Feminist Sources, Punk Methods, and Riot Grrrl Discourse on Teenage Female Sexuality

The sexuality of adolescent women persists as one of the most difficult conversations in American history. After the emergence of the New Right in the early 1980s, frank discourse on this topic became particularly contentious, as groups such as Focus on the Family launched censorship campaigns that targeted frank discussions of teenage female sexuality in sex education, and across popular culture. This paper posits that the performances and print culture of Riot Grrrls, a nationwide movement of young, punk feminists in the early 1990s, constituted an unprecedented space wherein young women could conduct explicit conversations about their sexual identities and experiences, particularly those of trauma. It argues that this was achieved through their inherited knowledge of Second Wave feminist theory (both anti-pornography and pro-sex), and the artistic practices and aesthetics of punk and DIY culture. This paper uses recordings of Riot Grrrl bands and the texts of their hand-made and self-distributed ‘zines’ and locates and analyses the discourse on sex in each set of sources. These will be integrated in to the presentation, inviting further conversation. The purpose of this presentation will be not only to reflect on the history of Riot Grrrls, but to consider what lessons historians and activists can learn from their work. It thus makes a significant contribution to the field of women's history by including the voices of these radical teenage girls, and by critically examining the inclusion of race, class, and gender nonconformity in existing accounts of their activism.