Fanatic

One the founders of the original Riot Grrrl movement, Kathleen Hanna is keeping it alive. She has made her life’s work about feminism and keeping girls informed and encouraged, whether through music, art, zines, counseling, fashion, or public speaking.

Kathleen inspires other people, and a riot grrrl should be inspiring and supportive. After being a victim of abuse, she was a counselor at a women’s shelter, and after Bikini Kill shows she would counsel women who needed it. After performing punk shows Kathleen would be in the back performing crisis counseling, sometimes every night while on tour. But she hasn’t let anything that has happened to her make her jaded. She is sincere and has a sense of humor.

 After Bikini Kill broke up and she was in a low point, she took those pent up feelings a turned it into a self-recorded masterpiece solo album, Julie Ruin.

Then she was a part of Le Tigre, an electronic dance-punk trio which covered Bush era politics, a whole new wave of feminist issues, and supported the LGBTQ community. Currently, Kathleen is fronting the feministic post-punk pop band, The Julie Ruin, sounding more confident than ever and not letting her Lyme disease hold her back.

Kathleen is still a modern riot grrrl because she is 100% in tune with everything happening in a girl’s world. She is waiting for the next movement to occur. Kathleen recognizes that the original Riot Grrls had their flaws, (read Girls to the Front by Sara Marcus), and she is hoping that the next generation can learn and grow from that. visit Kathleenhanna.com and also watch The Punk Singer