Las chicas al frente

In the early 1990s, a popular reactionary radio host coined the term "feminazi", and a study found that young girls tended to start hating themselves during adolescence. It was a difficult time to be a girl and to grow up with promises of equal rights that had nothing to do with reality. Rates of sexual assault reached record levels; sexual harassment was very common in colleges, boys would still be boys and girls still had to watch how they dressed and where they walked. It was enough to make one want to scream. Riot Grrrl stepped into the spotlight in 1991: an uncompromising movement of angry chicks with no patience for sexism, no stomach for double standards, and no intention of keeping quiet. Incendiary punk bands like Bikini Kill -led by the prophetic Kathleen Hanna-, Bratmobile or Heavens to Betsy spread the word. Dozens of riot grrrls published zines, founded local collectives and organized conventions, and the movement spread from its origins in Washington D.C. and Olympia to the Midwest, Canada, Europe and beyond. Girls Up Front is the story of the Riot Grrrl movement: a lyrical, punk-infused chronicle of a group of extraordinary young women who came of age, collectively and publicly pissed off. At a time when America thought feminism was dead, a generation of scandalous girls rose up to prove everyone wrong.