"when she talks, I hear the revolution"

The Riot Grrrl Manifesto really spoke to me in a way that many other pieces did not, perhaps because it was one of the ones that seemed like it could most singlehandedly make a difference. It was perhaps aided by the fact that the writer was queer and a little more relateable to me. Regardless, it was a bare bones framework from which I feel much more complex feminist theory can be learned. It is so similar to Anzaldua's work that it would be easy to branch out from the manifesto to that. Most important, though, it seems modern even now.

It is easy, I think, for third wave feminists to shrug off The Feminine Mystique and A Vindication of the Rights of Women, because to us, they are of the past. In the sort of "soundbite" culture we live in, it would be difficult for anyone to be introduced to feminism now by reading Mary Wollstonecraft. As much as the riot grrrls may have hated it, in some ways, their manifesto caters to the mainstream in that it is significantly easier to swallow than lengthier feminist texts. It is so accessible that it feels like I could bring it up to anyone and not feel like it was asking too much for them to have read it.

I almost wish that this had been one of the texts to begin my own feminist experience. I agree with so much of what Kathleen Hanna says, and I can only imagine what it is like to read her work as well as be familiar with Bikini Kill's music (I myself am not familiar). Reading about her is an adventure unto itself. She is still active even today, having been the subject of a documentary only two years ago. The wikipedia article about her credits her with jumpstarting third-wave feminism itself, bringing it into the mainstream (though her punk credentials may not like being called "mainstream").

She's inspirational and her writing is accessible, and she provides a gateway into much more complex feminist theory.