Kathleen Hanna

Kathleen Hanna (born November 12, 1968) is an American singer, musician, artist, feminist activist, pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. In the early-to-mid-1990s she was the lead singer of feminist punk band Bikini Kill, before fronting Le Tigre in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since 2010, she has recorded as The Julie Ruin.
A documentary film about Hanna was released in 2013 by director Sini Anderson, titled "The Punk Singer", detailing Hanna's life and career, as well as revealing her years-long battle with Lyme disease. Hanna is married to Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys.
Life and career.
1968–1988: Early life and feminism.
Hanna was born November 12, 1968, in Portland, Oregon. At age four, her family moved to Calverton, Maryland; as Hanna's father changed occupations, the family moved several more times.
Hanna first became interested in feminism around the age of nine, after her mother took her to a rally in Washington D.C. where feminist icon Gloria Steinem spoke. In a 2000 interview with "BUST" magazine, Hanna recalled: "My mom was a housewife and wasn't somebody that people would think of as a feminist, and when "Ms." magazine came out we were incredibly inspired by it. I used to cut pictures out of it and make posters that said 'Girls can do anything', and stuff like that, and my mom was inspired to work at a basement of a church doing anti-domestic violence work. Then she took me to the Solidarity Day thing, and it was the first time I had ever been in a big crowd of women yelling, and it really made me want to do it forever."
Hanna's interest grew when her mother checked out a copy of Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique" from the library. Their involvement in the women's rights movement was done quietly during Hanna's childhood, due to her father's disapproval.
Upon her parents' divorce, Hanna returned to Portland and attended Lincoln High School. After high school, she relocated from Portland to Olympia, Washington, to attend The Evergreen State College in the late 1980s. During this time she worked as a stripper to pay her tuition. "My parents didn't go to college. I felt lucky [to attend]." While at Evergreen, with fellow student and photographer Aaron Baush-Greene, she set up a photo exhibit featuring the pair's photography, which dealt with sexism, violence against women, and AIDS – issues that were heightened for Hanna when she volunteered for SafePlace, a domestic violence organization. However, the school administrators took the photos down before they had the chance to be viewed, an act of censorship that prompted what Hanna refers to as her "first foray into activism": the creation of Reko Muse, an independent feminist art gallery, with friends Heidi Arbogast and Tammy Rae Carland.
Hanna began doing spoken word performances that addressed sexism and violence against women. Eventually, she abandoned spoken word in favor of music after a conversation with one of her favorite writers, countercultural icon Kathy Acker. Hanna recalled,
Hanna then formed a band with Arbogast and Carland, called "Amy Carter", which put on shows before the art exhibitions.
1989–1999: Bikini Kill.
Later, Hanna started another band called Viva Knievel that toured the United States for two months before disbanding. Upon returning to Olympia, Hanna began collaborating with Evergreen student and punk zinester Tobi Vail after seeing a performance of The Go-Team (a band made up of Vail, Billy Karren, and Calvin Johnson) and recognizing Vail as the mastermind behind the fanzine "Jigsaw", which Hanna greatly admired and loved. The band, named Bikini Kill, soon became part of the seminal Olympia, Washington music scene of the early 1990s. One goal of the band was to inspire more women to join the male-dominated punk rock scene. While Bikini Kill were in Washington, D.C., Kathleen recorded with two side projects, Suture (with Sharon Cheslow and Dug E. Bird) and Wondertwins (with Tim Green of Nation of Ulysses. Bikini Kill, Suture, and Wondertwins all performed at the International Pop Underground Convention in August 1991.
Bikini Kill's first release for the Kill Rock Stars label was a self-titled EP produced by Ian MacKaye of Fugazi. Bikini Kill then toured the UK, recording a split LP with UK band Huggy Bear. This tour was filmed and the band was interviewed by Lucy Thane for her documentary, "". Upon returning to the U.S., the band began working with Joan Jett, who produced their single, "New Radio/Rebel Girl". After the release of this record, Hanna began co-writing some songs with Jett for her new album. At the same time Hanna produced several solo pieces for the Kill Rock Stars "Wordcore" series of recordings, including the 7-inch single "Rockstar" and the song "I Wish I Was Him" (a song written by Ben Lee and originally recorded by his band Noise Addict about alternative rock heartthrob Evan Dando) on the KRS compilation "Rock Stars Kill".
The first two Bikini Kill EPs were released on CD as "The C.D. Version of the First Two Records" in 1993. The band released two more full-length albums, "Pussy Whipped" in 1994 and "Reject All American" in 1996, and in 1998, Kill Rock Stars released "Bikini Kill: The Singles", a collection of the group's seven inch and compilation tracks. Bikini Kill amicably disbanded in mid-1998.
2000–present: Le Tigre, the Julie Ruin.
After Bikini Kill's breakup, Hanna began working on a solo project called Julie Ruin. The project was created entirely in Hanna's bedroom using a $40 drum machine. One self-titled album was released under the Julie Ruin pseudonym, and was partially inspired by the work of feminist theorist Julia Kristeva.
Hanna said of the project:
While in Portland, Oregon, Hanna began working with friend and zine editor Johanna Fateman on a live show for Julie Ruin. The collaboration resulted in the two briefly forming a band called the Troublemakers, named after a G. B. Jones film, which ended when Fateman relocated to New York City to attend art school.
Hanna soon moved to New York City as well, and with the addition of filmmaker Sadie Benning, they started another band called Le Tigre. Le Tigre was based upon a more electronic style of music, similar to the sampler-driven sound Hanna had begun to explore with Julie Ruin. Hanna refers to it as part of a "Punk Feminist Electronic genre". The band recorded for the Mr. Lady Records label, its first recording being an eponymous album which included the singles "Hot Topic" and "Deceptacon." Benning then left the band and was replaced by JD Samson for their second album, "Feminist Sweepstakes".
Mr. Lady Records folded, and the group switched to Universal Records for the 2004 release of "This Island". Hanna left the band in 2005 due to illness; she was later diagnosed with late stage Lyme disease. According to the Le Tigre website, during her time off from the band, Hanna volunteered as a band coach for the Willie Mae Rock and Roll Camp for Girls. She also taught an art class at NYU's grad school in the Fall 2007 semester and attended interior design classes. In 2010, Hanna DJed at the Museum of Modern Art, later joining the Raincoats on stage to cover the Slits' "Vindictive".
Also in 2010, Hanna announced she was rebuilding her 1997 act Julie Ruin, turning it into a full band called The Julie Ruin with Kenny Mellman and Kathi Wilcox, and that they would be creating a new record. The band played their first show at Knitting Factory in New York City. The show included songs from Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, and one new composition. From 2010 to 2013, director Sini Anderson worked on a documentary on Kathleen Hanna titled "The Punk Singer", documenting her works from Bikini Kill to the Julie Ruin. It premiered at SXSW in 2013. In June 2013, Julie Ruin released its first single, "Oh Come On". An album, "Run Fast" was released in September 2013 with the band going on tour. The Julie Ruin cancelled the tour planned for May to September 2014 due to Hanna's Lyme disease condition deteriorating. She has since recovered and The Julie Ruin's second album, Hit Reset, was published in July 2016 by Hardly Art.
Activism and impact.
Hanna's outspoken feminism has always influenced her work. She became a voice for third-wave feminism and the Riot Grrrl movement in 1991. In 1991, Bikini Kill spent the summer in Washington, D.C., where Hanna began collaborating with Allison Wolfe, Molly Neuman, and Jen Smith from the band Bratmobile on the zine "Riot grrrl", which became a call to action for young women to embrace feminism and equal female involvement in the punk rock scene.
The zines "cover[ed] strategies for safety in the mosh pit", "exploration of political ideas", and creating a collective for punk feminist women. The Bikini Kill Zine, which began in 1991, was born from this, along with the desire to present "feminist issues through a punk rock lens." By Issue Two, the Riot Grrrl Manifesto was born, urging women to defy society's expectations upon them as women, and to form a collective for women to freely discuss current issues. While Hanna never sought nor intended to become the spokeswoman for Riot Grrl, she hoped that it would provide a voice for issues that are relevant to women on local, national, and global levels.
At Bikini Kill concerts, Hanna would ask women to move to the front of the stage to avoid harassment from males, as part of her idea of "girls to the front' or "Revolution Girl Style Now." In a mostly male-dominated punk rock scene where shows often turned violent because of mosh pits (where women were often assaulted), Hanna wanted space for women to be able to feel safe. Additionally, with a barrier of girls in the front rows, she too could feel safe and supported at her own shows, where male hecklers were constantly present.
Her feminist contributions to punk music are also evident in her lyrics. In an interview with Nicole Brodeur from "The Seattle Times", it is said that, "Hanna's lyrics were about girls who did and wore what they wanted, despite societal expectations." Hanna: "It doesn't mean you're not a feminist because you expose your legs." She zeroed in on the idea that women should have the ability to express themselves in any way they please, without backlash, and her performances regularly reflected such themes. Bradeur: "Hanna exposed her breasts and rear-end with lust-killing bluntness; she wore a girlish ponytail and danced around with 'slut' written in lipstick across her midriff."
In 1991, Hanna performed with Bikini Kill (alongside Fugazi) at the Pro-Choice Rally at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. before the Planned Parenthood v. Casey trial. Having had an abortion herself at 15, Hanna said: "It's about women not dying in back-alley abortions, but it's also about women saying: 'My life is worth it, too. I deserve to have control over my life and my health care.' Imagine if a man was told, 'You can't make the decision to have a vasectomy.'" Hanna also spoke at the 2011 Planned Parenthood "Stand Up for Women's Health" Rally. During her speech, she told her story of when she was 19 years old, on tour, and broke. She had acquired an infection, was extremely ill, and walked into a Planned Parenthood clinic for help. Despite having less than $10 in her pocket, she was "met with open arms" at the clinic, was treated with respect, and received medical care.
Hanna contributed the piece "Gen X Survivor: From Riot Grrrl Rock Star to Feminist Artist" to the 2003 anthology "", edited by Robin Morgan. The riot grrrl genre, to which Hanna was central, has been credited as a historical site for the empowerment of women by such documentaries as "The Punk Singer", which credits Hanna with having molded many tenets of third-wave feminism.
In 2009, the Fales Library at New York University created a Riot Grrrl Collection. This collection focuses on the early formation of the Riot Grrrl movement, and has a series of zines, art pieces, photography, video, music, journals, and more. Some of Hanna's solo work, along with zines that she has created with Bikini Kill and other collaborators are also included. In a 2014 interview with Amy Middleton of Australian webzine "Archer", Hanna stated that she supported marriage equality. Hanna also noted that while on tour with Le Tigre, she met teenagers who had told her of starting LGBT groups and gay/straight alliances in their high schools; she said, "Hearing that made me feel so hopeful for the future". In the same interview, Hanna stated she was saddened by trans-exclusionary feminist movements, and appeared to support transfeminism. Previously, critics had suggested Hanna was trans-exclusionary for having performed at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival in 2001 and 2005, which had a policy of exclusively allowing "womyn-born-womyn" into the event.
In 2018, Hanna started "Tees 4 Togo", a project which sells t-shirts with drawings of Hanna's friends such as Kim Gordon, Patton Oswalt, Joan Jett, and Chuck D, along with artists such as Sarah Larnach, Adee Roberson, and Hannah Lucy. 100% of the proceeds go to the non-profit Peace Sisters, which helps fund local girls' school tuition costs in Dapaong, Togo. The cost of one $40 shirt funds an entire school year for a student.
Personal life.
In 2006, Hanna married Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys in a civil ceremony in Hawaii, after being a couple for nine years. The songs "Capri Pants" by Bikini Kill and "Just My Kind" by The Julie Ruin are written about her relationship with Horovitz.
Hanna suffered from Lyme disease for six years before it was correctly diagnosed. The disease forced her to enter a three-month course of treatment in 2014, resulting in canceling live performances with her band the Julie Ruin. By June 2015, tests revealed that she was Lyme-free.