It's now taken for granted that women are in bands and you can say feminist things in your songs. But back in the early '90s, there was a lot of violence at Bikini Kill shows that people don't realize happened.
Kathleen HannaRead
Sometimes, being a feminist artist, there are times where I'm in a position where I just want to feel like I'm saying all the right things politically, or I feel like I have to mention my own project over other people's projects. But I don't do that anymore. I just want to be off the cuff and honest.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the struggle of being a feminist artist while trying to balance personal expression with political correctness.
Kathleen Hanna expresses her journey as a feminist artist, acknowledging the pressure to conform to political expectations and to prioritize her projects over others. However, she emphasizes the importance of authenticity and spontaneity in her art, suggesting that she values honesty and genuine expression over mere adherence to political correctness.
In practice
In a gallery talk about feminist artists and their impact on society.
It's now taken for granted that women are in bands and you can say feminist things in your songs. But back in the early '90s, there was a lot of violence at Bikini Kill shows that people don't realize happened.
When you speak up about any sense of unfairness or injustice, you're told that you're overreacting, you're too angry, too silly-shut up already. It takes a tremendous amount of fortitude to be able to live in this world as a woman, let alone a woman who wants things to change.
I'm not going to sit around and be peace and love with somebody's boot on my neck.
To make riot grrrl move into the future in a new way with a bunch of new names and a bunch of new energy, younger people have to learn about it and apply it to their own lives and own modern conversation. And they are.
Feminism rotates between backlash and interest. And the cool thing about the Internet is that it's allowing women more access to their own history. Part of the problem before the Internet was that we didn't know which books to read. Someone had to tell you.
You learn that the only way to get rock-star power as a girl is to be a groupie and bare your breasts and get chosen for the night. We learn that the only way to get anywhere is through men. And it's a lie.
I've always considered myself an actor first and foremost.
Sometimes I get the start of a story from a memory, an anecdote, but that gets lost and is usually unrecognizable in the final story.
The truth is, it's easier for me to write than talk... to express the state I'm in at any time.
Design has to work. Art does not.
An autobiography can distort; facts can be realigned. But fiction never lies: it reveals the writer totally.
I remember the first time I went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and saw a Kerry James Marshall painting with black bodies in it on a museum wall... It strengthened me on a cellular level.
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