"We're not anti-boy, we're pro-girl." -Molly Neuman

So way back when, -back when being in like... September...- I had to meet with my prof, Dr. Dale Jacobs, (who is not affiliated with Team Dale Jacobs, btw) and discuss the "overall project" of my blog. After a discussion of the types of powerful women I wanted to talk about, he suggested offhand writing about Riot Grrls.
Which is a fantastic example of a movement for the empowerment of women, and a post I've been thinking about writing since I started the blog.

I've been putting off writing this post for a while, because it is so very complex.

Basically, Riot Grrl is a movement that came about in the early 90s, founded by a bunch of girls who were fed up with being affiliated with the punk rock scene, but not having any real voice within it. According to Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill, this is partly because many felt that punk rock was created by and for boys. According to Wikipedia, the term Riot Grrl can be traced back to the Mount Pleasant Race Riots of 1991, where Jen Smith of Bratmobile is quoted as saying "This summer's going to be a girl riot," and "We need to start a girl riot." This lead to the creation of a zine called Riot Grrl, which covered topics such as rape, body image, eating disorders, self defense, politics, etc.

From here on out, it gets a little crazy. Basically, a whole bunch of rad girls united to form a scene where girls were considered important contributers. This includes bands such as Bikini Kill and Bratmobile (who deny being exclusively responsible for the Riot Grrl movement, though it seems pretty obvious that they had a big hand in it, and are still considered influential in feminist movements) Joan Jett, Yoko Ono, Nico, The Slits, Lunachicks, etc.
However, as with most social movements, the action was not confined to one outlet. Artists such as Carolee Schneeman and Barbara Kruger were considered important or influential in inciting the movement, as were writers like Gertrude Stein and Angela Davis. It was a multifaceted movement for female empowerment and love. It gave a voice to girls everywhere, and promoted an environment of free speech and belonging.
The movement was considered to be very DIY (Do-It-Yourself) and the girls were often involved in self publishing and zine writing, and recording their own music.

Sadly, the movement (in its original form) didn't last very long, due to media misrepresentation and the common assumption that "riot grrl" meant "anti-men." (See post title.) However, as with any social movement, the effects of the Riot Grrl movement are still being felt, in current day girl-centric music festivals and bands/artists.

To close, a quote from Bikini Kill's myspace page sums up Riot Grrl attitude quite well:

"I'm so sure that lots of girls are also in revolution and we want to find them. Sure our revolution has a lot to do with making ourselves important enough to start a revolution, but we also don't care about this... Because what makes us feel good without hurting others IS good. This society isn't my society cuz this society hates women and I don't. This society doesn't want us girls to feel happy or powerful in any way....MY GIRLFRIENDS WANT REVOLUTION GIRL STYLE NOW. "

P.S.: Wikipedia is my best friend for all the info! (Due to the fact that I was about four when the Riot Grrls first started out, I didn't know much about the chronology, etc...)