After the Riot: Taking new feminist youth subcultures seriously By Angela Wilson Art History and Communication Studies, McGill University, Montreal August 2004 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fuI filment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts. ©Angela Wilson Library and Bibliothèque et 1+1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 0-494-06538-9 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 0-494-06538-9 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans loan, distribute and sell th es es le monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, électronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. ln compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privée, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont été enlevés de cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. ••• Canada This thesis argues that in North America since the late 1980s, young women's interest in feminism has been expressed through participation in feminist music subcultures. The project provides an overview of the studies of culture, musical subculture, and gender and music making, as weIl as an historical context of feminism and a discussion of the relationship between second and third wave feminism. The first case study explores Riot Grrrl's roots in the DIY activism ofDC hardcore punk, its links to the female-oriented indie music scene of Olympia, Washington, and the subculture' suse of alternative media. The second study examines efforts to integrate queer politics into third wave feminism through lesbian punk rock music subculture. The final study of electronic feminist punk rock examines how young feminists use alternative media such as zines, internet message boards, web sites, music making, and performance to educate young women about sexual abuse and homophobia. Analysis of the Riot Grrrl, lesbian punk rock, and electronic feminist punk rock subcultures demonstrates how young women claim spaces for their own feminist politics, even if they have go ne relatively undetected by the mainstream culture. Cette thèse a pour but d'arguer du fait qu'en Amérique du Nord depuis la fin des années 1980, l'intérêt des jeunes femmes en le féminisme a été exprimé par leur participation en sous-cultures de musique féministe. Le projet fournit une vue d'ensemble des études de cette culture, la sous­ culture musicale, les sexes et la musique, ainsi qu'un contexte historique du féminisme et une discussion du rapport entre la deuxième et la troisième vague de féminisme. La première étude explore les racines de Riot Grrrl, dans l'activisme du punk hardcore DIYen D.C, ses liens à la scène feminine de musique d'indie d'Olympia à Washington, et de l'utilisation de sous-cultures des médias alternatifs. La deuxième étude examine les efforts d'intégrer la politique gaie dans la troisième vague de féminisme par la sous-culture lesbienne de musique punk. L'étude finale du punk féministe électronique examine la façon dont les jeunes féministes emploient des médias alternatifs tels que les zines, les panneaux de message d'internet, les sites internet, la musique et les concerts pour instruire les jeunes femmes au sujet de l'abus sexuel et l 'homophobie. L'analyse de Riot Grrrl, de la musique punk lesbienne, et des cultures secondaires féministes de musique punk électronique, démontre comment les jeunes femmes réclament l'espace pour leur propre politique féministe, même si cette politique est relativement non détectée par la culture traditionnelle. 11 Acknowledgments As much as l have been somewhat of a recluse for the past two years, l'd like to thank everyone who has shawn interest in my research and writing, listened ta music with me, and even those who have been a we1come distraction! Thank you ta my parents for encouraging me and for instilling in me a thirst for knowledge and a love of music. Special thanks ta Jesse Staniforth for discussing music sa passionately with me, and for his dedication ta making me smile even during the most stressful times. Also thanks for editing a particularly tough section, and for always inspiring me to go the distance. Thanks ta Michelle Levy for all the much-needed venting and for breakfasts at Bagels, Etc. Wade Nelson and Samantha Thrift, thanks for showing me that it's possible ta get a thesis written and still remain sane. Thanks ta Jennifer Fisher for her support in the beginning, and ta Craig Morrison, who was one of the first ta show me that it's possible to make a career out of writing and talking about music. Thanks ta Kathleen Hanna, JD Samson, Joanna Fateman and Beth Ditto for the interviews, and for confirming my suspicion that in addition to being talented musicians, they are really great people, tao. Many thanks ta my advisor, Will Straw, for his valuable advice and friendly support. And finally, thanks ta all the women out there making exciting music and inspiring others to do the same. 111 Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................... .i Acknowledgernents ................................................................................ .ii Table of Contents ............................................................... iii Introduction ............................................................................................. 1 Chapter One: Points of Departure Cultural Studies: Culture is Ordinary ...................................................... 7 Studying Subcultures ................................................................................. 9 The Birmingham School .. .......................................................................... 10 Challenging the Birmingham Tradition .................................................... 12 Subculture and Music ................................................................................ 17 Musical Subcultures and Gender .............................................................. 18 Music and Femininity ................................................................................ 23 Feminism and Punk Subcu/ture ................................................................. 26 Chapter Two: Ferninist Texts and Contexts The Origins ofSecond Wave Feminism ..................................................... 29 Third Wave Feminism ................................................................................ 30 Generational Tensions ............................................................................... 33 Did the Popular Media Kil! Feminism? .................................................... 37 Chapter Three: The Origins and The Legacy of Riot Grrrl Subculture Introduction ................................................................................................ 39 Origins: Riot Grrri and the Punk Rock Community .................................. .39 Riot Grrrls Claim a Spacefor Women ...................................................... .49 Riot Grrrl and Feminism ......................· ...................................................... 53 Riot Grrrl as Musical Subculture ............................................................... 58 Mainstreaming Grrri Revolution ................................................................ 60 Chapter Four: Lesbian Punk Rock as Ferninist Youth Subculture Introduction ................................................................................................. 66 Roots: Womyn 's Music and Separatist Feminism ....................................... 67 Contexts: Punk rock, Riot Grrrl, queercore, zine culture ........................... 74 Dykecore and the Popular Media ................................................................ 76 Feminism and Dykecore Subculture ............................................................ 79 Queer Politics in Dykecore Subculture ........................................................ 85 After the Riot................................................................................................ 87 Chapter 5: Electronic Ferninist Punk Music as Youth Subculture Introduction .................................................................................................