Doll parts

In class this week we spent time watching the fascinating documentary on Bikini Kill. I had never before heard of this band, which really surprised me after watching the movie and seeing how popular they were during the 1990s. They were an American punk rock band that came to be because of Kathleen Hanna's feministic values and need to get her voice heard. The group consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna  guitarist Billy Karen , bassist Kathi Wilcox and drummer Toni Vail. The band is considered to be one of the greatest influences for the Riot girl movement. The band was especially known for their radical feminist lyrics and untraditional performances. They sung about sexual abuse, body image, equality and was completely unfiltered. This shocked a lot of people and made them grow to popularity because no other band had ever done something of this sort before. The band interacted with audiences, often directing all women to the front of stage and men in back, which was unheard of before this time. The singer Kathleen Hanna was unapologetic, and had enegery and spunk that lit up the entire concert atmosphere. 

Similar to Bikini Kill, Hole is a well known American band that grew to popularity in the 1990s. My group spent some time researching the band and the music they created. Like Bikini Kill, Hole was a feminist centered band that sang about real life issues pertaining to women during the 1990s.

They were an American rock band that grew to fame in 1989. They were an alternative rock band whose style was influenced from the punk scene of Los Angeles California. The band was formed by singer Courtney Love, and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. Through their musical career the band had a shift in drummers and bassists, but their most famous members were Patty Schemel and Kristen Pfaff. The band is known to be one of the most successful female fronted rock bands of all time. Together, over three million of the bands records have been sold in the United States alone. Their songs were known to expose serious issues of this time, such as gender issues, body image, abuse and sexual exploitation. One of their most famous songs "Doll Parts" was a particularly good example of the issues they would write upon. Their lyrics would be sung about feeling lifeless, having to live up to perfection and wanting to be loved. Generic issues women felt but never prior sung about to the extent they did.

"I am doll eyes, doll mouth, doll legs

I am doll arms, big veins, dog bait
Yeah, they really want you
They really want you, they really do
Yeah, they really want you
They really want you, and I do too"

A complete different style from Bikini Kill and Hole, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown and missy Elliot were also big female performers in the 90's. They however had very different presentations of themselves as well as lyrics. These female rappers tended more to promote sexuality, sing more explicit lyrics and dress more exposing. They were different than the bands, but like so did something never before seen, and grabbed a lot of attention by doing so. They rapped lyrics about men typically men would rap about women, and showed the world women can produce any types of music they like.