By FLYNNE COLLINS – Staff Writer
In the 1990s, punk rock band Bikini Kill brought feminism to the forefront of a generation of musical fans.
While scrolling through Netflix, I passed over The Punk Singer multiple times before finally giving in and watching it. It did have five stars after all, a rarity for movies on Netflix. The movie is about a female, feminist punk singer named Kathleen Hanna. I never thought the film would be the spark that began my ongoing infatuation with punk music, social activism and, specifically, the Riot Grrrl movement.
Before watching The Punk Singer I never listened to punk music or even thought about feminism. The following summer most of my days were spent watching, listening to, researching and writing punk music.
Hanna was the lead singer of the band Bikini Kill, a huge part of third-wave feminism, the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.
While the first two waves of feminism focused on basic rights such as voting and political equality, third wave feminism tried to combat how the media portrayed women and gender stereotypes.
Hanna founded the Riot Grrrl movement, a group dedicated to spreading girl love and female empowerment. She and the other members of Bikini Kill made fanzines, an amateur-produced magazine written for a subculture of enthusiasts devoted to a particular interest, to help spread the Riot Grrrl word.
Another of Hanna’s contributions to third wave feminism was the Riot Grrrl Manifesto.
The manifesto is powerful and inspirational for young women, stating, “BECAUSE we are interested in creating non-hierarchical ways of being AND making music, friends, and scenes based on communication + understanding, instead of competition + good/bad categorizations.”
Kathleen Hanna’s music presents a powerful message to me as a young woman. It gave me the strength to be completely comfortable with who I am and I hope it does so for others.
Her music is passionate and raw. When Hanna performs she doesn’t hold anything back. She was never afraid to say the unsaid or do the unthinkable.
