Rebel Girl. My Life as a Punk Feminist is the autobiography of Kathleen Hanna, lead singer of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre and one of the key figures of the riot grrrl movement and punk feminism of the nineties. Published in Spanish by Liburuak in 2024, the book traces her life from a childhood marked by violence and male chauvinism to her establishment as a musical and activist reference.
Hanna recalls her first fanzines, performances, and concerts in basements, as well as the creation of Bikini Kill and the birth of a shout that would change the history of the punk scene: girls to the front. Being in a punk girl band was neither an easy nor safe choice; male violence and antagonism were a constant threat, and surviving as a singer demanded an almost inexhaustible determination.
These pages also feature the friendships and alliances that supported her, from her bandmates Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox, JD Samson, and Johanna Fateman to artists like Kurt Cobain, Ian MacKaye, Kim Gordon, or Joan Jett, who reminded her that punk could be a space of support and community.
Hanna writes candidly about her love life, including her relationship with Ad-Rock of Beastie Boys, and about her harsh battle against Lyme disease, which forced her to leave the stages for years. The book follows her musical evolution with Le Tigre and The Julie Ruin and reviews the lights and shadows of the riot grrrl movement, without mythologizing it but without diminishing its political power.
With a direct, uncensored, and deeply personal voice, Rebel Girl is at once political memory, intimate diary, and archive of a scene that changed the way music and feminism are understood. An essential book for those interested in punk, DIY cultures, independent music, and the genealogies of contemporary feminism.
