Kathleen Hanna

Kathleen Hanna

Kathleen Hanna performing at Cooper Union
Born (1968-11-12) November 12, 1968
Portland, Oregon, United States
Other names Julie Ruin
Education Lincoln High School
Alma mater The Evergreen State College
Occupation Musician, activist, writer
Spouse(s) Adam Horovitz (m. 2006)[1]

Musical career

Origin Olympia, Washington, U.S.
Genres Punk rock, riot grrrl, indie rock, electroclash
Instruments Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, sampler, drums, drum machine
Years active 1990–present
Labels Bikini Kill Records, Kill Rock Stars, Mr. Lady, Universal, TJR
Associated acts Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, Julie Ruin, The Julie Ruin

Kathleen Hanna (born November 12, 1968)[2] is an American musician, artist, feminist activist, and punk zine writer. In the early-to mid-1990s she was the lead singer of feminist punk band Bikini Kill, before fronting Le Tigre in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 1998, Hanna released a lo-fi solo album under the name Julie Ruin and since 2010, has been working on a project called The Julie Ruin.

A documentary film about Hanna was released in 2013 by director Sini Anderson, titled The Punk Singer, detailing Hanna's life and career, as well as revealing her years-long battle with Lyme disease. Hanna is married to Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys.[1]

Life and career

1968–88: Early life

Born in Portland, Oregon in 1968, Hanna moved with her family to Calverton, Maryland in 1971. As Hanna's father changed occupations, the family moved several more times. Hanna's parents divorced, and she returned to Portland where she graduated from Lincoln High School.[3]

Hanna first became interested in feminism around the age of nine, after her mother took her to a rally in Washington D.C. where feminist icon Gloria Steinem spoke. Though several years would pass before she became an outspoken feminist, with Hanna eventually referring to herself as a radical feminist,[4] the event left an impression on her. In a 2000 interview with BUST magazine, Hanna recalled: "My mom was a housewife, and wasn't somebody that people would think of as a feminist, and when Ms. magazine came out we were incredibly inspired by it. I used to cut pictures out of it and make posters that said "Girls can do anything", and stuff like that, and my mom was inspired to work at a basement of a church doing anti-domestic violence work. Then she took me to the Solidarity Day thing, and it was the first time I had ever been in a big crowd of women yelling, and it really made me want to do it forever."[5]

In the 2006 documentary, Don't Need You: The Herstory of Riot Grrrl, Hanna elaborates on the effect feminism had on her in childhood, recalling that her interest grew when her mother checked out a copy of Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique" from the library. Yet Hanna and her mother's involvement in the women's rights movement had to be done quietly in the years before her parents' divorce, due to her father's disapproval.[6] Hanna has also appeared in the documentary Who's Afraid of Kathy Acker? Don't Need You: The Herstory of Riot Grrrl is titled after a Bikini Kill song.[7]

After high school, she relocated from Portland to Olympia, Washington to attend The Evergreen State College in the late 1980s. During this time she began working as a stripper to support herself.[8][9][10] Working with fellow Evergreen student and photographer Aaron Baush-Greene, she set up a photo exhibit featuring the pair's photography, which dealt, respectively, with sexism and AIDS. However, the school administrators took the photos down before they got the chance to be viewed, an act of censorship that prompted what Hanna refers to as her "first foray into activism"—the creation of an independent feminist art gallery called Reko Muse with friends Heidi Arbogast and Tammy Rae Carland. The three women then formed a band called Amy Carter, which put on shows before the art exhibitions.[3]

Hanna also began doing spoken word performances that addressed sexism and violence against women, issues with which she became concerned after volunteering for SafePlace, a domestic violence organization over the next two years. Eventually she abandoned spoken word in favor of music, being inspired by one of her favorite writers, countercultural icon Kathy Acker. Hanna recalled,

Acker asked me why writing was important to me, and I said, 'Because I felt like I'd never been listened to and I had a lot to say,' and she said, 'Then why are you doing spoken word—no one goes to spoken word shows! You should get in a band.'[11]

In July 2015, Hanna and her band The Julie Ruin returned to Olympia to perform at a street party celebrating the opening of the new SafePlace Community Services Center.[12]

1989–99: Bikini Kill

Hanna performing with Bikini Kill in 1991

Hanna later started another band called Viva Knievel that toured the United States for two months before disbanding. Upon returning to Olympia, Hanna began collaborating with fellow Evergreen student and punk zinester Tobi Vail after seeing a performance of The Go Team (a band made up of Vail, Billy Karren, and Calvin Johnson) and recognizing Vail as the mastermind behind the fanzine Jigsaw, which Hanna greatly admired and loved.

Bikini Kill soon became part of the seminal Olympia, Washington music scene of the early 1990s, which was characterized by political awareness, a strong artistic do-it-yourself ethic, and an emphasis on local collaboration and support. It meshed feminist ideals with the realities of Hanna's daily life.[13] It was meant to inspire more females to join the male-dominated Punk rock scene of the early 1990s.

The band's first release for the Kill Rock Stars label was a self-titled EP produced by Ian MacKaye of Fugazi. Bikini Kill then toured the UK, recording a split LP with UK band Huggy Bear. This tour was filmed and the band was interviewed by Lucy Thane for her documentary, It Changed My Life: Bikini Kill In The UK. Upon returning to the U.S., the band began working with Joan Jett, who produced their single, "New Radio/Rebel Girl". After the release of this record, Hanna began co-writing some songs with Jett for her new album.

At the same time Hanna produced several solo pieces for the Kill Rock Stars "Wordcore" series of recordings, including the 7" single "Rockstar" and the song "I Wish I Was Him" (a song written by Ben Lee and originally recorded by his band Noise Addict about alternative rock heartthrob Evan Dando[14]) on the KRS compilation Rock Stars Kill. Hanna also appeared in the 1994 Sonic Youth video for "Bull in the Heather".

In 1991, the band spent a summer in Washington, D.C., where Hanna began collaborating with Allison Wolfe, Molly Neuman and Jen Smith from the band Bratmobile on the zine Riot grrrl, which became a call to action for increased feminist activity and female involvement in the punk rock scene.[15]

In a 2000 interview with Index Magazine, Hanna related:

We wanted to start a magazine, and Allison Wolfe and Molly Neuman from the band Bratmobile had started a little fanzine called riot grrrl and we were writing little things for it. I'd always wanted to start a big magazine with really cool, smart writing in it, and I wanted to see if the other punk girls in D.C. that I was meeting were interested in that. So I called a meeting and found a space for it, and it just turned into this sort of consciousness-raising thing. I realized really quickly that a magazine wasn't the way to go. People wanted to be having shows, and teaching each other how to play music, and writing fanzines, so that started happening. It got some press attention, and girls in other places would be like "I wanna do that. I wanna start one of those."

The first two Bikini Kill EPs were released on CD as The C.D. Version of the First Two Records in 1993.[16] The band released two more full-length albums, Pussy Whipped in 1994 and Reject All American in 1996, and in 1998, Kill Rock Stars released Bikini Kill: The Singles, a collection of the group's seven inch and compilation tracks. Bikini Kill broke up on friendly terms around April 1998.

After the break-up of Bikini Kill, Hanna began working on a solo project called Julie Ruin. The project was created entirely in Hanna's bedroom using a $40 drum machine. One self-titled album was released under the Julie Ruin pseudonym, and was partially inspired by the work of feminist theorist Julia Kristeva.[17]

Hanna said of the project:

Girls' bedrooms sometimes can be this space of real creativity. The problem is that these bedrooms are all cut off from each other. I wanted the Julie Ruin record to sound like a girl from her bedroom made this record but then didn't just throw it away or it wasn't just in her diary but she took it out and shared it with people.

[18]

While in Portland, Oregon, Hanna began working with friend and zine editor Johanna Fateman on a live show for Julie Ruin. The collaboration resulted in the two briefly forming a band called The Troublemakers, named after a G. B. Jones film,[19] which ended when Fateman relocated to New York City to attend art school.

2000–present: Le Tigre, The Julie Ruin

Hanna joined Fateman on the East Coast, and with the addition of filmmaker Sadie Benning, they started another band called Le Tigre (French for The Tiger). This band continued to pursue a more electronic style of music similar to the sampler-driven sound Hanna had begun to explore with Julie Ruin. Hanna refers to it as part of a Punk Feminist Electronic genre.[20] The band recorded for the Mr. Lady Records label, its first recording being the self-titled Le Tigre, which included the singles "Hot Topic" and "Deceptacon." After the first record, Sadie Benning left the band to be replaced by JD Samson for the follow-up CD Feminist Sweepstakes. When Mr. Lady Records closed down, the group switched labels to Universal Records for the 2004 release of This Island.

Le Tigre is currently on hiatus. Hanna left the band in 2005 due to personal health issues. She was later diagnosed with late stage Lyme disease.[21] According to the Le Tigre website, during her time off from the band, Hanna has been volunteering as a band coach for the Willie Mae Rock and Roll Camp for Girls. She also taught an art class at NYU's grad school in the Fall 2007 semester and attended interior design classes.[22]

In 2010, Hanna announced she was rebuilding her 1997 act Julie Ruin, turning it into a full band called "The Julie Ruin" with Kenny Mellman and Kathi Wilcox, and that they would be creating a new record. On November 20, Hanna DJed at the Museum of Modern Art, later joining the Raincoats on stage to cover the Slits' Vindictive.[23] On December 11, at the Knitting Factory in New York City, The Julie Ruin played their first show. The group played Bikini Kill and Le Tigre songs and one new composition.[24][25]

From 2010 to 2013, director Sini Anderson worked on a documentary on Kathleen Hanna titled "The Punk Singer", documenting her works from Bikini Kill to The Julie Ruin. It premiered at SXSW in 2013.[26]

In June 2013, Julie Ruin released its first single, "Oh Come On". An album, Run Fast was released in September 2013 with the band going on tour.

The Julie Ruin cancelled the tour planned for May to September 2014, due to Hanna's Lyme disease condition deteriorating.[27] She has since recovered and begun performing again.. The Julie Ruin's second album, Hit Reset, was published on July 2016 by Hardly Art.

Role in feminism

Kathleen Hanna is well known for being an outspoken radical feminist. Many people often credit her for helping launch third-wave feminism when she helped create the riot grrrl punk movement in 1991. Looking for a way to present her new outlook on feminist ideas, she often found ways through art, fashion, spoken word poetry, and essays to express her concern for women, to discuss issues of sexuality, abuse, and anger against what was not being done.

After the formation of Bikini Kill in 1989, Hanna and her bandmates would help to publish different zines to further discuss these issues. Zines would, “cover strategies for safety in the mosh pit”,[28] “exploration of political ideas,”[29] and to create a collective for punk feminist women. The Bikini Kill Zine, which began in 1991, was born from this, along with the desire to present, “feminist issues through a punk rock lens.” By Issue Two, the Riot Grrrl Manifesto was born, urging women to redefine society’s image of them, and to form a collective for women to freely discuss. In her definition of what the Riot Grrrl Movement is, Kathleen Hanna states that it is a collective of women. While she never wanted or intended to become the spokeswoman for it, she hoped that it would foster a place for women to collaborate about issues that are relevant to them on a local, national, and global level.[30]

At Bikini Kill concerts, Hanna would encourage and enforce that women were to move to the front of the stage to avoid harassment from male concert goers, part of her idea of "Revolution Girl Style Now." [18] The "girls to the front" concept was symbolic in helping women feel comfortable at concerts and more welcome to participate. In a mostly male dominated punk rock scene, where shows turned violent, often because of mosh pits, Hanna wanted to create a space for girls to be able to feel safe. Additionally, with a barrier of girls in the front rows, she too could feel safe and supported at her own shows, where male hecklers were constantly present.

Her feminist contributions to punk music are also evident in her lyrics. In an interview with Nicole Brodeur from The Seattle Times, it is said that, “Hanna’s lyrics were about girls who did and wore what they wanted, despite societal expectations.” [31] Her views on feminism focus entirely on equality and Hanna recognizes all different facets. For years, punk culture was entirely focused on men and “the masculine.” Hanna created a safe space for women and girls who were passionate about the genre, making it their own, while still maintaining the integrity of the music. In the same interview she says, “It doesn’t mean you’re not a feminist because you expose your legs.” She zeroed in on the idea that women should have the ability to express themselves in any way they please, and her performances regularly reflected such themes. Bradeur comments, “Hanna exposed her breasts and rear-end with lust-killing bluntness; she wore a girlish ponytail and danced around with “slut” written in lipstick across her midriff.”

In 1991, Hanna performed with Bikini Kill, alongside Fugazi at the Pro-Choice Rally at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. before the Planned Parenthood v. Casey trial. She has been a major pro-choice advocate and was quoted saying, "It’s about women not dying in back-alley abortions, but it’s also about women saying: 'My life is worth it, too. I deserve to have control over my life and my health care.' Imagine if a man was told, 'You can’t make the decision to have a vasectomy.'"[32] Her connections to Planned Parenthood do not end there. Her passion for the organization comes from personal experience. Hanna has opened up on several occasions about her relationship with Planned Parenthood, and spoke of one instance at the 2011 Planned Parenthood “Stand Up for Women’s Health” Rally. After acquiring a serious infection on tour with her band when she was a mere nineteen years old, she was met with open arms. She says, “I’m here because I will always remember how terrible and desperate and sick I felt that day, and how the people at the clinic helped me, even though I only had twelve dollars… I’m here…because Planned Parenthood helped me out and I didn’t have to sideline my dreams… I’m here because women dying because they can’t afford a pap smear is unacceptable.” "Kathleen Hanna". www.youtube.com. Camino PR Media. 2011-03-01. 

She contributed the piece "Gen X Survivor: From Riot Grrrl Rock Star to Feminist Artist" to the 2003 anthology Sisterhood Is Forever: The Women's Anthology for a New Millennium, edited by Robin Morgan.[33]

The riot grrrl genre, to which Hanna was central, has been credited as a historical cite for the empowerment of women by such documentaries as The Punk Singer, which credits Hanna with having molded many tenets of third-wave feminism.[34]

However, Hanna been criticized as trans-exclusionary, both for having performed at the anti-trans Michigan Womyn's Music Festival in 2001 and 2005, and for refusing all requests to address the issue.[35]

In 2009, the Fales Library at New York University created a Riot Grrrl Collection. This collection focuses on the early formation of the Riot Grrrl movement, and has a series of zines, art pieces, photography, video, music, journals, and more. Some of Kathleen’s solo work, along with zines that she has created with Bikini Kill, among other collaborators are also included.[36]

In popular culture

Personal life

In interviews, Hanna has been frank and willing to openly discuss her decision to have an abortion when she was younger, saying in one particular interview: "It was one of the first things I did on my own; I worked at McDonald's, raised the money and did it. I'm really, really passionate about pro-choice, because I wouldn't be here talking to you right now if I'd had a kid at 15." Hanna has expressed her belief that talking about her abortion will encourage other women to openly discuss the topic as well, helping to decrease the social stigma that often accompanies such discussion and also helping to sustain political momentum and further progress with regard to the pro-choice movement.[39]

In The Punk Singer, released in 2013, Hanna revealed that she suffered from Lyme disease for six years before it was correctly diagnosed.[40] In May 2014, it was announced that Hanna's Lyme disease condition had deteriorated, forcing her to enter a three-month course of treatment and cancel live performances with her band The Julie Ruin.[27] In June 2015, Hanna revealed that according to latest tests, she was Lyme-free.[41]

Discography

Bikini Kill

Albums

Singles

Compilation appearances

Julie Ruin

The Julie Ruin

Le Tigre

Albums

Singles and EPs

Miscellaneous

Viva Knievel

Suture

The Fakes

Solo and guest appearances

Bibliography

Fanzines

References

  1. 1 2 "'The Punk Singer' director on capturing the essence of Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "Kathleen Hanna talks at the 2011 Planned Parenthood Stand Up For Women's Health Rally "19 in 1989"". Youtube.com. March 1, 2011. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  3. 1 2 "MY HERSTORY by Kathleen Hanna". Letigreworld.com. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  4. ↑ Goodman, Lizzy (2013-04-22). "Kim Gordon Sonic Youth Interview - Kim Gordon on Thurston Moore Divorce". ELLE. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  5. ↑ Hex, Celina (interviewer) (2000). "Fierce, Funny, Feminists: Gloria Steinem and Kathleen Hanna talk shop, and prove that grrrls – and womyn - rule.". Bust. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  6. ↑ "Don't Need You: The Herstory of Riot Grrrl", 2006, Kerri Koch
  7. ↑ "interviewpartners". Web.archive.org. 2008-09-14. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  8. ↑ Hanna, Kathleen (August 14, 2013). "Getting in on the Action". Kathleenhanna.com. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  9. ↑ Muller, Marissa G. (August 26, 2013). "Punk Legend Kathleen Hanna Stops Running With The Julie Ruin's 'Run Fast'". MTV Hive. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  10. ↑ Marlow Stern (2013-03-13). "Punk Rock-Feminist Pioneer Kathleen Hanna On Her SXSW Doc & More". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  11. ↑ Frey, Hillary (December 23, 2002). "Kathleen Hanna's Fire". The Nation. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  12. ↑ Symonds, Alexandra (2015-09-01). "Kathleen Hanna Revisits Her Riot Grrrl Past". nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
  13. ↑ "Kathleen Hanna | Bikini Kill". www.kathleenhanna.com. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  14. ↑ Robbins, Ira; Wolk, Douglas (1997), The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock, New York: Fireside, ISBN 0-684-81437-4
  15. ↑ Frere-Jones, Sasha (26 November 2012). "Hanna and Her Sisters". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2014-05-27.
  16. ↑ Buckley, Peter (November 20, 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock (3rd revised ed.). Rough Guides. pp. 93–94. ISBN 1-84353-105-4.
  17. ↑ Davis, Allison P. (16 August 2013). "Girls Like Us: A Q & A With Kathleen Hanna". NYMag.com. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
  18. 1 2 "The Punk Singer", 2013, Sini Anderson
  19. ↑ Weeks, Laurie (2000). "Kathleen Hanna, 2000". Index Magazine. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  20. ↑ "kathleen's herstory". www.letigreworld.com. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  21. ↑ "Punk Singer Kathleen Hanna Reveals Her Struggle With Lyme Disease Karen Chisholm". Karenchisholm.com. 2013-03-27. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  22. ↑ "Le Tigre news website". Letigreworld.com. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  23. ↑ "Video: Raincoats, Kathleen Hanna Cover the Slits". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  24. ↑ Marcus, Sara (December 15, 2010). "Hanna and Her Sisters". Artforum.com. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  25. ↑ "hey girlfriiieeennnddd…". Skirts and Tights. December 12, 2010. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  26. ↑ Anderson, Sini (2013-03-10), The Punk Singer, retrieved 2016-11-02
  27. 1 2 "Kathleen Hanna Cancels the Julie Ruin Tour Due to Lyme Disease Relapse". Pitch Fork media. May 13, 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  28. ↑ Darms, Lisa, ed. 2013. The Riot Grrrl Collection. New York: Feminist Press.
  29. ↑ Downes, Julia. "The Expansion Of Punk Rock: Riot Grrrl Challenges To Gender Power Relations In British Indie Music Subcultures." Women's Studies 41.2 (2012): 204-237. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.
  30. ↑ Hanna, Kathleen, and Melissa Klein. "RIOT GRRRLS." Off Our Backs 23.2 (1993) 6-12. Web.
  31. ↑ Brodeur, Nicole (2015-04-15). ""Kathleen Hanna: 'It doesn't mean you're not a feminist because you expose your legs'"". www.seattletimes.com. Seattle Times.
  32. ↑ Marlow Stern. "Punk Rock-Feminist Pioneer Kathleen Hanna On Her SXSW Doc & More". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  33. ↑ "Library Resource Finder: Table of Contents for: Sisterhood is forever : the women's anth". Vufind.carli.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  34. ↑ "Watch TV Shows Online, Watch Movies Online". Netflix. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  35. ↑ "Toronto fans demand Kathleen Hanna apologize for playing trans-excluding festival". Chartattack.com. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  36. ↑ Priddle, Charlotte. "Research Guides: The Riot Grrrl Collection at the Fales Library: Collection Overview". guides.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  37. ↑ Azerrad, Michael. Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana. Doubleday, 1994. ISBN 0-385-47199-8, pp. 211–212
  38. ↑ "A performance at Joes Pub in NYC, where Hanna tells the story of "Smells Like Teen Spirit"". Youtube.com. December 15, 2010. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  39. ↑ Barcella, Laura (September 20, 2004). "The A-word". Salon. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  40. ↑ Valby, Karen (March 12, 2013). "Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna reveals illness, reconfirms awesomeness in 'The Punk Singer'". Entertainment Weekly.
  41. ↑ "Feeling Myself: Kathleen Hanna Gets Back to Work". Pitchfork Media. June 5, 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  42. ↑ "Suture - Good Girl / Falling - Decomposition / Dischord - USA - DE1/DIS76.5". 45cat.com. Retrieved 2014-05-27.
  43. ↑ "Rockstar". Salon. October 5, 2000.
  44. 1 2 3 4 5 "Kathleen Hanna". Discogs. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  45. ↑ /. "sleepdrone/superposition | P.O.S". P-o-s.bandcamp.com. Retrieved 2016-07-09.

External links

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