REVOLUTION GIRL STYLE NOW! En etnografisk innehållsanalys av politisk kommunikation i Riot Grrrl-rörelsens låttexter

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines how the Riot Grrrl movement communicates political messages through song lyrics, with a particular focus on the interrelations between body, power, and norms. Departing from the assumption that political communication extends beyond formal institutions, the study explores how cultural expressions function as sites where power relations are articulated, challenged, and renegotiated. The empirical material consists of selected song lyrics from Bikini Kill’s The First Two Records CD and Bratmobile’s Pottymouth. These albums were chosen due to their central position within the Riot Grrrl movement and their explicit engagement with feminist issues. The material has been analyzed using an ethnographic content analysis, allowing for close reading of language, themes, and recurring patterns while situating the texts within their broader cultural and social context. With this as a basis, four questions have been formulated: Q1. How are the central themes within the Riot Grrrl movement (emotions, bodies and the analysis of power dynamics) communicated through its song lyrics? Q2. Which emotions are expressed? Q3. How is power, oppression, and/or resistance presented? Q4. How is a collective “we” and/or an antagonistic “they” constructed? The analysis shows that political communication in Riot Grrrl lyrics is primarily articulated through concrete and embodied experiences rather than abstract political argumentation. Power is made visible through everyday situations involving sexism, violence, control, and exclusion, often expressed through references to bodies, voices, and interpersonal relations. These representations frame power as something that operates in daily life and social interaction rather than solely within institutional or formal political arenas. A central finding is that the lyrics consistently challenge dominant gender norms by presenting female subjects as confrontational, vulnerable, angry, and contradictory. Such representations disrupt normative expectations of femininity as passive or restrained. The body emerges as a key site where norms are enforced but also contested, making bodily experience a central medium for political meaning-making. The study also highlights the role of linguistic simplicity. The direct and accessible language used in the lyrics should not be understood as a lack of complexity, but as a strategy that foregrounds lived experience and makes power relations tangible. By relying on concrete situations and bodily markers rather than theoretical abstraction, the lyrics render political conflict immediate and recognizable. Overall, the thesis contributes to research on political communication by demonstrating how cultural texts can function as political interventions. By focusing on body, power, and norms, the study underscores the importance of analyzing cultural expressions as meaningful forms of political communication and suggests that politics can be understood as something that is lived, narrated, and negotiated in everyday contexts.