Boy

This article was written by: Kathleen Hanna in the early 1990's in a zine.

Boy

i will never be a rockstar.
i will never be rich.
i can't take back my tenth birthday or the love i felt for you. there are no words for the hands that're running all up with a liars veins, voice, words moist, so moist i believed. i believed that my best friends wouldn't lie to me.
i will never be what the world wants me to be or have sex right. i will never open my door cuz in the eyes of the law it means i just spread open my legs and closed my eyes and said "c'mon in." and i will never explain this to anyone i like cuz it'll get used against me. the fact that i am not dead makes me an open target for murder. i swallowed your pride, i swallowed your heart, i swallowed your cum, guess that's all part of it. there's no justice and i'm really mad that people keep acting like there is. i don't want to be a girl eaten up by your world, how can i watch girls eaten up by your world? how come i get hit and no one sees it? how come, bloodied, i am explaining to the man who hit me what he has done? why am i taking care of him, why oh why do i still love him...?
if you took away this lipstick would i still have a mouth underneath? is it true i'm only crying because i'm afraid to go to sleep? i will never be rich, not cuz rich doesn't matter, but because i am crazy because i am full of hate... crazy means you don't give a damn what anyone thinks.
when i was little my parents sent me to charm school and ballet. i don't remember what recital it was fat-stomached and eight years old i was getting photographed in a bikini and a crown. now i'm crazy, fulfilling the american dream and being hated for it, they are just jealous. i don't care.
i am in protest against the whole world. my body says it, slung into my clothes. i won't stop talking, i'm a girl you have no control over. there is not a gag big enough to handle this mouth. i'm gonna tell everyone what you did to me. and sometimes i'll tell it dramatic and sometimes i'll blurt it out. and the hand you laid on my bare ass will be invisible as it spills right out of me. i will still bear the brunt of it, your smell. they will tell me i am inappropriate with their eyes. i'm not writing to please you, i'm not giving you a clean little hole to stick your dick in, a nice smooth arrangement.
pick me up, open me, put me down.
so sorry, i'm no hemingway, i'm writing for survival, my kind is being killed off, in fact i'm not even sure i exist. these words on this page mean something, if only that i was here and my fingers made this mess. i don't know luxury, what it is to be carefree. that was your fantasy, remember?

I'm Sorry....No I'm Not

Written by: Kathleen Hanna for a zine in the early 1990's

I'm Sorry....No I'm Not

I'm sorry I don't believe it.
I'm sorry that I care.
no i'm not.
I'm not sorry that i still believe we are capable of creating something. that i don't think punk is just a big joke and that we should be little and make fun of ourselves for still believing that everything we do makes a difference
i don't care that it's no longer punk to have fun anymore. that it's no longer punk to criticize the society we live in.
so
what if i keep talking about abolishing wage-slavery while i keep working. it fucking beats the hell out of writing songs or zines about how we are all hypocrites and all our actions are worthless.
we are all hypocritical superwimps (?). we are never (?)
SO IF YOU'RE BEING ALL PUNK AS FUCK AND TALKING SHIT ABOUT PEOPLE AT LEAST TRY TO DO SOMETHING THAN I'M (NOT) SORRY BUT I GUESS THAT MEANS I'M NOT PUNK ANYMORE AND IF THAT'S WHAT PUNK IS I'M FUCKIN GLAD I'M NOT AS PUNK AS YOU
[Kathleen]
I am a fucking idiot. I still think we can change the world.

Color Activity Book Intro

This article was written by: Kathleen Hanna in the early 1990's, when Bikini Kill was still around and this was posted in a riot grrrl zine in the 1990's.

Color Activity Book Intro

Bikini Kill is a band and this is our little thing to give out at shows, etc... AND THEN THERE'S THE REVOLUTION.
Bikini Kill is more than just a band or a zine or an idea, it's a part of the revolution. The revolution is about going to the playground with your best girlfriends. You are hanging upside down on the bars and all the blood is rushing to your head. it's a euphoric feeling. the boys can see our underwear and we don't care.
I'm so sure that lots of girls are also in revolution and we want to find them. Sure our revolution has a lot to do with making ourselves important enough to start a revolution, but we also don't care about this... Because what makes us feel good without hurting others IS good. This society isn't my society cuz this society hates women and I don't. This society doesn't want us girls to feel happy or powerful in any way.
My girlfriends help me stop crying and start looking towards whats important (revolution) my girlfriends know the revolution (sex) my girlfriends aren't owned by me BUT have cringing and choking on boy cum in common (revolution) MY GIRLFRIENDS WANT REVOLUTION GIRL STYLE NOW.
Being sexy and powerful female is one of the most subversive projects of all. (We are the priestesses of a new kind of power oh yeah.)
We know we are not like this due to any weird gene formation or luck or trick. We are how we are from working together with our eyes open and having experience and getting help from out Moms and friends. We vow to struggle against the "j" word (jealousy) the killer of GIRL LOVE. We are not special, anyone can do it. ENCOURAGEMENT IN THE FACE OF INSECURITY is a slogan of the revolution.

Grrrl Power Is

The article below isn't about the Spice Girls version of "girl power". We're talking about "grrrl power" as in riot grrrl. I got this from an OLD riot grrrl website I used to visit called "++riot grrrls please stand up++", which is no longer around. However, the website can still be viewed here: http://web.archive.org/web/20021021055134/www.geocities.com/Wellesley/6788/index2.html on the archive.org website. Thanks to archive.org for letting me be able to still visit my favorite old riot grrrl websites from back in the day. The article was written by: Jessica Giusti in 1999, when the website was still online.

Grrrl Power is...

feeling okay about being a girl: Be proud! We ROCK!

promoting girl love and friendship: A kind of sisterhood. Don't talk to me about cliques or sororities; in this clique there are no rules, no certain way to be, and we don't leave anyone out!

encouraging one another: Telling each other it's cool to be who they are and let them express themselves!

teaching: girls, boys, men, women, old or young about grrrl issues things that effect each one of us (equality, individualization, the right to speak your mind and let your thoughts run free).

respecting each other: to realize the individuality of every girl on this planet, not to divide people into groups like race, religion, ethics, etc., to look down upon derogatory names and phrases against girls and anyone else.

respecting yourself: respect yourself for who you are. Not realizing you have flaw, but character, things that make you who you are. Realize and respect your strengths, interests, opinions, and beauty. Realize your self-empowerment.

being able to: say what you want to say and not be afraid, voice your mind and opinion, to express yourself in any shape or form, to wear what you want to wear and look the way you want to without being degraded for it. It's about not letting anyone judge you, because it's not about limitations!!!

Burn Down The Walls That Say You Can't

The article below was written by Kathleen Hanna for one of her riot grrrl zines in the early 1990’s.

Burn Down The Walls That Say You Can't

Be a dork, tell your friends you love them

Resist the temptation to view those around you as objects & use them.

Recognize empathy and vulnerability as positive forms of strength.

Resist the internalization of capitalism, the reducing of people & oneself to commodities, meant to be consumed.

Resist psychic death.

Don't allow the world to make you into a bitter abusive asshole

Cry in public.

Don't judge other people. Learn to be yourself

Acknowledge emotional violence as real.

Figure out how the idea of competition fits into your intimate relationships

Decide that you'd rather learn stuff than prove you're right all the time.

Believe people when they tell you they are hurting or are in pain.

Recognize you are not the center of the universe.

Recognize your connection to other people and species.

Make additions to this list and/or think about why you don't agree w/some of what i've written.

Don't assume people invent pain in order to mainpulate you or make you feel bad.

Close your mind to the propaganda of the status quo by examining its effects on you, cell by artificial cell.

Trust

Contributions

If you are interested in contributing something to this blog, email me: grrrlsvomitcandy@NOSPAMhotmail.com with the subject "blog" or "contribute". Just remove the words NOSPAM and you've got my email address. My contact information is also on the "Contact Me" page.

Contributions for this blog must be activism, DIY, equal rights, feminism, human rights, riot grrrl, and/or women's rights focused. Anything relating to those subjects are welcome. Your personal stories, essays, articles, opinions, etc. related is welcome to be contributed. I'm also interested in knowing about the riot grrrl scene in your country or about feminism in your country. Any and all contributions will be appreciated for this blog. I will give you credit for your contributions, when I post up your contribution.