Riot Grrrl Thurrrsday

I want to talk this week about what riot grrrl has become. Riot grrrl music hit the scene in 1991-92. I was 7, so obviously I came to appreciate it after the fact. I got to grow up with the bastardization of riot grrrl known as "girl power". Two words: Spice. Girls. Same old sexualization and subjugation of women just enhanced with a "chicks rock" message stolen from the likes of Kathleen Hanna and Allison Wolfe.

What I have yet to be able to determine over many years is whether this is a good or a bad thing. For example, my cousin loves Hanna Montana and her ilk. I actually kind of like this from Demi Lovato:



I realize nothing about that is riot grrrl except that it's a chic and it's rock. But is this what riot grrrl means today? I mean basically, a lot of these girls talk about bucking norms and being yourself, which I feel is a key element of riot grrrl. Ex:



Do I think this does more good for my teenage cousins than bad? Probably. Are they going to be feminists/anarchists/riot grrls because of this music? Probably not. But maybe someday this will have paved the way a bit :-).

Every week I put an artist up here to promote a woman making good music, but what has really happened to the riot grrrl aesthetic today? Does it even still exist?