Riot Grrrl Rhetoric

Riot grrrls and third wave feminists used...

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:07:00 -0500

Riot grrrls and third wave feminists used many of solidification tactics outlined by Bowers and Ochs in the Theory of Agitation and Control, but arguably the most effective tactic they used was the use of protest song. It’s the very foundation of their movement. So in this entry I will take a closer look at Le Tigre’s song F.Y.R (Fifty Years of Ridicule).

According to the tactics outlined by Bowers and Ochs this song is very effective. It harnesses repetition, humor, stereotyping, baseness and sentimentality. The repetition of “Feminists we’re calling you!/ Please report to the front desk” that’s shouted out in the bridge that leads up to the chorus of “F.Y.R! Fifty Years of Ridicule/ F.Y.R! take another picture/ I wonder if we could ever be happy in a place like that?” helps to solidify the movement and creates a call to action for other feminists and activists to get involved. It brings the movement closer together instead of polarizing the group.

In the song they juxtapose humor with baseness, calling out various social injustices in a tongue in cheek manner. The lyric “These days no one’s exploited/Sorry dude can’t hear ya with my head in the toilet” that occurs in the middle of the song after calling out social injustices brings a touch of humor mixed with vulgarity in their call to action. This strategy is used throughout the song by mixing humor with vulgarity and violence.

Many people don’t really quite understand the feminist movement. Feminists are often pigeon-holed as irrational man-haters with an agenda that will flip what people consider normal society on its head. The latter sentiment of overhauling patriarchal society to create a safe space for all people is a more realistic definition of what feminism really is, however due to media backlash and misrepresentation that ideal is often overlooked, people tend to focus on the former. What really makes this song so effective is the fact that they call out a variety of social issues instead of just focusing on stereotypical women’s issues. They call out sexism, yes, but they also touch upon issues of racism, classism, homophobia, economic crisis and health care issues. This allows for maximum solidification because it brings in many other activists without compromising their own beliefs or polarizing other groups.

F.Y.R

Ten short years of progressive change,
Fifty fuckin years of calling us names.
Can we trade title nine for an end to hate crime?
RU-486 is we suck your fuckin dick?
One step forward, five steps back.
One cool record in the year of rock-rap.
Yeah we got all the power getting stabbed in the shower
And we got equal rights on ladies nite.
Feminists we’re calling you.
Please report to the front desk.
Let’s name this phenomenon.
It’s too dumb to bring us down.
F.Y.R. Fifty years of ridicule.
F.Y.R take another picture…..
I wonder if we could be happy in a place like that?
Mrs. Doubtfire on mother’s day.
On-the-job stalker for equal pay.
Toss us a few new AIDS drugs as national healthcare bites the dust.
While you were on vacation black people didn’t get reparations.
You know these days no one’s exploited.
Sorry dude can’t hear ya with my head in the toilet.
Feminists we’re calling you.
Please report to the front desk.
Let’s name this phenomenon.
It’s too dumb to bring us down.
F.Y.R Fifty years of ridicule.
F.Y.R. take another picture……
I wonder if we could be happy in a place like that?
You’ve really come a long way baby.
It’s you, not the world, that’s totally crazy.
Cuz we rocked the fuckin vote with election fraud in poor zip codes.
Celebrate gay marriage in Vermont by enforcing those old sodomy laws.
One step forward five steps back.
We tell the truth they turn up the laugh track.
I wonder whether we could be happy?
Feminists we’re calling you.
Please report to the front desk.
Let’s name this phenomenon.
It’s too dumb to bring us down.

"One of the things about being in a self consciously feminist band is that we were still freaks in..."

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:58:34 -0500

““One of the things about being in a self consciously feminist band is that we were still freaks in the gas station when we were on tour, but then we would be treated by some people or tokenized in this way that we were the spokespeople of our generation, or we’re the representation of all feminists or something like that.””

- Kathleen Hanna, on media framing and celebrity, from the documentary Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour

"I was being told by mainstream rock critics that I was a fat, retarded slut who didn’t know what I..."

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:56:21 -0500

““I was being told by mainstream rock critics that I was a fat, retarded slut who didn’t know what I was doing, and then on the other hand, the people who I thought were like ‘my scene’, I felt really rejected all of the time because when we got media attention we were sell outs””

- Kathleen Hanna, on media framing, from the documentary Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour

"I just want to say this because a lot of times because of the media people are forced to be..."

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:54:40 -0500

““I just want to say this because a lot of times because of the media people are forced to be reactionary. I find myself trying to be the opposite of the media perception, and it’s really fucked up because it fucks with your creativity because you end up having to answer questions that are based on lies and some shit. People are like, ‘Why aren’t there more women in bands?’ and it’s, like, duh!””

- Kathleen Hanna, on media framing, from the documentary Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour

The Riot Grrrl Manifesto and the Narrative Paradigm

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:51:04 -0500

The Riot Grrrl Manifesto was published in 1991 in issue 2 of the Bikini Kill Fanzine by Kathleen Hanna, the unofficial leader of third wave feminism and riot grrrl.

BECAUSE us girls crave records and books and fanzines that speak to US that WE feel included in and can understand in our own ways.

BECAUSE we wanna make it easier for girls to see/hear each other’s work so that we can share strategies and criticize-applaud each other.

BECAUSE we must take over the means of production in order to create our own moanings.

BECAUSE viewing our work as being connected to our girlfriends-politics-real lives is essential if we are gonna figure out how we are doing impacts, reflects, perpetuates, or DISRUPTS the status quo.

BECAUSE we recognize fantasies of Instant Macho Gun Revolution as impractical lies meant to keep us simply dreaming instead of becoming our dreams AND THUS seek to create revolution in our own lives every single day by envisioning and creating alternatives to the bullshit christian capitalist way of doing things.

BECAUSE we want and need to encourage and be encouraged in the face of all our own insecurities, in the face of beergutboyrock that tells us we can’t play our instruments, in the face of “authorities” who say our bands/zines/etc are the worst in the US and

BECAUSE we don’t wanna assimilate to someone else’s (boy) standards of what is or isn’t.

BECAUSE we are unwilling to falter under claims that we are reactionary “reverse sexists” AND NOT THE TRUEPUNKROCKSOULCRUSADERS THAT WE KNOW we really are.

BECAUSE we know that life is much more than physical survival and are patently aware that the punk rock “you can do anything” idea is crucial to the coming angry grrrl rock revolution which seeks to save the psychic and cultural lives of girls and women everywhere, according to their own terms, not ours.

BECAUSE we are interested in creating non-heirarchical ways of being AND making music, friends, and scenes based on communication + understanding, instead of competition + good/bad categorizations.

BECAUSE doing/reading/seeing/hearing cool things that validate and challenge us can help us gain the strength and sense of community that we need in order to figure out how bullshit like racism, able-bodieism, ageism, speciesism, classism, thinism, sexism, anti-semitism and heterosexism figures in our own lives.

BECAUSE we see fostering and supporting girl scenes and girl artists of all kinds as integral to this process.

BECAUSE we hate capitalism in all its forms and see our main goal as sharing information and staying alive, instead of making profits of being cool according to traditional standards.

BECAUSE we are angry at a society that tells us Girl = Dumb, Girl = Bad, Girl = Weak.

BECAUSE we are unwilling to let our real and valid anger be diffused and/or turned against us via the internalization of sexism as witnessed in girl/girl jealousism and self defeating girltype behaviors.

BECAUSE I believe with my wholeheartmindbody that girls constitute a revolutionary soul force that can, and will change the world for real.

The narrative paradigm is people are more persuaded by a good story rather than a good argument. This isn’t to say that the argument of riot grrrl and third wave feminism are ineffective, I personally believe the arguments to be very powerful, but in order to persuade people to your cause, especially a movement that calls to action young people, the effective use of story is a very powerful tool. This manifesto beautifully captures the five assumptions of the narrative paradigm. The five assumptions of the narrative paradigm are:

1. Humans are story tellers

2. Decision making and communication are based on “good reasons”

3. “Good reasons” are determined by issues of history, biography, culture and character

4. Rationality is based in people’s awareness of how internally consistent with and truthful to lived experience stories appear to be

5. The world is experienced by people as a set of stories from which to choose.

Riot grrrl began as a group of young women (ages typically from 15-25) who came together to share their stories of institutionalized sexism, share and create art, and find the strength in one another to share their voices and make a change in the world we live in. While Kathleen Hanna might have been unaware of the 5 assumptions of the narrative paradigm she uses them to create a sense of story and connectedness to bring together a group of marginalized young women. This manifesto is the foundation for the collective story of the riot grrrl movement. It’s specific while remaining vague in order for each member to apply their own histories. The “good reasons” she outlines in the manifesto are based in social, cultural, historical inequalities and how together as women we can build the confidence and character to change the current status quo. This manifesto creates the paradigm within each member allowing them to validate the reasons by using their own personal narratives.

Riot Grrrl Rhetoric Project

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:44:12 -0500

For my final project in Communication Theory for Leading Change I have decided to evaluate some of the tactics used from third wave feminism through the lenses of a few different communication theories, mainly focusing on the rhetoric of agitation, Fisher’s narrative paradigm, and Marshall Mcluhan’s idea of “the medium is the message”. Essentially I will look at parts of third wave feminism and evaluate how effective they were based on those theories.

I chose to evaluate third wave feminism because it’s a movement that’s very close to my heart. I lived in the Washington D.C area during the 1990’s which was where third wave feminism and riot grrrl really began to take off. My older sister was interested in the movement, and I remember being young and going through her stuff looking at all the fanzines, handouts and other paraphernalia she had received from going to shows and workshops in the area. I was instantly hooked, and since then riot grrl and third wave feminism have been a major part of my life. Hopefully, I’ll continue this blog after my class is over as an online feminist/riot grrrl ‘zine. We shall see!