riot grrrl

noun

-ˈgər(-ə)l 

variants or Riot Grrrl or less commonly Riot grrrl

plural riot grrrls or Riot Grrrls also Riot grrrls

1

: a girl or woman who participates in a feminist punk movement and subculture

Thirty years ago, the riot grrrls raged against the patriarchy's ills …

—Amina Cattaui

Riot grrrls' unifying principle is that being female is inherently confusing and contradictory and that women have to find a way to be sexy, angry and powerful at the same time.

—Kim France

also : the movement and subculture of feminist punk that originated in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. in the 1990s

I struggled to remember when I was first introduced to a version of feminism that I resonated with. I knew it wasn't through reading bell hooks or Gloria Steinem. … Turns out, my entry point to feminism was through Riot grrrl.

—Tiffany Diane Tso

In the era of MeToo, Riot Grrrl's condemnation of sexism, sexual violence, and gender power imbalance remains crucial and necessary.

—Jolie Braun

2

: feminist punk music

Introduce that young aspiring punk in your life to riot grrrl with an essential album from one of the greatest bands of the irreverent, feminist subgenre.

—Amanda Waltz

L7 and other female-fronted or all-female bands of this era, such as Hole, Babes in Toyland and Veruca Salt, often got thrown in with riot grrrl. … These bands weren't as political as bands like Bikini Kill—L7 were a fearless LA rock band that just happened to be four women but their feminist message still hit hard.

—Kate Hutchinson

To understand how and why Riot Grrrl music emerged, it's important to understand that it's never just been about the music, but also the activism that Riot Grrrl artists incited.

—Sydney Hsu

Examples of riot grrrl in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Titled after the 1995 album by Orange County riot grrrl band Emily’s Sassy Lime, featured artists in the show, the exhibition takes youth–its awkwardness, radicality, resilience–as both theme and inspiration. —Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 24 June 2025

The documentary surfaces footage from performances in which Selena, at times, comes off as more of a riot grrrl than the good Texan girl her parents raised her to be. —Suzy Exposito, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2025

Fish and Larson have decided to accentuate Elektra’s anger and frustration, a choice that no doubt informs the riot grrrl T-shirt and punkish posturing. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Feb. 2025

The sound and message bring to mind the very best of riot grrrl and late-Seventies art-punk, and on Who Let the Dogs Out, singer-guitarist Phoebe Lunny and bassist Lilly Macieira are agit-noise radicals for our time. —Jon Dolan, Rolling Stone, 10 Jan. 2025

The book chronicled everything from her tumultuous childhood and punk epiphanies at college to her formative years at the heart of the riot grrrl movement and her various music endeavors, including Bikini Kill, the Julie Ruin, and Le Tigre. —Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 16 July 2024

The Softies were pioneers, the bridge between riot grrrl and emotional indie-rock singer-songwriter mode — now that’s mostly what indie rock is. —Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 18 June 2024

The ’90s saw plenty of riot grrrls, and the Iraq War generated its fair share of politicized music in response. —Aja Romano, Vox, 10 May 2024

More perspicacious than angry invective alone, that alchemy of tones has been her signature since the early ’90s, when a 20-something Hanna fronted Bikini Kill, the punk band that became the most visible act associated with the third-wave feminist movement known as riot grrrl. —TIME, 7 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

riot entry 1 + grrrl, respelling of girl, with grrr representing a growl

First Known Use

1991, in the meaning defined at sense 1