Riot Grrrl Sessions: Why it should be on your playlist
Third-wave feminism opened the doors for different people from different backgrounds to produce their own kind of art inspired by the DIY ideology. In the 90s, punk was then filled with female fronted or all-girl bands. Babes in Toyland, L7, The Gits and many other female bands helped to build a sense that women could also rock being themselves. If Patti Smith and Rita Lee — a Brazilian punk rocker that everyone should listen to — did that decades before with their authentic selves, younger girls were learning that there was a whole self to be explored and transformed into activism. The Riot Grrrl movement motivated girls to go to the front, to share their own experiences and to produce their own art. That could be done by joining a band or writing zines. There was much more going on that I can’t detail once I am part of the fourth-wave feminism. This one has started in 2012, when social medias played a vital role in spreading the word of feminism, not much different from the 90s riot grrrl because mostly young girls started producing their own stuff, this time online. I love being part of a generation of women in their 20s who worship and are inspired by activists from older generations and produce their own kind of activism inspiring younger girls to do the same. That’s why riot grrrl still is so relevant. The movement is not dead, we have been totally riot grrrls for our punk-like activism and it is okay if you don’t relate to it but there are some ladies from Europe who have recently recorded a feminist album called “Riot Grrrl Sessions” proving that we are not distant from our old generation sisters.
For one weekend, dozens of women, including trans women, worked on a music project in Stockholm, Sweden. Riot Grrrl Sessions was Twin Pigs vocalist’s, Canan Rosén, idea. Seeing that the music scene, specially the rock scene is still dominated by male musicians, Canan decided to join forces with other female artists to sing about women’s issues as well as other relevant issues that we need to be engaged to, such as LGBTQ community, suicide, menstruation, sexist politicians, sorority and etc. They were able to record 13 amazing songs in the spirit of DIT- doing it together, as pointed by them in their website. The lyrics are simple to understand, their main goal, I believe, is to keep punk alive in a time which political forces around the world have attempted to silence all those who manifest themselves against their policies.We can’t let conservative leaders like Trump in USA, Putin in Russia and Temer in Brazil silence us. There is an amazing track called “Grab ’em by the pussy” which alludes to Trump’ sexist quote on how he makes advances toward women. All of the rockers who participated in this project sing the chorus with the following words:
They grab us by the pussy
we kick them by the ballsWe are the riot grrrls
We are the terror grrrls
We are the rainbow grrrls
We are the future
I’ve caught myself listening to this record over and over because songs like this one speak a lot to our current activism. We owe a lot to the first riot grrrls who also had straightforward political messages and we must continue their paths in speaking up for our right to fight against the patriarchal normative structures that silence us. These women are very loud and you should be too!
