Rebel Girl – Kathleen Hanna

June 13, 2024 761 5

By – Jackie Lo

There are a handful of women that I’ve admired and have guided me on my musical journey. PJ Harvey, Kim Gordon, Kim Deal, Liz Phair, and Kathleen Hanna. By the end of this year, I’ll be able to say that I’ve seen all of them live on stage. As a teenager in the 90s, these were the bands I listened to. As a 20-something year old trying to write in my first all-girl punk band, these were the bands I studied. As a whatever age I am now woman, these are the bands I still reference as my influences. Of course, there are dozens and dozens more, but if you made me pick my top 5, this would be my answer. So, when Kathleen Hanna’s book ‘Rebel Girl’ released this month, I put it on my wish list and knocked it out in 3 days…loving every minute.

In 2013, ‘The Punk Singer’, a documentary on Kathleen Hanna came out and was programmed at Sidewalk Film Festival. I got to sit on a panel with an esteemed filmmaker and professor from the University of Alabama, Ann Powers, one of my favorite writers who was actually interviewed in the film, and then me, the musician who had been in an all-girl punk band, and answer questions. Talk about imposter syndrome. What this film and this conversation did though was kick start a love of activism, of writing, and of making music in me like never before.

As I poured through the book, I loved hearing the first-hand accounts of her relationships with each of her bandmates and bands. I was transported back to 1990s Olympia, Washington. I got to be friends with Kathi, Tobi, and Billy. I was in Bikini Kill and The Julie Ruin and Le Tigre. I could smell the shitty venues with the shitty PAs and know what it’s like not being able to hear yourself while throwing your voice out in the process. While I’ve never had beer spit in my face during a show, rolled over in cat litter from sleeping on a stranger’s floor, or had the police called on me for assault while on stage, I knew the feeling of rage and vulnerability all too well and I understood the heartache of communication breakdowns within bands and losing friends along the way.

Her journey and ultimate leaving of the Riot Grrrl zine paralleled my own journey of writing and running a women’s writing site that ‘The Punk Singer’ inspired me to start. It was cathartic to hear that even the most well-intentioned people and projects can fail and sometimes can be run over by people that want you to fail. While the landscape and conversations have changed so much since the 1990s, 2000s, and even 2010s, it was comforting to hear her talk candidly about what could have been done differently, what didn’t work then and doesn’t work now, and how we are all growing. I really needed to hear that.

In 2016 The Julie Ruin played here in Birmingham at Saturn. It was the first time I’d been in a room with Kathleen Hanna and getting to see her perform was just as special as I thought it would be. She’s an amazing singer and frontwoman and finding this timeframe of this tour with her stories from the book was special.

Stories I’d only read about in magazines were brought back to life from her own voice. (Pro Tip: Listen to the audiobook. Kathleen reads it.) Kurt and ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. Courtney throwing hands. Lyme disease. Fugazi. Joan Jett. Family trauma. Girls to the front. Ad-Rock. It’s all there and more. It will take you on a merry-go-round of emotions. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll want to punch her dad in the throat, you’ll mourn, and you’ll find joy in her joy. Do yourselves a favor and give it a read. It’s a beautiful book told by an incredible writer.