riot grrrl aesthetics. iconography.

some pictures of chicks that consider themselves to be 'riot grrrl'...

are on the riot grrrl international msg board.

here we go. ps. i like pictures.

MyREDREDlips

black hair. eyeliner. tshirt. awful (in my opinion) pixie fringe thing

pinkdecay
piercing. eyeliner. black hair.

Blissful Queen

tshirt. dark hair. guitar.

KrisIndie / Stokely. omg...have you seen The Faculty...that chick's gotta be the best impersonation of Stokely I've ever seen.

ANYWAY! I think I've made my point. all of the 'real girl' pictures I've seen of riot girl types...i.e. not actual rockstars...start looking like kids at a good charlotte concert. OK...that's me being prejudiced and ridiculous...but they definitely do have an iconographic look to them...:

dark hair, pouty - dissatisfied looks on their faces, eyeliner, tshirts etc etc.

really interesting thing I happened across..

GO HERE - SO AS TO SEE I'M NOT MAKING SHIT UP:

riot grrrl international message board: Topic: sooo...what introduced you into riot grrrl?

There's nearly a whole page of chicks involved in riot grrrl talking about how much influence the internet had on them getting into the subculture. Here's some wigga examples:

?! terralphasia: “Well, for me 'twas mainly the internet. That and (accidentally) stumbling upon a couple of Bikini Kill songs (mind you, also on the internet). Same ole, same ole...”

?! pinkdecay: “for me, it was just after i got into punk and "alternative" music when i was 14. i didn't know of any female fronted bands apart from hole and no doubt, so i went on yahoo and typed in something like "girl punk bands". i found the heroine chick web site, and from there discovered not only some amazing bands, but i came across the RGE site. and there ya go! ”

?! MoonRat : “Riot Grrrl found me when I was looking through an article about the ethics of sex toys on a feminist webpage... then saw a link to the Riot Grrl's site”

?! yidneth.com: “I found it by chance, surfing in google when looking for links for my resources page”

?! strychnine_slut: “For having an obssession with Kurt Cobain (still do for that matter) but I read his biography, and discovered he dated Tobi Vail and Dave Grohl was with Kathleen Hanna for a while and they had a band, Bikini Kill. It also described that Kurt would listen hours on end to Tobi and Kathleen 'prattle on about sexism' and that Tobi coined the phrase 'riot grrrl' to describe the 1990 model of punk feminism. I remember downloadeing some Bikini Kill songs (Rebel Grrrl) being the first, and absolutely loving it, then checking them out on the internet, reading more about riot grrrl/feminism then it sorta escalated (sp?) from there.”

From those examples...I don't think it's a stretch to start arguing that the interweb has had a pretty big impact on riot grrrl as a subculture.

u tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJmvaPdPG5Y
I've been watching more videos on you tube...aren't I lucky.

and from the one above, I gleaned an awesome quote -
says Molly Neuman from Bratmobile
"the politics of riot grrrl are difficult to summarise because they really are personal and I think that's one of the main tenets of feminism: the personal is political"

The videos went right back to women beginning in punk...with the slits and patti smith.
It's a bit of a butt kissing session. But helpful nonetheless.

I found a band that tag themselves as riot grrrl -
the cathy santonies - singing a song called 'she said'

I struggled to understand any of the words
the quality of the video was awful.
the sound was awful.
it sounded like every other riot grrrl band I've found...however, if you feel the need to watch it, you'll find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrxuniRVzBk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyqBT7Z9VuA - the video for the movie 'don't need you'
about riot grrrl etc. which looks to be quite interesting

Chupacabra Sisters - another riot grrrl band...
singing 'keep abortion legal' ... which is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtgEeE4ZiZw
The girls look to be about 12...
and...so as not to be looked upon as ignorant and unaccepting of these girls expressing themselves I shall quote a comment left under the video by a youtube user:
"The drummer sucks!!! "

lady fest ad on facebook

more like faecesbook...

on a more mature note - there was a poster someone pinned up on facebook - for Ladyfest, in Leeds.

I thought I should put it up here. It seemed relevant

FACEBOOKING

It's not a secret that I heart facebook...possibly more than I heart myspace - but that'll turn into a heated discussion...be it in my own mind...

WHATEVER.

so, I typed Riot Girl into facebook groups and low and behold, I found some.

namely -

riot grrrl: http://uqedu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2247169083

and

revolution grrrl style now: http://uqedu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2204728440

It's interesting stuff...(if, course, you're interested in interesting stuff)

On the riot grrrl group, a huuuuuuuuuuuge list of acts that those into riot grrrl might be interested in.

two girls offer what riot girl means to them:

1) "To me it's literally a way of life, borderline survival mechanism. If Riot Grrrl didn't exist, there would be a lot of things in life I would still be struggling to get over."
2) "I think of riot grrrl as a way of life. It's about doing things yourself - making your own music, writing your own articles, finding your own truth(s). It's about finding your own voice. Riot grrrl supports fighting capitalism by supporting all the groups that the system oppresses (including but not limited to women, blacks and gays). Riot grrrl was definitely life changing for me. "

There's also a whole lot of great photos.

I hope that it's starting to become really evident that riot girl is on the interweb...I feel as though it would take a lifetime to go through all of the web references to the subculture....

Here's a picture...because screeds and screeds of type is so passe.

more like...gay space

That's a picture i took...with the magic of print screen of me playing on myspace - looking for riot girl related stuff.

I discovered - see left...Anti-Puppet...

they had riot listed as an influence.

you too can discover anti-puppet on myspace, hopefully by clicking this link: ANTI- PUPPET !!!

- fingers crossed -

Again, this is all about riot girl spreading itself around in the new media environment.

from a news feature - 07

Ladyfest - the name came from Allison Wolfe, of the band Bratmobile - and its DIY ethos grew out of the Riot Grrrl movement, as a reaction to the marginalisation of female talent in the punk rock scene in Washington, DC, in the 1990s. "The point about Riot Grrrl," says Helen, 26, the keyboard player and vocalist of Brighton group Shrag, who have supported The Cribs, "is women being culturally active is an ongoing and increasing thing. To a certain extent, I think this idea is threatening to a still male-dominated industry, hence the need to contain this kind of activism under labels."

the article refers one to a (dum dum dum! [conveniently enough for my essay writing purposes]) website - www.ladyfestleeds.co.uk

http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/features/article2424432.ece