Zines, Art Activism and the Female Body: What We Learn from Riot Grrrls

The discussion of sexual assault and violence comes through in some very real ways in riot grrrl zines. The United States’ rape culture normalizes rape and sexual violence, minimizing the experiences of survivors and perpetuating a culture of stigmatism of survivors. In the United States, one in four girls are sexually abused before the age of 18.*10 *(10) Riot grrrls used their zines to share rape narratives, confront their sexual predators, and use punk vernacular as a way to push against the normalized rape myths and rape culture in the United States.

One way riot grrrls used zines was to find other girls to talk with about their experiences. Another way was to gather together and form groups to confront what was happening around them. Through both these practices, riot grrrls brought together punk ideologies and practices of DIY with feminist art activism as a way to challenge and change their communities and social circles. For example, riot grrrl groups formed throughout the country where grrrls would get together, talk about their experiences, and create zines. One important thing that happened during these meetings and through zines was the discussion of self-defense and empowerment. Young women looked for ways to protect themselves from the violence and fear they experience in their everyday lives.

In Olympia, Washington, the riot grrrl group put out at zine about riot grrrls and one of the contributors wrote:

This one night at a riot grrrl meeting some girls started talking about all these rapes that started happening at the college here. We got so mad at the total way the school and the media ignore sexual abuse and harassment. And how shitty it is to live in fear. So we made up a secret plan and carried it out that night. We laughed and held hands and ran around in the dark and we were the ones you should be looking out for. In a girl gang I am the night and I feel I can’t be raped and I feel so fuckin’ free. (No name in Riot Grrrl Olympia’s What is Riot Grrrl Anyway?)star (*15)

They used their gathering to talk about ways to address the sexual assault and harassment they saw around them. They created their own activist space and then used their zines to share with readers and other participants what they did to combat rape culture around them. In particular, finding ways to work together to protect themselves from the violence and empower themselves, changing their narratives.

They did not only share their experiences, they used their zines as a way to help other women feel empowered. For example, they put together self-defense zines such as FREE TO FIGHT!.star (*8) Jody Boyle, the owner of Candy Ass Records, and her bandmates Staci Colter and Anna LoBianco decided to create a record with songs from a number of all-female bands and then create a zine with it as a way to empower grrrls through self-defense, arguing that it was revolutionary. They label it a self-defense/music/art project, writing that “self defense is the equalizer. When a girl defends herself verbally she may feel she is putting herself in a physically threatening position. But when she knows how to fight, she can feel more able to say whatever she wants.” Self-defense becomes self-care.

Through a combination of art, cartoon, images, instruction, and personal narrative, the zine becomes a handbook for readers, teaching them tactics such as how to make a fist and suggesting they practice the moves in the zine while listening to the record. They present readers with specifics on how to defend themselves, showing them step-by-step ways in which to make a fist, do an eye strike, or knee someone in the groin. There are images that show the primary targets to stop an attacker (see image #1) or examples of techniques that can be done standing or those that can be used when you are on the ground (see image #2). Interspersed through the record are both songs and specifics on things such as “Definition of self defense,”, “Violence is Violence,” “Body Language” and “Yelling,” Giving readers a way to actively participate as they listen to music is a way to continue to add to DIY and activist spaces through the zine and riot grrrl.

Image #1: Primary Targets Free to Fight!

Image #1: Primary Targets. Free to Fight!

 

 

 

Image #2: Striking from the Ground Free to Fight!

Image #2: Striking from the Ground. Free to Fight!

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Anderson, Michelle J. 2005. All-American Rape.  St. John’s Law Review: Vol. 79: No. 3, Article 2.

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Baehr, Ninia.1990. Abortion Without Apology: A Radical History for the 1900s. Boston: South End Press.

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Barton, David, and Mary Hamilton. 2000. „Literacy Practices.“ In Situated Literacies Reading and Writing in Context, by David Barton, Mary Hamilton and Roz Ivanic, 7-15. London: Routledge.

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Basile, Kathleen & Chen, Jieru & C Black, Michele & E Saltzman, Linda. 2007. Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Violence Victimization Among U.S. Adults, 2001–2003. Violence and Victims. 22. 437-48.

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Bellafante, Gina. 1989. „It’s All About Me!“ Time Magazine, June 29.

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Brownmiller, Susan. 1975. Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape. New York: Simon & Schuster.

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Buchanan, Rebekah. 2018. Writing a Riot: Riot Grrrl Zines and Feminist Rhetorics. New York: Peter Lang.

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Candy Ass Records. 1995. FREE TO FIGHT!: An Interactive Self-Defense Project. Portland, OR: Self-published.

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Heath, Shirley Brice. 1983. Ways with Words: Language, LIfe, and Work in Communities and Classrooms. London and Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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hooks, bell. 2012. Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations. New York: Routledge.

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Lai, K.K. Rebecca. 2019. Abortion Bans: 9 States Have Passed Bills to Limit the Procedure This Year. New York Times, May, 29.

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Lonsway, K. A., Klaw, E. L., Berg, D. R., Waldo, C. R., Kothari, C., Mazurek, C. J., & Hegeman, K. E. 1998. Beyond „no means no“: Outcomes of an intensive program to train peer facilitators for campus acquaintance rape education. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 13(1), 73-92.

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Marcus, Sara. 2010. Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution. New York: Harper Perennial.

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New London Group. 1996. A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures. Harvard Educational Review; Spring 1996; 66.1 (60-93).

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Riot Grrrl Olympia. nd. “What is riot grrrl anyway???” Olympia: WA, Self-published.

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Rouse, Wendy. 2017. Her Own Hero: The Origins of the Women’s Self-Defense Movement. New York: New York University Press.

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Street, B. 1995. Social Literacies. Longman: London

This article focuses on zines in the United States. Primarily, it looks at cis-gender women who identify as heterosexual or bisexual and their approaches to issues of sexual assault and violence. The majority of zine writers discussed in this article identify as white. There are many zine writers who identify as queer and other sexual orientations, zine writers of color, and zine writers outside of the United States who also use zines as a form of feminist activism. For my discussion on a wider group of zine writers, see my book, Writing a Riot: Riot Grrrl Zines and Feminist Rhetorics (Peter Lang, 2018).

In 2019, 9 states passed laws limiting abortions, some as early as six weeks. These are a mix of abortion bans and fetal heartbeat bills, some of which have been struck down and others which have passed. (Lai, 2019).

For an overview of U.S. Rape Shield Law, see the Stop Violence Against Women website (http://www.stopvaw.org), I particular the Evolution of Sexual Assault Criminal Justice Reform (http://www.stopvaw.org/national_sexual_assault_laws_united_states).

Known today as the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), the CCS was formed in 1967 as a response to deaths and injuries through unsafe abortions. The CCS grew to 1,400 members within a year. For more information see the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice website (http://rcrc.org/history/).

I define punk feminists as individuals involved in punk subcultures who have feminist ideologies and apply them to their subcultural participation.

In punk, coat hanger is a negative term used to refer to girlfriends who just hold the coats of their boyfriends as the boyfriends participate in the mosh pit or other aspects of punk.

This is an extremely short version of riot grrrl. For a more comprehensive discussion on riot grrrl history please see my book, Writing a Riot: Riot Grrrl Zines and Feminist Rhetorics (Peter Lang, 2018) or Sara Marcus, Girls to the Front: The True History of Riot Grrrl (Harper Perennial, 2010).

National Violence Resource Center.

Rebekah Buchanan ( 2019): Zines, Art Activism and the Female Body: What We Learn from Riot Grrrls. In: p/art/icipate – Kultur aktiv gestalten # 10 , https://www.p-art-icipate.net/zines-art-activism-and-the-female-body-what-we-learn-from-riot-grrrls/