Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Clark, Maribeth

Area of Concentration

Music

Abstract

Kathleen Hanna is an American singer, songwriter, artist, and activist who found herself at the forefront of the 1990’s punk feminist scene known as the Riot Grrrl Movement. Hanna is remarked as one of the founders of the movement. The movement (1989-1996), taking place during the third wave of feminism, inspired many young women, including Hanna herself, to retreat to their bedrooms to produce music, zines, and poetry to express political, societal, and emotional feelings and concerns. Through the lens of Hanna’s work, this study seeks to understand how women show up in both public and private political spheres and how their private lives affect their relationship with the public and vice-versa. In an analysis of bedroom culture and crowd dynamics within the context of punk and Do-It-Yourself culture, the study examines literature, documentaries, music and zines of Hanna as well as interviews with members of local Florida Grrrl bands. The study examines my own personal artwork and creative processes pertaining to the ideologies and concepts of the Riot Grrrl Movement. It seeks to understand the ways in which women in punk are positioned within society and how their relationship with their private spaces directly affects their relationship with the public. This study ends with interviews with two generations of women punk musicians in the Tampa Bay area, Stacey and Summer Strickland, who were influenced by the work of Kathleen Hanna.

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