Rebel Girl
“THE power of ‘Rebel Girl’ is that it’s about being a feminist pirate, being an adventurer,” says Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna. “It’s not about standing at the back and not participating. It’s about loving and defending your friends and the confusion between friendship and sexuality.”
When Bikini Kill formed in 1990, sexism was rife. Hanna’s Riot Grrrl fanzine and the feminist-activist movement was one way to combat that; “Rebel Girl” was another. Over a glam drumbeat and three scuzzy chords, the song celebrated strong, defiant women. Written in late 1991, it quickly became a crowd-pleaser. When Bikini Kill toured the UK with Huggy Bear in 1993, the audience screamed for the still-unreleased song, latching on to this defiant expression of female identity and friendship where “dudes aren’t even mentioned”, notes bassist Kathi Wilcox.
Three versions of “Rebel Girl” were released. The one that usually appears on radio, soundtracks and video games was produced by Joan Jett, who saw something of her younger self in Bikini Kill. “They were unapologetic, doing what they wanted to do, and you didn’t see a lot of that, particularly with women,” she says. After hearing a cassette of Bikini Kill, she suggested they record “Rebel Girl” together and the band jumped at the chance.
This “definitive” version of “Rebel Girl” was recorded in the summer
