‘The Punk Singer’ is an eye opening experience
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During my Women and Gender Studies class in college we read a book called, "Girls to the Front" by Sara Marcus. This book really opened my eyes to an entire aspect of the underground punk scene that I didn't know about.
Once we read and discussed the book in class, my professor, Dr. Holle Canatella, queued up the movie "The Punk Singer" about the same topic. It was such a great and informative documentary that I recently wanted to rewatch it.
It is an incredibly moving story about Kathleen Hanna, lead singer of the punk band Bikini Kill, who was a central figure in the Riot Grrrl movement.
"The Punk Singer" is a documentary directed by Sini Anderson released in 2013 detailing the struggles and triumphs of the third-wave feminist movement and the personal struggles Hanna faced regarding the disease that nearly killed her music career.
For those who aren't aware, the Riot Grrrl movement was an underground feminist punk movement from the 90s that originated in Olympia, Washington. The movement combines feminism, politics and punk music -- truly the epitome of "girl power."
The music of the Riot Grrrl movement addressed "taboo" topics such as rape, sexuality, domestic abuse, racism, classism, patriarchy, anarchism and really stressed female empowerment.
On top of the music scene, Riot Grrrl ideals also spread thanks to zines -- self-published works that were circulated among small areas -- and meetings. The zines and music brought attention to the inherent female exclusion from the punk rock scene -- a "male dominated" culture.
The film focused specifically on a combination of personal interviews and archival footage from band performances to tell the story of Hanna's career and life.
One of the most interesting facts I learned about this documentary is how Hanna and Anderson upheld the view that women's voices were overlooked in the punk rock scene.
The number of men interviewed for this documentary was minimal, with Hanna explaining she wanted "women to be the experts. I don't want these male experts to come in and make it legitimate."
Hanna wanted the women of the film to be the focal point, with interviews from numerous important women of the scene including Joan Jett, famed rocker and music producer; Carrie Brownstein, guitar and vocalist in Sleater-Kinney; Jennifer Baumgardner, writer and activist heavily involved with the third wave feminist movement and many more.
Not only does this film highlight the struggles of the third-wave feminist movement, but it also highlights Hanna's personal struggles with Lyme disease.
Hanna first struggled with Lyme disease in 2005 and suffered for around six years before it was correctly diagnosed and she was able to seek treatment.
In that time period she had to cancel numerous live performances with her band, the Julie Ruin, due to her condition.
In 2015, Hanna revealed that her tests have declared her Lyme-free.
All in all, this documentary was eye opening in regards to how women were treated in the punk rock scene as well as how the bands of the scene tackled taboo topics.
I highly recommend anyone even remotely interested to give it a shot.
"The Punk Singer" has a runtime of an hour and 21 minutes, and can be viewed on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and for free on Pluto TV.
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Breanna Hanley is staff writer for The Express.