Rebel Girl

My Life as a Feminist Punk

By: Kathleen Hanna

Narrated by: Kathleen Hanna

Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

An electric, searing memoir by the original rebel girl and legendary front woman of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre.

Hey girlfriend I got a proposition goes something like this: Dare ya to do what you want

Kathleen Hanna’s band Bikini Kill embodied the punk scene of the 90s, and today her personal yet feminist lyrics on anthems like “Rebel Girl” and “Double Dare Ya” are more powerful than ever. But where did this transformative voice come from?

In Rebel Girl, Hanna’s raw and insightful new memoir, she takes us from her tumul­tuous childhood to her formative college years and her first shows. As Hanna makes clear, being in a punk “girl band” in those years was not a simple or safe prospect. Male violence and antagonism threatened at every turn, and surviving as a singer who was a lightning rod for controversy took limitless amounts of determination.

But the relationships she developed during those years buoyed her, including with her bandmates Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox, JD Samson, and Johanna Fateman. And her friendships with musicians like Kurt Cobain, Ian MacKaye, Kim Gordon, and Joan Jett reminded her that, despite the odds, the punk world could still nurture and care for its own. Hanna opens up about falling in love with Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys and her debilitating battle with Lyme disease, and she brings us behind the scenes of her musical growth in her bands Le Tigre and The Julie Ruin. She also writes candidly about the Riot Grrrl movement, documenting with love its grassroots origins but critiquing its exclusivity.

In an uncut voice all her own, Hanna reveals the hardest times along with the most joyful—and how they continue to fuel her revolutionary art and music.

©2023 Kathleen Hanna (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

I want to be heard…

So much of this story felt familiar to my heart. I loved listening to it in Kathleen’s voice and hearing all the tales in her words. I’ve never felt anything more than “No ones listened to me my whole life, and I want to be heard”… 🙏🏻🌹💞👯‍♀️

Instant Classic

Excellent all around. Kathleen is real and raw, yet thoughtful and empathetic, giving the reader insight into her life and the riot grrrl scene, yet critiquing both herself and the scene with the kind of maturity and insight that comes with experience and age. Easily joins Carrie Brownstein’s Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, Kim Gordon’s Girl in a Band, Alice Bag’s Violence Girl, and Viv Albertine’s Clothes Clothes Clothes Music Music Music Boys Boys Boys among my favorite feminist punk/grunge/alternative/indie memoirs.

So good

Outstanding. Wish there were more. Not sure why I need to say “15 words” to express this but there ya go.

Excellent

As someone who looked up to Kathleen Hanna in my teenage years (and now!)—this was an excellent memoir.

Amazing read - I had to binge

I loved hearing the legendary Kathleen tell her story and point of view. I devoured this. Being narrated by herself feels like I’m in the room with her. *swoon*

I wanna be her best friend

Loved listening to this wonderful book by my favorite singer. She did not disappoint. My only complain is that it ended.

Power house human I loved it

It was really cool
Connecting all the dots of her career with different things that experiences during her timeline. A real treat to hear her raw and honest timelines in the punk scene. I loved her willingness to be open about mistakes and missteps. It really put me back into a portal of my own timeline and reflect on times I made the same mistakes. Loved it very much

This book was so needed

There’s so much about the Riot Grrrl movement, its roots and evolution, its importance and limitations, that have gone unexamined. Kathleen Hanna offers a completely honest take on all of it, with so much insight and self-reflection. I feel so grateful that she wrote this book, and let the story continue, and the movement grow up and evolve, as all of us have. This book brought up a lot of old feelings, and then helped me work them out. Per usual, she’s inviting us to keep helping each other along the path, to stay honest and to keep growing.

Raw, unapologetic authenticity.

Kathleen Hanna’s new book is 100% binge-worthy for anyone who loves raw, unapologetic authenticity.

As a writer I’m compelled to explore the messy, awkward, and beautifully human parts of life, so that fellow weirdos and outcasts don’t feel so alone in the word. Kathleen did the same, and I feel so seen!

She did a delightful job of showing the complexities of being a female-identifying person in the world. A bitch, a slut, an asshole, a drunk, a sex worker (let’s be real, most of us have been there in some way), a feminist. And still, she remains a worthy and loveable human being.

I deeply resonated with Kathleen’s story but chose a different path. For the first 30 years of my life, I did not embrace all men; in fact, I excelled at avoiding intense masculine energy. At 35, I embarked on a journey to heal my relationship with men (and the damage done). I learned to understand, appreciate, and work with masculine energy. Now, standing on the other side of both experiences, I’m grateful that we’re dismantling the patriarchy, toxic masculinity, traditional gender roles, and we’re shedding old paradigms. The kids are gonna save us all. Yet, like Kathleen, I can’t help but wonder how much more I could have accomplished if I hadn’t had to contend with male violence, and who I might have become had my innocence not been corrupted. It’s tricky—navigating life, trying to be phenomenal on top of enduring the relentless negative experiences from men—it’s exhausting. However, growing older and becoming invisible does help ease the impact.

I wish this book were mandatory reading for junior high kids. It would be eye-opening for boys to understand the female experience, activating their inner protector, and inspiring collaboration rather than the primal urge to take (and take, and take and take, without permission or consent).

And while Kathleen could certainly qualify for the “Trauma Survivor of the Year” award, she also shows us it’s not all men. I want to end this review by honoring the amazing men who are accountable for their actions and are allies to women, standing with us and equally outraged by the atrocities committed by some men. Your support is invaluable, and I’m grateful for you.

Happy reading!

Wendy Newman – Author of 121 First Dates

Honest and Inspiring!

What I 🩷 the most about this book is the author. Her personal story as a girl/woman in this world of toxic masculinity echoes my own and so many others I’m sure. Listening to this has validated a lot of my own thoughts and feelings about unhealthy experiences and patterns created from them. It’s great to hear her work through things. Heal herself and her relationships. And also… there are just so many amazing stories about people places and things that are near and dear to people who love music and remember being a part of these movements. A+++ awesome sauce. Thank you.