(Student’s Full Name)
The Elements of Feminist Media and their Relationship to the Movie The Punk Singer
“Tougher and more lethal than any man, more beautifulthan most women, warrior women in thongs fused feminism and femininity in a fantasy reconciliation between the fury of Riot Grrrl and the body politics of Cosmo.” –Douglas, 2010a, p. 78
The above quotation made by Susan J. Douglas highlights the fact that feminism has had to change how it presents itself to the mainstream. The quotation implies that the strong, hard-core feminist is now being required to soften her outside image with her femininity and sexuality. The author made reference to the Riot Grrrl underground movement, which has been connected to the angry feminist who is against anything related to the patriarchy. However, Kathleen Hanna, the lead singer of Bikini Kill and one of the persons who helped to spearhead the Riot Grrrl underground movement, both embodied and opposed hegemonic feminism. Kathleen Hanna ensured that the female was placed first and foremost in her band’s concerts and the males were placed in the back. The Riot Grrrl movement, along with the help of Kathleen Hanna and Bikini Kill, dealt with the three aspects of feminist media studies, as depicted in the movie Punk Singer. Based on a critical assessment of the movie, it can be argued that the movie Punk Singer shows a brand of feminism that uses femininity and girlhood to empower other females to overcome female objectification, sexual and physical abuse, sexism and general male dominance in the punk rock scene.
The movie, Punk Singer, documents the life of Kathleen Hanna as a feminist and a punk singer. It talks about what her life was with her parents as a little girl. She spoke of the disapproval of her father after she had participated in a stage performance. She also talked about the strong role that her mother played in her life so that she would not trust anybody. Hanna discussed how her college friend, who was working on her music composition, was about to be assaulted by a young man. While this man was carrying her up the stairs to be raped, she became so determined to compose her symphony that she fought her attacker and got away. When Hanna saw that she was badly beaten up by this young man, then she saw that she needed to use her music and her spoken word poetry, which inspired her music to become an advocate for women who have been abused by men like her friend. It should be noted that Hanna studied photography and connected themes portrayed in her work to feminism. However, as Hanna grew and developed as an artist, she went beyond simply advocating for women who have been oppressed and focused her attention on other oppressed groups within the society.
Kathleen Hanna and the girls apart of the Riot Grrrl movement embodied hegemonic feminism while still dealing with the evils of patriarchy through their music, their attitude, and deportment. Hanna embodied hegemonic feminism by using the lyrics in her songs to talk about sexual abuse, incest, and sexual molestation. Douglas (2010a) explains that feminists are able to be “tough verbally” and are always “armed with sarcastic comebacks and cutting putdowns” (p. 77). The strong, powerful voice of Hanna enabled her to sing anthems of female empowerment and pointed out the ills of a patriarchal society. Indeed, her lyrics were more than just “catty remarks” but they were “muscular verbal jousting” when she allowed the anger to be expressed through her strong and powerful vocals (Douglas, 2010a, p. 77). Hanna will also have a commanding presence and give instructions at her concerts such as allowing the girls to move to the front and close to the stage. She did this to protect the girls, who would often be physically hurt by the act of “moshing,” where guys often push and shove into each other as they hear the songs at a punk rock concert. Furthermore, Hanna did this to ensure that the presence of the males did not dominate the rock concert that she was a part of. The lead singer for Bikini Kill also ensured that she did not portray herself as the perfect girl by wearing her hair in a messy way and having filthy nails.
Nevertheless, there were instances where Hanna and other Riot Grrrls went against hegemonic feminism. For instance, the leader of Bikini Kill would perform with her band in a strip club. Hanna mentioned in the movie that she was unable to change the fact that the job that pays women more than men per hour was strip dancing; therefore, the singer used it to her advantage to get her message of female empowerment out. Hanna even moves seductively in her performance almost in the same way a stripper would do. This might appear to be contradictory to hegemonic feminism. Douglas (2010b) argues that activities, such as strip dancing, demean women to the level of a “sexual commodity” (p. 8). Nevertheless, Douglas (2010b) explains that in some television shows, at least, it is not a “double standard” to see that “women are allowed to have as much sexual freedom” and “even more kinky sex” than their male counterparts (p. 4). Therefore, it can be argued that Hanna used her sexuality to empower herself rather than to demean or degrade herself and other women.
The film, Punk Singer, and the leader of the Riot Grrrl movement addressed the three aspects of feminist media studies to counter how women are portrayed or represented in the media. Thee three aspects of feminist media studies include: the interaction with media, representation in media, and role in producing media. This exemplified by Hannah refusing to do interviews with the media when she found out that they were misrepresenting who she was in the public. It influenced how Hannah interacted with the media to the extent that she put on a ski mask in an interview with a media personality. Furthermore, Hannah became concerned in producing her own media, which not only included her music but also her fanzines that were more than simply flyers advertising the venues of their shows. Therefore, it can be argued that Hannah and the Riot Grrrls were attempting to empower females as well as provide some legitimacy to their sexuality within the punk rock scene. In addition, the Riot Grrrls to protect females from being taken advantage of by the patriarchy.
References
Douglas, S. J. (2010). Introduction: Fantasies of Power. In S.J. Douglas (Author), Enlightened sexism: The seductive message that feminism's work is done. New York: Henry Holt & Co.
Douglas, S. J. (2010). Warrior Women in Thongs. In S. J. Douglas (Author), Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message that Feminism's Work is Done (pp. 76-100). New York: Henry Holt & Co.
