Riot Grrrls

During the 1990’s a subculture movement took place across America and to a lesser extent here in the UK, it was a post punk feminist movement known as Riot Girrls. Riot Girrls combined grunge with punk and feminism, they were women completely unapologetic about being female. They saw taboo subjects such as the menstrual cycle, mood swings and female sexuality as topics to be completely open about.

I grew up in the 90’s and remember being so inspired by these women who simply did not give a fuck if their un-waxed vaginas offended you they were going to sing about them anyway! I loved bands such as Bikini Kill, Jack off Jill, Bitch and Kittie, the sight of these strong pissed off women was awe inspiring for me growing up.

Aside from the music of the time there was also a website set up in the early 2000’s by two women in America. (I am not going to name names but if I say a site full of alternative tattooed beauties I am sure you can guess or Google it.) The aim of the site was to allow women apart of this and other subcultures to own their bodies own their sexuality and showcase their beauty. It was sexual empowerment at its best. During my teenage years I was obsessed by this site and idolised its models, who were women of all different shapes and sizes, with spiky hair and lots of tattoos. The women on this site did not feel far away, they felt real and that is where their beauty laid. Throughout my teenage years I looked up to these women and decided once I hit 18 I would put in my application to become one of them. 

At the age of 17 I began researching everything I could to ensure I got through, unfortunately what I found was not pretty.

This was 2007 and the Riot Girrrl/grunge area had defiantly ended, it had been replaced first by Emo and then by Scene. Obviously small groups still existed here and there but by this point the rebellious, disillusioned youth feel of the 80’s and 90’s had somewhat disappeared. Although many people within the subcultures where still there due to their anger and frustration with society many more had joined in simply due to the fashion statement it would make. I walk in to high street shops these days and see items of clothing steeped in cultural history, which only a few years ago would have been almost impossible to get hold of being mass produced for fashion following celebrity culture teenagers. Where ever possible I try to avoid sounding pretentious but this is just one of those things that really winds me up! Since the early 2000’s fashion and culture has become increasingly more focused on the idea of celebrity and glamour girls. The alternative communities have not been unaffected by this and so websites and magazines featuring alternative models have altered their image to keep with the times.  The particular site in question has a number of points on its model contracts really don’t sit all that well with an angry feminist like myself.  Rules on how much eye make up a punk can wear for example, or the need for soft lighting just seems crazy when talking about a website where women own their bodies, read a little further and it is clear that is because they don’t! On signing the contract you agree all images belong to the website to use how and when they wish, this could be on the site on social networking or for use on merchandise, they are also renowned for never removing images, so if you become a teacher or decide actually the company is not what it once was they will still continue to use your image without paying any more than the initial £250 fee (that’s only if you get on the front page now) . They also claim the right to edit the images how they see fit and give clear indication that they Photoshop all of their images.

I mean fair play they are a global business with paying members (who now have the final say on what girls get to model for the site) and they are probably the most renowned alt girl site around, however I just feel the spirit of the whole thing has been lost. When you are imposing rules on how the models can look in the images and editing the images in the same way, you end up with a website full of very similar looking women with a very narrow spectrum of what alt beauty is. Sure they have women of different shapes, sizes colour ect.. but if you look at the models on the site today (above) compared to the models of 01 and 02 (top image) there is a definite shift to more commercialised looking women. 

Don’t get me wrong I think this site as it is now is grate for what it is but it is not what it was.

Recently I reconsidered joining the site, my thought process being what the heck you only live once, I am getting older every minute and although there are negatives it is such a well-known company the exposure (pardon the pun) is probably worth it. I got through the first round but as I began searching for a photographer and reading through the contract I became more and more uneasy with the idea. I did not feel I would be protected by the site it felt very exploitative, a host of male and female members would vote on my image set and I would only get paid/accepted if I made it on to the first page. To be honest it felt like prostituting myself like being one of those girls in an Amsterdam window. I am under no illusion that with my tiny boobs, big hips and round face I would have found it very difficult to compete with the naturally proportioned, beautiful women I would have been put next to in the line-up. This is not me shaming them they are beautiful and so am I but there is an editorial look that will always be voted for in situations like these because that is what we have been lead to believe is beautiful in the eyes of the media.

 I decided not to go for it, but I felt sad that this opportunity I had been waiting for, for so long was no longer an option to me. I lay awake grappling with this for a few nights until it all fell in to place and I said why don’t I do it myself? I wanted a certain sort of space, to display certain sorts of images within a certain set of values; I could no longer find it where I once had so why not create that space for myself? 

I decided to message a few friends of mine that are now on bored and I am in the process of researching how to set something like this up I am also writing a constitution that will set the standards for how this site will be run!!!

I am not shaming sites and websites or their models; in fact a very good friend of mine has just put her application in for this particular site and I am so proud and excited for her I know she will go far! But what about the rest of us that might not fit with a certain image, or want somewhere a little different, what about the misfits and the outcasts? There used to be room for us but not any more! So I am reclaiming a little spot on the internet where you can come, get as naked as you like, feel as sexy and as beautiful as you like where people will either like you or they won’t but it won’t matter as the aim is not to please everybody only yourself!

Viva le sexy revolution