#107 "A Revolution Begins In A Million Pink Bedrooms:" Riot Grrrl and Feminism in the 1990s
Voiceover
Presenter(s)
Katelyn Kerr
Research Project Categories
Honors College
Abstract number
107
Abstract or Description
This research examines riot grrrl: a movement that used punk music as a conduit for social change and female empowerment. Riot grrrl encouraged girls to express their frustrations and anger through music and challenged societal norms, protesting for political action. By using punk music and drawing inspiration from prior feminist movements, riot grrrl represents a unique intersection between two research areas scholars deem separate. This research uses riot grrrl to combine the scholarship of both punk and feminist movements to showcase the gains and blindspots in two significant social movements. The punk and feminist movements made great advancements such as bringing systemic racism and gender discrimination to the forefront of social discussion. While punk and feminism made these advancements, both struggled to be intersectional in their approach. By studying this tension this research complicates scholarship that views punk and feminism as either successes or failures. This research uses riot grrrl as a microcosm for both the broader punk and feminist movements to explore how lack of intersectionality causes division and instability in sociopolitical movements. Lastly, this research also presents questions about ways political activism can include diverse voices, what it means to be an intersectional movement, and how uniting different communities can increase social impact.
Mentor
Dr. Jill Massino
Comments
Brit Davis1 year ago
Do you feel that the research you have done has informed you about the intersectionality that the punk scene allowed to feminist movements? Did you find through your research that Black women or other WOC benefited from the contributions of the women-led punk scene? This topic is extremely interesting, and your title is very eye-catching!!
• • 1 comment
Katelyn Kerr1 year ago
Hi Brit! Thank you for your comment! I enjoyed researching this topic and learning more about two areas of study I enjoy. To answer your questions, I think this research informed me about intersectionality in a variety of contexts. By looking at these two topics, I learned how including diverse voices in sociopolitical movements is crucial to create lasting change. Both the punk movement and the feminist movement brought important conversations to the forefront of social conversation. I think the relationship between punk and feminism is reciprocal. Punk brought a new energy to feminism it needed after the decline of the Second Wave, and feminism gave women in punk a voice in predominantly male space. This revitalization of both movements created opportunities for those to express their opinions and advocate for causes important to them. Projects like Rock Against Racism and riot grrrls' zines confronted topics like racism and sexual assault. However, I think it's important to recognize that no movement or activism can be completely infallible. Both punk and feminism-- whether intentionally or unintentionally-- suppressed POC voices in their spaces. These movements started because people wanted to find people who shared similar values and ideas, but when everyone shares the same opinion, the space can become similar to an echo chamber. Riot grrrl-- like both punk and feminism-- was predominately white, meaning white voices were at the forefront of the conversation. Every sociopolitical movement contributes to social discussion. I think instead of being strictly supportive or critical, we should try to study their positives and negatives in order to learn from them. As for my title, fun fact: It's actually a misquote. I had the opportunity to go do archive research at NYU. While I was there, I came across a newspaper title I really liked but I didn't write it down. The title is me trying my best to remember it. Eventually I found the article and the title I saw was "a movement begins in a million pink bedrooms," but I decided revolution sounded better so I chose that as the title.