2011 was the year Scrabble decided to settle various pub based arguments and accept the following words (not in alphabetical order for dramatic effect):
Innit
Gak and
Grrl.
What’s wrong with this list? Grrl is spelt wrong! You don’t have to have an mp3 player full of Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney and Huggy Bear to know Scrabble have missed a trick and an R there.
2013 will be the year Riot Grrrl will turn 20. So between writing angrrry letters to Scrabble urging them to add the R for the full grrr I suggest you check out this reading list from your local library. If you still have one.
Riot Grrrl, Revolution Girl Style Now! Nadine Monem (editor). Let’s be clear about what this book is. This is a text book and it is to be studied. It’s got bibliographies at the end of every chapter and everything! It is important to understand Riot Grrrl is very visual and this book is packed with photos, zine covers and flyer drawings that those involved have collected over the years. It examines the Riot Grrrl beginnings and leaves the reader with an optimistic feeling as it demonstrates how Riot Grrrl is being kept alive in the 2000s.
Girls to the Front, Sarah Marcus. This book made me wish I was 10 or so years older. This is unusual for someone who clings so desperately to their youth that they mentally high-fived Scarlett Johansson when she revealed she uses night cream. But enough of me talking about myself in third person. This book charts the rise and fall of riot grrrl, the scene that launched a thousand zines and got girls dancing. What it was like to be introduced to grrrl positive music not through The Spice Girls or Alanis Morrissette but Heavens to Betsy and Bratmobile.
We Owe You Nothing, Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews. Yeah I know there are a lot of holes in the punk theory, Riot Grrrl brings it together in a sense making fashion (sorry Talking Heads) . This book is a collection of interviews with artists such as Kathleen Hanna (who is also on the cover, indication how much she gave to the scene), Sleater-Kinney and Ian MacKaye. It provides both a little first-person history and tells us what these trailblazers are doing now (or in 2001 anyway, google will catch you up I’m sure).
Mix Tape, The Art of Cassette Culture. Thurston Moore (editor). It isn’t Riot Grrrl focused but it is a great example of the riot grrrl DIY aesthetic. It is also good inspiration for how to design all the mix CDs you will feel compelled to make after you have finished your riot revision.
Get sourcing those photocopiers, staples and glitter. It’s a leap year, as of now you have 365 days, let it be the year of the grrrls proposing plans not girls proposing to their boyfriends.
Squeamish Kate