In her feminist punk music, Kathleen Hanna tells it all. In her memoir, there's more to the story
Kathleen Hana's bands, Bikini Kill, the Julie Ruin and Le Tigre, have long been celebrated for their candor, and their songs which chastised abusers and celebrated women
Few artists have a neat origin story, but Kathleen Hanna, the feminist punk pioneer and celebrated frontwoman whose rallying cry of “girls to the front” inspired generations, may have a pretty convincing one.
While in college in the late '80s, Hanna signed up for a writers' workshop led by her hero, the postmodern novelist Kathy Acker. The author asked Hanna why she wanted to write. Hanna responded, “Because no one has listened to me my whole life and I really want to be heard.”
Acker's feedback? “You should start a band.”
“Who gets gifted this? Sometimes I’m like, is life a stimulation and am I in a weird video game?,” Hanna jokes over the phone from her home in Pasadena, California. “I kind of always knew I was going to write this, especially because weird s—- kept happening to me, and the universe kept giving me stories with a beginning, middle and end.”
