It is amazing that I am alive today, because my mind and my
heart exploded at least four times last night. You see, I was watching the Punk Singer,
a documentary about Kathleen Hanna, former lead singer of Riot Grrrl bands Bikini
Kill and Le Tigre, and all of my younger angst and chutzpah about the role of
women in our society came flooding back. It was an amazing and overwhelming
experience that I did not expect. As a child of the 80s, I came a bit late to
the Riot Grrrl
scene. (I blame my parents for not meeting earlier, having me sooner, and
living in suburban Atlanta.) It wasn’t until college in the early 2000s that I
was immersed in the music of Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, and L7, and they
changed my life. They were the first really political bands that I heard who “got
me.” These bands were talking about the feminist movement, bringing down
patriarchy, stopping violence against women, and empowering the oppressed. They
had the spine to say everything that I wanted to say, and they did it loudly on
a music stage. I FUCKING LOVED IT.
Since college, I have really gotten away from Riot Grrrl
music and messaging. I got sucked into hipster dance music and underground rap,
which can have amazing, powerful messages. They just don’t touch my inner ROAR
like Bratmobile, and I didn’t realize how much I missed that until last night. I
really needed to hear the message of, “Fuck everyone else. You do what you want
to do. You say what you want to say, because you deserve to be heard. It may
not be easy, but you have something important to share.” I think that everyone
deserves to hear that. It is really freeing.
I don’t really know what I am going to do with all of this
reconnection. Maybe I will shave my head.
Maybe I will start creating more political art. Maybe I will start a band. I
have no idea. I just know that I like feeling inspired again.
Have you ever been unexpectedly inspired? What did you do
with that call to action?
- Lauren, newly reinvigorated Riot Grrrl
No comments:
Post a Comment