Hannah Rebecca Ackeral
If you’ve got radical ideas you want to spread, a zine is not a bad way to go. Because they are self-published, you can tailor your information for your target audience without any unwanted input. However, they are also a physical medium, often produced in small batches, which means they have a narrow audience with limited circulation. These drawbacks were overcome when the writers of Bikini Kill – a feminist zine – became a band who’s music is still influencing people twenty years later.
What makes media alternative to the mainstream is the way it approaches ideas. In an alternative media, radical ideas are embraced and encouraged – ideologies are fostered and grow into discourses. Bikini Kill grew out of feminist ideologies but it wasn’t until the release of their first demo, which made up a bulk of the songs on their first album, that they solidified their place in the movement.
Bikini Kill’s first release as a band was less of a demo than a call to arms – they wanted Revolution Girl Style Now. The music was loud, abrasive, and challenging. The lyrics ranged from female empowerment on songs like “Double Dare Ya” (You’re a big girl now/You’ve got no reason not to fight/[…]you can stand up for your rights, right?) to songs about incest (“Daddy’s Little Girl” as well as “Suck My Left One”) to songs about how a patriarchal society erasures women (“Feels Blind”).
Not only was their lyrical content aimed at destroying patriarchy, their live shows also challenged the “accepted hierarchy.” People who danced roughly or moshed were asked to do so off to the sides, so that women and girls could stand at the front. Audience members were also invited on stage to discuss sexual abuse and harassment they had suffered, becoming direct examples of the oppression the band sang about.
While they might not have enjoyed mainstream success, you cannot argue that Bikini Kill accomplished a lot. From a zine that coined the term “girl power” to a band that is often credited as the pioneers of the Riot Grrrl movement, which is closely associated with third-wave feminism, Bikini Kill is still inspiring people with their music and their message over a decade after they disbanded.
Sources:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/bikini-kill/biography
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/bikini-kill-p44904/biography
Intersections of Media and Communications: Concepts and Critical Frameworks
Communication Breakdown 