Articles on riot grrrl, punk, queercore, feminism and zines

Although this is far from an exhaustive list, here are some links to interesting articles and papers:

Alcantara-Tan, Sabrina Margarita. “The Herstory of ‘Bamboo Girl’ Zine.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, vol. 21, no. 1/2, 2000, pp. 159–70. 

Ali, Nyala. “From Riot Grrrl to Girls Rock Camp: Gendered Spaces, Musicianship and the Culture of Girl Making.” Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA Postgraduate Network 5, 2012, pp. 141-160.

Ambrosch, Gerfried. “‘Refusing to Be a Man’: Gender, feminism and queer identity in the punk culture.” Punk & Post Punk, Volume 5, 2016, pp. 247-264. 

Briggs, Charlotte. “’Why Every Girl Isn’t a Riot Grrrl’:Feminism and the Punk Music of Bikini Kill in the Early 1990s.” New Errands: The Undergraduate Journal of American Studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2015, pp. 5-13.

Chidgey, Red. “Hand-made memories: Remediating cultural memory in DIY feminist networks.” Feminist Media: Participatory Spaces, Networks and Cultural Citizenship, 2012, pp. 87–97.

Cogan, Brian. “Typical Girls?: Fuck Off, You Wanker! Re-Evaluating the Slits and Gender Relations in Early British Punk and Post-Punk.” Women’s Studies, 41:2, 2012, pp.121-135.

Comstock, Michelle. “Grrrl Zine Networks: Re-Composing Spaces of Authority, Gender, and Culture.” JAC, vol. 21, no. 2, 2001, pp. 383–409.

Creasap, Kimberly. “Zine-Making as Feminist Pedagogy.” Feminist Teacher, vol. 24, no. 3, 2014, pp. 155–68.

Downes, Julia. “The Expansion of Punk Rock: Riot Grrrl Challenges to Gender Power Relations in British Indie Music Subcultures.” Women’s Studies, 41:2, 2012, pp. 204-237.

Downes, Julia, Maddie Breeze and Naomi Griffin. “Researching DIY Cultures: Towards a Situated Ethical Practice for Activist-Academia.” Graduate Journal of Social Sciences, The Conditions of Praxis: Theory and Practice in Activism and Academia, Volume 10, Issue 3, Sept. 2013, pp. 100-124.

Dunn, Kevin & May Summer Farnsworth. “’We ARE the Revolution:’ Riot Grrrl Press, Girl Empowerment, and DIY Self-Publishing.” Women’s Studies, 41:2, 2012, pp. 136-157.

Hanna, Kathleen, and Melissa Klein. “RIOT GRRRLS.” Off Our Backs, vol. 23, no. 2, 1993, pp. 6–12.
 
Isaacson, Johanna. “From Riot Grrrl to CrimethInc: A Lineage of Expressive Negation in Feminist Punk and Queercore.” Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies, Vol. 7, No. 4, December 2011, pp. 1-8.
 
 

Nicholas, Lucy. “Approaches to Gender, Power and Authority in Contemporary Anarcho-punk: Poststructuralist Anarchism?” eSharp, Gender: Power and Authority, Issue 9, Spring 2007, pp. 1-21.

Nguyen, Mimi Thi. “Riot Grrrl, Race, and Revival.” Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory, 22:2-3, 2012, pp.173-196.

O’Shea, Susan. “Activate, collaborate, participate: The network revolutions of riot grrrl-affiliated music worlds.” Punk & Post Punk, Volume 9, 2020, pp. 309-325. 

Radway, Janice. “Girl Zine Networks, Underground Itineraries, and Riot Grrrl History: Making Sense of the Struggle for New Social Forms in the 1990s and Beyond.” Journal of American Studies, vol. 50, no. 1, 2016, pp. 1–31. 

Rosenberg, Jessica, and Gitana Garofalo. “Riot Grrrl: Revolutions from Within.” Signs, vol. 23, no. 3, 1998, pp. 809–41.

Siegfried, Kate. “Feeling Collective: The Queer Politics of Affect in the Riot Grrrl Movement.” Women’s Studies in Communication, 42:1, 2019, pp. 21-38.

Soccio, Lisa. “From Girl to Woman to Grrrl: (Sub)Cultural Intervention and Political Activism in the Time of Post-Feminism.” Invisible Culture: An Electronic Journal for Visual Studies, Issue 2, Winter 1999. Visual & Cultural Studies Program, University of Rochester, pp. 1-14.

Spiers, Emily. “‘Killing Ourselves is Not Subversive’: Riot Grrrl from Zine to Screen and the Commodification of Female Transgression.” Women: A Cultural Review, 26:1-2, 2015, pp. 1-21. 

Stinson, Elizabeth. “Means of Detection: A Critical Archiving of Black Feminism and Punk Performance.” Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory, 22:2-3, 2012, pp. 275-311. 

Triggs, Teal. “Scissors and Glue: Punk Fanzines and the Creation of a DIY Aesthetic.” Journal of Design History. 19. 2006, pp. 69-83. 

Wiedlack, Katharina. “‘Do We Scare Ya’ Cuz, We’re Not Afraid To Fuck?’: Queer-feminist Punk Countercultures, Theory, Art and Action.” Graduate Journal of Social Sciences, The Conditions of Praxis: Theory and Practice in Activism and Academia, Volume 10, Issue 3, Sept. 2013, pp. 15–37.

Wright, Lindsay. “Do-it-yourself girl power: An examination of the Riot Grrrl subculture.” James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal, 3(1), 2016, pp. 52-56. 

 

Links to academic papers:

A Detailed Journey into the Punk Subculture: Punk Outreach in Public Libraries by April Errickson

FROM PROTEST TO RESISTANCE: British anarcho -punk ‘zines (1980-1984) as sites of resistance and symbols of defiance by Dr. Matt Grimes

Making a Mess: Expanding Anarchist and Feminist Worlds by Anastasia Murney

The Politics and Aesthetics of 1990s Punk Women’s Writing: Reading Riot Grrrl after Kathy Acker and against the anti-feminist backlash by Gemma Griffiths

“STATEMENT OF VINDICATION”: A FEMINIST CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF KATHLEEN HANNA’S LYRICS by Soraya Alonso Alconada

Ugly Girls on Stage: Riot Grrrl Reflected through Misrepresentations by Susanna Mantila

When anarcha-queer-feminism meets grrrl culture – Riot Grrrl as an example for anarcha-queer-feminist practices by Veronica Lion

 

Non-academic articles:

40 Years of Fairytales: A Retrospective of The Raincoats by Cynthia Schemmer (2017)

A Brief History of Zines by Chloe Arnold (2016)

A Brief History of Zines by Molly Tie (2021)

A Brief Look at the Four Waves of Feminism by MARGIE DELAO  (2021)

A Conversation with G.B. Jones: The Foremother of Queercore & Riot Grrrl by Izzy Corp (2022)

Alternatives to Alternatives: the Black Grrrls Riot Ignored by Gabby Bess (2015)

Bikini Kill Are Not the Revolution We Need in 2019: The Only Criticism of the Bikini Kill Reunion Anyone Dared to Publish by Erin Margaret Day (2020)

Black Feminist Punks Big Joanie Are Finding Their Way Home by Cheri Percy (2022)

Feminism: The Third Wave by National Women’s History Museum

Grrrl, Collected by Lisa Darms (2013)

Grrrls Only by Lauren Spencer (1993)

A History of Riot Grrrl, from “Rebel Girl” to “Racist, Sexist Boy” by Tim Stegal (2022)

Interview with Musician and Indie Record Label Owner Kaia Wilson by Tamra Lucid

In the Riot Grrrl Archive: Punk and the limits of individualism by Rachel Greenwald Smith (2021)

Kathleen Hanna On What Bikini Kill Means Now by Jenn Pelly (2019)

The Linda Lindas on Playing Riot Fest and Equality in the Industry “Punk is for Everybody” by JC Chesler (2022)

Not Every Girl Is A Riot Grrrl: Today’s musicians grapple with the feminist punk legacy of riot grrrl by Lindsay Zoladz (2011)

Radical Women Of Color Are Keeping Zine Culture Alive by Shanna Collins (2017)

RACIST GRRRL: THE POLITICS OF RACE AND ANGER IN PUNK FEMINISTMOVEMENTS by (2022)

Riot Grrrl: A 20 Year Retrospective by Petra Davis (2013)

Riot Grrrl: Breaking Stereotypes, One Revolutionary Song At A Time by Janelle Borg (2023)

Riot Grrrl Get Noticed by Jessica Hopper (2011)

Riot Grrrl Ink and the Activist History of LGBTQ Record Labels by Eric Torres (2015)

Riot Grrrl: Revolution or Exclusion? by Gianna Campillo

Riot Girl: still relevant 20 years on by Jessica Hopper (2011)

The Riot Grrrl Style Revolution by Laura Havlin (2016)

Riot Grrrl Trailblazer Allison Wolfe on the Music That Made Her by Laura Snapes (2016)

Second Wave Feminism: Spark of Women’s Rights Movement by Amy Hayes (2022)

Start a Riot (and a Zine), Grrrl by Ashawnta Jackson (2022)

Vital Yet Forgotten: Resurfacing Third-Wave Feminism by Josie Sedam (2023)

What Are the Four Waves of Feminism? by Rosie Lesso (2023)

Why Punk Was Never Supposed to Be Sexy by Ellie Sivins (2022)

 

Magazines:

Rookie Magazine – posts with a tag of “riot grrrl” – includes articles such as: This Is My Thing: An Interview With Kathleen Hanna by (2013) & Why Can’t I Be You: Lisa Darms by Amy Rose Spiegel (2013)

Author’s note: Although I have yet to find a searchable database of archived Sassy magazines, I was able to find a few scanned issues in Sassy Archives on Tumblr.