Carrie Brownstein: Blurred Lines, No Boundaries

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Recommended: Culture in the 1960's

The 1960s cultural movement in the United States sent shockwaves through American society. Nearly every aspect of traditional life was challenged and among these was the role of women. Following in the footsteps of suffragettes during the turn of the twentieth century, a new wave of feminism was emerging in the United States that aspired to take the women's right movement beyond the realm of constitutional rights. This movement, now known as second-wave feminism, sought to bring what they viewed as true gender equality by focusing on a number of issues that negatively affected women. The second-wave accomplished much, but there is a historical consensus that it came to an end during the eighties, giving way to a third-wave of feminism in the early nineties.
Unlike the first two waves of feminism, the main goals of the third-wave are still subject to debate. It is generally believed to have formed with the birth of the Riot-grrrl punk rock movement in the Pacific Northwest. The all-female Riot-grrrl bands focused on female empowerment through their message and their music. Carrie Brownstein was a founding member of Sleater-Kinney, one of the defining bands of the Riot-grrrl movement. Her career as a musician, writer and actress over two decades can be seen as a reflection of third-wave feminism in the sense that both are hard to define in concrete terms.
Sleater-Kinney was unlike most of the iconic Riot-grrrl bands to have emerged during this "take back the music" era. Mostly due to timing as their presence was not felt until the end of the Riot-grrrl movement. The band had a deeper focus on the creationism of sound, not just the subcutaneous lyrics other bands channeled their aggression through. It wasn't until the d...

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... The Movie. Dir. Arne Johnson, Shane King. Perf. Carrie Brownstein, Beth Ditto. Ro*co Films. 2008. DVD.
Gloudeman, Nikki. "15 Minutes with Carrie Brownstein." Mother Jones 22 Mar. 2010. Electronic.
Gross, Terry. "Brownstein And Armisen's Comedic Take On Portland." NPR. Natl. Public Radio, 5 Jan. 2012. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
Leonard, Marion. Gender in the Music Industry: Rock, Discourse and Girl Power. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Company, Aug. 2007.
Riordan, Ellen. "Commodified Agents and Empowered Girls: Consuming and Producing Feminism." Journal of Communication Inquiry 25.3 (2001).
Staff, NPR. "Wild Flag: Making Chaos Useful." NPR. Natl. Public Radio, 23 Sept. 2011. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
Talbot, Margaret. "Stumptown Girl." The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 2 Jan. 2012. Web.
Weil, Elizabeth. "Carrie Brownstein Starter Kit." The 6th Floor, 29 Dec. 2011. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.

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