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Riot Grrrl

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Riot grrrl is arguably a subculture movement that arose from larger punk and queer subcultures, although its fundamental ideology undoubtedly warrants an extensive study outside of these seemingly all-encompassing larger subcultures. Many female punk artists that were active during the late 1970s and 1980s influenced the movement that began in the late 1980s and early 1980s. At its core, riot grrrl is a feminist hardcore punk movement whose members address topics such as female empowerment, sexual assault and rape, domestic violence, patriarchy, racism, and homo-/queer-phobia. Early riot grrrl bands include Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Excuse 17, and Heavens to Betsy, as well as queercore bands, such as Team Dresch and The Third Sex. However, riot grrrl culture is not limited to music. Riot grrrls organize to advocate for social change, especially around ending violence against women, by using a DIY ethic, zines, political action, and various other art forms. Riot grrrl origins are rooted in the Pacific Northwest, with many bands hailing from Olympia and Seattle in Washington and Portland, Oregon.

Despite these roots outside of Los Angeles, it is crucial to discuss this predominantly female movement within the context of punk and queer subcultures because female and lesbian involvement within these subcultures remains largely unwritten. The very nature of subculture has acquired strong masculine overtones, rendering females virtually invisible. Many girls' involvement in the punk scene is restricted to the roles of groupies and girlfriends. However, the rise of "dyke punk bands like Bitch and Animal, The Butchies, The Need, The Haggard, and Tribe 8 challenges the conventional understandings of punk as male dominated and queercore as a largely gay male phenomenon. This explosion also makes visible the queerness that energized the riot grrrl movement even as it was assiduously ignored by mainstream media" (Halberstam 166). Riot grrrl allows women to disrupt gender norms similar to how men disrupt gender norms in the mainstream punk scene.

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