Short Post 1/31

I found Douglas’s writing on the Riot Grrrl movement extremely interesting. I was unaware of any of those bands before reading Enlightened Sexism.  Allison Wolfe, a woman involved in the beginning of the movement, said, “how can we make this kind of stodgy…feminism have a fresh face that speaks to us, to a younger generation?  And, at the same time, how can we make the punk that we’re involved in less macho, less violent?”  To me the Riot Grrrl movement seems to have gone in the wrong direction.  At the time in the 90s, I’m sure it was a pivotal point for women to express their desire and need of power.  However, based on what Douglas has written about them it seems as if they did not adequately push forward the feminist movement.  I have never heard of the Riot Grrrl bands before and I would imagine if they had significant impact on the feminist movement I would have.  One critique referred to the Riot Grrrl as “strident”, “self-absorbed” and “anti-male”.  I think the Riot Grrrl movement had a hard time getting huge numbers of followers because the media coverage made girls scared to behave in these ways because they were unfeminine.  It seems to be that the stereotype of feminists is unfeminine qualities.  Riot Grrrl was too harsh for many girls and I feel it prohibited girls from getting involved in the feminist movement.  I think at the time this rebellion was a huge new idea, however now it seems feminism is reached through constant change and activism as oppose to just rebelling.  Also, I have put in a youtube video of the band, Bikini Kill.  Based on the pictures in the video, I feel Riot Grrrl is exactly what Douglas defines as enlightened sexism.

Rebecca Walker considers herself a Third Wave Feminist.  Walker struck me as persistent and determined to get women to fight for change alongside her.  Walker’s approach to feminism contrasts with the Riot Grrrl movement.  Walker wants women to fight for personal and political power.  In my opinion, this approach is better than the Riot Grrrl movement because she is identifying the problems women encounter and offering a solution to fix them.  Riot Grrrl simply complains about female problems and feelings of weakness.  Of course it is necessary for all women to have their voice heard, but Walker wants power to be given to women.  Walker believes women will receive power once enough women want to use their rights politically and personally.  At the end of her excerpt, she states not do certain things for men if they do not “prioritize our freedom to control our bodies and our lives”.  This is exactly what is necessary for the Third Wave of feminism to be successful.  The way women will get their power is if they do not take anymore jokes and do not take anymore harassment from men.  Once all women are on the same page and do not settle for inferiority anymore, men will get on the bandwagon and realize we aren’t leaving.