The Influence of Riot Grrrl
Of all the empowering moments in the world of grunge, its emergence in conjunction with the “riot grrrl” movement is one of the most fascinating. While modern punk and heavy metal grew in concurrence with hip-hop, all three genres defined a voice of the late 70’s rebellion against economic and political power structures of the time. Each were born out of the socioecology that they inhabited, and the same goes for rap, grunge, and the third-wave feminism movements often associated with riot grrrl. In the Pacific Northwest, women sought to upend gender norms, call out attention to important women’s safety and health issues, and do it with the blast of distorted guitars, blaring lyrics, and raucous drumbeats. They would expand to 26 countries world-wide, and they would bring forth a wide variety of powerful role models for young people in their era.
The fashion of early punk and metal give some interesting clues to the beginnings of the female presence in grunge music. While riot grrrl is typically associated with punk rock, some of the important aspects of challenging gender roles in grunge come from the clothing choices of its performers. Punk had its fans sporting household items, discarded junk, odd assortments of scrap metal, and anything that could be repurposed for jewelry as its fashion statements. Young people took to writing rebellious phrases in permanent marker of their stomachs and using oversized safety pins for earrings, but grunge music fashion took a decidedly different turn. The flannels and baggy clothing of the Washington state proletariat donned itself as an anti-statement to the over-sexualized tight skirts and skin-revealing wardrobes that female performers were often subjected to for acceptance on the stage. Women found a new way to present themselves musically and the scene in Olympia was a ground-zero for empowerment of the women’s voice in the 90s. As the riot grrrl movement matured and built a platform for women to have a place to communicate social issues effecting them, its most impactful result on the music industry was its foundation for women to expand their influence in being more than just the groupies associated with hair-metal and glam-rock of the past decade. They were taking the power back.
A festival organized by Sub Pop record label and K Records creators helped bring the riot grrrl movement onto the scene on the brink of Nirvana’s explosion into pop culture in 1991. The promotional poster read, as quoted by Gina Arnold in her book, Route 666: On the Road to Nirvana, “As the corporate ogre expands its creeping influence on the minds of industrialized youth, the time has come for the International Rockers of the World to convene in celebration of our grand independence.” The first night of the performance was reserved for all-female performers. Ryan Moore states in Sells Like Teen Spirit, “While claiming feminist identities for themselves, these women appropriated the label and image of “girl” in ironic fashion, replacing its vowel with a triple-r roar.” He goes on to speak of the preadolescent feelings exalted by a carefree time of friendship among girls, before the worries of boys, and girls competing for their attention. The grunge movement of female empowerment would continue this message with their telltale muddy guitar distortions and more melodramatic tempos.
The riot grrrl movement would splinter by the late 90s in conjunction with the decline in grunge popularity, much as a result of the split in idealisms and the media manipulation of its message. Advertising was a critical player in the dissolution of grunge on the whole, and Karen Ritchie, an executive vice president and director of media relations at McCann-Erikson in 1992 would write, “Generation X doesn’t dislike advertising, they dislike hype. The dislike overstatement, self-importance, hypocrisy, and the assumption that anyone would want to be disturbed at home by a salesman on the telephone.” Theriot grrrl movement, much like grunge itself, would be dissected by this facet of the media empire, that packaged, repurposed, and distorted their identity until it was so unrecognizable that they were associated with the Spice Girl’s 1996 mantra of “Girl Power”, which was far from the original vision. While other legs of the Seattle area rock scene became the focus of mainstream media, riot grrrl remained by choice, an underground genre. It’s influence helped boost to prominence a whole host of popular female grunge acts like Babes in Toyland, the Breeders, the Gits, 7 Year Bitch, Hole, Lunachicks, Dickless, L7, PJ Harvey, Liz Phair, Veruca Salt, and even No Doubt. There is a wide range of change that the grunge music of the 90s brought to stardom in music culture. The bigger role of female participation in the industry is one of its finest progressions.
One of my favorite basslines comes from the song “Cannonball”, by the Breeders. Let’s have a listen in today’s listening example of influencers in grunge music, and a testament to the road that the riot grrrl movement helped carve. Thanks for reading!