reasons that Riot Grrrls refrained from joining a major label is the fear of having to tone down their music and to become a specific image with a cute haircut and in-style clothing of the time.
Similarly to Alanis, the young, 19-year-old songstress Fiona Apple came onto the music scene with something to say. While her work is similar to Morisette, she played her piano along with her songs with a more sincere vocal style. She admitted in a Rolling Stone interview with Chris Heath that she started off as a “lean and absolute perfect marketing package” so that she could later “be able to look however she wanted.”
Mark Zetter described her as: “not just another angry woman but a direct representation of an evolution from the wails of a petulant child to more like the observations of a woman that has seen too much of the world.” One music journalist have described her as “exemplifying the vitality of today’s young women, perhaps the first generation to begin with a sense of themselves as a force to be reckoned with.” This attitude creates a more interesting listen in the overall scheme of this confessional song-writing style. Many draw this to a lack of maturity, however Apple should not seen as a non-threatening musical icon.
The press directly aligns her most closely with the Riot Grrrl Movement. She has many songs that address her own experiences of rape and eating disorders. With these songs, she has drew a great amount of public attention because of her song, “Sullen Girl.” The song explains her feelings since her rape at age 12. Most of her interviews revolved around this issue much like those of Bikini Kill:
“….And there’s too much going on.
But it’s calm under the waves, in the blue of my oblivion.
Under the waves in the blue of my oblivion.
Is that why they call me a sullen girl – sullen girl.”
Within a New York Times interview, the writer describes her performance of the song:
“As inspiring as it was to see a precocious teen-age girl becoming
sure of herself, the spectacle could not fully sustain itself as
art. By making her private journey public, Ms. Apple embodies our
confessional age; now it’s up to her to take the next step in
realizing her own considerable potential.”
Much like Bikini Kill’s goal in discussing their personal abuse stories, Apple wanted to use it as a way to empower women who have experienced similar experiences. In the same Rolling Stone interview she explains further. “I don’t think it is something I should be embarrassed about. I share my problem to normalize them, not to offer them up as a public melodrama.”
Another similarity with Apple and Morisette is their discussion of female sexuality within their lyrics. For example in Apple’s song, “Criminal,” she says she feels “like a criminal” because she is a woman with sexual desires. In her music video, she is portrayed as naked on the ground. Because of the straight-forward use of sexuality within the video, it is uncertain how much of a positive message is put forth.
While Apple feels like a criminal for her natural desires, she catches the public’s eye with her body mostly, more than that of her message. Apple told Rolling Stone there is an advantage to being a woman in rock because “you always have your sexuality to lure people with” (Haley). However, a great disadvantage occurs because sometimes people refuse to look through one’s sexuality and wants to support the sexual woman stereotype first before anything else. While she may have addressed a series of issues involved directly with those of Riot Grrrls, she fails to make a societal connection that is most important for that movement.
While the women singers of the ’90s may not have directly emulated the movement of the Riot Grrrls, their message remains the same – we are women, hear us roar. With an empowering message and in-your-face stage presence, these women created a genre of music that will be forever looked at as innovative at the time. Their personal song-writing skills allowed for a bigger societal influence that created a greater sale of records. However, the determinant of the greater impact between female rockers and female punk rockers (Riot Grrrls) have yet to be determined. But it is certain that their impact in an overall sense was influential to a stronger group of young women that feel it is ok to say what they feel.
