BECAUSE I believe with my wholeheartmindbody that girls constitute a revolutionary soul force that can, and will change the world for real.
Katheen Hanna Riot Grrrl Manifesto
Eliminate Girl Hate ! Females are not my rivals!
The patriarchal capitalist society pits women against women, causing women to view each other as competition. This is the intention of a society that already has accumulated endless barriers for all that identify as Woman. The embedded cultural belief that women are each other’s rivals ensures the continued oppression of the female. Sometime in my (early) pre teens this patriarchal ideology seeped into my energetic little girl soul. Eventually, I came to view most if not all women as individuals for me to compete, compare, and rival against in my own mind and out loud for others to see, dimming mine and other women’s and girls’ light. How exhausting and sick it is, that we live in a society in which female rivalry is considered the norm. This prevents women from uniting, and in turn, keeps us from using our powerful female energy to change the world. With the continued domination of the patriarchal society, we will never be able to advance to the level of equality I and SO many others dream and fight for everyday.
When I discovered I can step outside the patriarchy, I became a girl who challenges the dominant society. Having the opportunity to learn that I can actually do this, truly changed me. This is the fire that ignites my drive to continue to create, finding ways to allow women and girls to identify their experiences and struggles within the confines of this society and politics. This is why the Riot Grrrl movement was created. If you would like to learn more about Riot Grrrl Zines, the movement and Third Wave Feminism check out Horticulture For Healing’s June Blog post.
Our present day intersectional Fourth Wave Feminism keep me building, promoting, and expanding my organization, while eliminating female rivalry and uniting women through connecting to nature. Intersectional feminism centers the voices of those experiencing overlapping, concurrent forms of oppression in order to understand the depths of the inequalities and the relationships among them in any given context. Today feminism strives to include all women from any background, ethnicity, and sexual identity. Horticulture For Healing contributes to Fourth Wave Feminism, because this organization embodies a women centered approach, focused on empowering women to discover and begin to connect to their inner beauty, self value, and power. I have every intention of opening more channels of present day Riot Grrrl energy, so women who are marginalized by society and in early addiction recovery can have the opportunity to think outside of mainstream society and become strong, healthy, sober women who befriend other women to fuel their inner fire. As I write this I can feel the energy that Kathleen Hanna, the front woman for the Riot Grrrl band Bikini Kill, who is also responsible for the Riot Grrrl Manifesto, possessed in an effort to give (as described in the scholarly journal Do-It Yourself Girl Power An Examination of the Riot Grrrl Subculture) “Nonconforming women a voice in society, while vocally opposing power structures that perpetuated limiting ideals of heterosexuality and traditional gender roles”
Kathleen Hanna is a woman who has many feminist and activist ideals I want to incorporate into my work. It is difficult to write as little as I am about her in this post. She is to me is a clear definition of woman empowerment.
Growing up I became numb to the constant over sexulizaion and unrealistic standards for women, never really understanding the reality of the culture. Once I become awakened to what the dominant mainstream culture actually stands for, I will always see it for what it truly is, a capitalistic system in which all that identify as women, are repeatedly sexualized, objectified, and held to unrealistic standards that commodify their existence.
Being fed up and sick of the partricharlical culture I was born into, I was able to open my mind to feminist ideals. I have managed to define what it really means to unite as women and eliminate girl and woman hate. Older women (me included 😃) need to continue to pass the Riot Grrrl energy and history to the younger generations of girls. Although there have been [very few] strides in uniting women and girls against capitalist and patriarchal cultural ideologies since the 1990s, we still have a long way to go.
Riot Grrrls created an open feminist culture through various DIY self-expression outlets. Horticulture For Healing operates in a similar way. My intention for this organization is to bring the valuable inherent connection of human and nature to women, many who come from high stress environments that include not only substance use but domestic, physical, emotional abuse, mental illness, and may be pregnant or have young children, while they are in early recovery. I will do this through horticulture and feminist workhops conjuring feminist energy in safe place where women are able to take the time to begin to recognize their inner beauty, power, and value.
Today my energy and power generates from reaching out my hand to women I come in contact with on a day to day basis. Now I know that the way to eliminate female rivalry is to be there for any and all women by letting my Riot Grrrl knowledge and passion come through strong and loud. The Riot Grrrl movement has inspired individuals globally, illustrating the significance of the free flow of ideas and counter-cultural dialogue that Riot Grrrls emphasized in the 1990s and continue to reinforce today. I thank the Riot Grrrl movement for teaching me to let my DIY creativity and free flow of ideas come together to form Horticulture For Healing.
Thank you for Reading.
Sources:
Riot Grrrl Manifesto By Kathleen Hanna
Intersectional Feminism and Why It really Matters
To purchase feminist mix media art, riot grrrl zines and Tees visit this amazing talented Riot Grrrl, Jolie Ruin’s Etsy Shop
And her Riot Grrrl Press : A T shirt and Zine Label
If you would like to learn more about Riot Grrrl Zines and the movement you can check out my June blog post and read this helpful scholarly journal.