Although the punk community has long been known for its progressive and left wing ideologies, women have been grossly excluded since its inception. Even today, festival lineups have an obvious shortage of female acts, and female fans are often devalued and written off as unserious “fangirls” or “groupies” who fawn over male band members. Riot grrrl emerged in the early 1990s as a movement that provided women a safe space and voice in counterculture and alternative media. For once, female bands, such as Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, and Sleater-Kinney, took center-stage. Skeptical of the mainstream media, members of the Riot grrrl community used homemade “zines” as their main form of communication. These publications, as well as the music and various other projects of the scene, touched on topics such as sexism, rape, female empowerment, body image, and racism.