Newfound Admiration for Kathleen Hanna

        I had never heard of Kathleen Hanna before learning about her and the Riot Grrrl movement. To be honest, when I first heard her music I deemed myself uninterested in her and her genre. However, after watching The Punk Singer, learning more about Kathleen and her story, and discussing her in class, I gained a whole new level of respect and admiration for her.

Growing up, Kathleen had a difficult childhood which is something that I can really relate to. Learning about some of the things she went through, definitely made me want to learn more and look to her lyrics more than just the style in which she performed them. By her being so transparent with the world, I think it allowed for more women to be able to relate to her and feel less alone. I loved when I read that she would send the men to the back of the venue and have all of the women come to the front. I believe, so many of the women that followed Kathleen were broken and just looking for someone with the courage to speak out about what they may not have been strong enough to verbalize. I think that Kathleen helped to inspire so many women to put an end to their silence and also brought awareness to men.

One thing that I found almost heartbreaking was the idea that Kathleen had in her head when it came to her always feeling like what she went through was not that bad. Yes, there will always be someone who has gone through something far worse than what you may have gone through, but that doesn't make your experience any less important. I feel as though she minimized her trauma and focused so much on helping others that I kind of wonder where her heart was surrounding her own struggles. I know she comes across as an extremely strong and confident woman, however, I feel like there is more to her than we know. I also cant help but wonder if her sickness was combined with her just feeling heavily burdened. I may be reading too far into it, but I just know from experience that no matter how confident you come across or how many people you may help, if you don't help yourself first, you'll end up empty and end up struggling to stay afloat in the long run.

        Regardless, I am so glad I was able to learn about Kathleen and hear her story. I truly admire her strength, honesty and power in the music industry as well as in the feminist movement. I feel as though more people, especially women should know about her, and exude her confidence and unapologetic feminism.