Kathleen Hanna is an American musician, feminist activist, and punk zine writer. She is best known for being one of the founding members of the Riot Grrrl band Bikini Kill.
Hanna was born in 1968 in Portland, Oregon. She became a feminist at a young age, inspired by Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, the feminist publication Ms. magazine and hearing Gloria Steinem speak at a rally in Washington D.C.
Hanna attended Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, where she studied photography. While at College she created work dealing with sexism and the AIDS crisis but it was censored by her college, being pulled down before anyone could see it. Hanna created an independent art gallery called ‘Reko Muse’ with her friends Heidi Arbogast and Tammy Rae Carland to show the work, she called it her “first foray into activism” The three women then formed a band called Amy Carter, which put on shows before the art exhibitions.
Hanna started to do spoken word performances on sexism and violence against women, but switched to music after a conversation with feminist writer Kathy Acker who told her that she should get in a band if she really wanted people to listen to her. Hanna was briefly a member of Viva Knievel before Bikini Kill was born.
Bikini Kill are credited with being the originators of the Riot Grrrl movement, named after a fanzine that Hanna, Allison Wolfe, Molly Neuman and Jen Smith created which was a call to action for increased feminist activity and female involvement in the punk rock scene. Bikini Kill’s singles, like “Rebel Girl”, “”The Anti-Pleasure Dissertation” and “I Like Fucking/I Hate Danger,” became underground feminist anthems. At shows they shouted for ‘girls to the front’ and
handed out lyric sheets to them so that they could fully particpate. Hanna had worked as a stripper to support herself while at college and she utilised this experience in Bikini Kill’s confrontational live performances.
After Bikini Kill Hanna recorded a solo album called Julie Ruin in her bedroom on a $40 drum machine, it contained lyrics on feminist and anti-domestic violence themes. Hanna then formed Le Tigre in 1999 who put out three albums, the last of which on a major label. In 2010 Hanna returned to the idea of Julie Ruin, although this time as a full band called ‘The Julie Ruin’. In 2013 a documentary on her life entitled ‘The Punk Singer’ was released.
Bikini Kill and Kathleen Hanna continue to inspire and provide alternative role model to mainstream female pop stars. Kathleen Hanna and the legacy of Riot Grrrl are working to empower and encourage women to appreciate each other and rise against oppressive patriarchy