{"id":1868,"date":"2025-06-28T02:20:58","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T02:20:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/06\/28\/everyone-loves-a-rebel-girl-but-who-is-she\/"},"modified":"2025-06-28T02:21:05","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T02:21:05","slug":"everyone-loves-a-rebel-girl-but-who-is-she","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/06\/28\/everyone-loves-a-rebel-girl-but-who-is-she\/","title":{"rendered":"Everyone loves a Rebel Girl. But who is she?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>For whatever reason, I was listening to a playlist of patriotic folk tunes last week, and a song caught my ear: \u201cThat\u2019s the Rebel Girl, the Rebel Girl \/ To the working class, she\u2019s a precious pearl \/ She brings courage, pride and joy \/ To the fighting Rebel Boy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 1915, labor activist Joe Hill penned \u201cThe Rebel Girl,\u201d dedicating it to fellow activist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/05\/17\/us\/elizabeth-gurley-flynn-marker-communist.html\">Elizabeth Flynn<\/a>. The song embraces women who fight in support of the Industrial Workers of the World. At that time, I was more focused on the title rather than its history. Hill\u2019s song reminded me of Bikini Kill\u2019s 1993 track of a similar name, \u201cRebel Girl.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Written as a response to the sexist, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/hypermasculinity-in-music\/\">male<\/a>-dominated punk scene, lead singer Kathleen Hanna distills her rebel girl into the very essence of coolness and confidence. The girl won\u2019t take heat from anybody, most definitely not from those who look down on her. \u201cWhen she walks, the revolution\u2019s coming \/ In her hips, there\u2019s revolution.\u201d Hanna is in love with how boldly this woman presents herself: Her very existence is a political statement.<\/p>\n<p>The song sees Hanna wanting to be this girl\u2019s best friend, wanting to try her clothes and wanting to be her. Luckily, Hanna doesn\u2019t need to yearn so much. With her singing, Hanna embodies the spirit of this rebel girl. She defiantly screams over a fuzzy, stomping guitar, and she overpowers the wild drums. Rage coats the record, but so does the band\u2019s admiration for rebellion. Bikini Kill is angry, sure, but they are directing it at the world for not embracing forward-thinking women.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Both songs are dedicated to transgressive women, and they\u2019re fantastic. I love Joe Hill\u2019s admiration, and I love Hanna\u2019s infatuation. Most of all, I love how overtly political both songs are. Out of curiosity, I decided to look into other songs about rebel women to see if there was a common thread. The results were \u2026 interesting.\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">\u201cRebel\u201d by Wicked Lady is a bare track of steamy tension. The guitar is just as fuzzy as in Bikini Kill\u2019s \u201cRebel Girl,\u201d but there\u2019s a looseness in Martin Weaver\u2019s hard riffs and spontaneous jamming. Weaver\u2019s playing floats, encased in the carefree spirit of cigarette smoke. The lyrics, though, are rigid. The song concerns a woman who, upon nightfall, does things she shouldn\u2019t do: \u201cEvery evening when the sun goes down \/ You do the things you shouldn\u2019t do.\u201d She\u2019s like a vampire with a fire inside of her, but all we really know about her is that she tells Weaver that \u201ceverything is alright,\u201d and Weaver thinks she\u2019s lying. Big whoop. Worse, Weaver sings the verse twice, and nothing about his description makes the girl a rebel, except that she\u2019s edging close to danger: \u201cDriving\u2005on empty through the streets of life \/ But your wheels are catching fire.\u201d But hey, the guitar solo is sick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRebel Girl\u201d by Survivor seems to pick up the woman-at-night narrative that Wicked Lady started, but in a sexist way. \u201cOut on the edge of night \/ In any city you can name \/ There rides a rebel girl \/ The wild one no one dared to tame \/ And the light in her eyes is a fire.\u201d The three tracks I\u2019d listened to so far had been political and\/or erotic; even the worst description so far (Wicked Lady) had instrumentation that embodied a certain mystique, an elusive, sensuous spirit. Survivor\u2019s song is just plain boring. Lead singer Jimi Jamison has no charisma on the track, sleep-singing through uninspiring \u201970s-\u201980s dad-rock. The girl in question is worse than non-descript: She\u2019s some lonely animal who rides alone and needs taming, apparently. It\u2019s no wonder that Jamison can\u2019t even feign lust. Worse, the lyrics make no sense. The second chorus ends with \u201cIt\u2019s a lonely world \/ For a rebel girl \/ So far from home, she\u2019s all alone \/ In a rebel world.\u201d How can one be a rebel in an already rebel world?<\/p>\n<p>Despite the lackluster descriptions, the two songs strangely complement each other in the big picture. Both songs describe the girls with a \u201cfire,\u201d emphasizing night scenery about roads. It wouldn\u2019t be a stretch to say that the songs are trying to conjure biker imagery. For Survivor, they use the word \u201cride\u201d; as for Wicked Lady, the connection is more sonic and aesthetic than it is descriptive, given rock \u2019n roll\u2019s (specifically metal music\u2019s) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawabidingbiker.com\/motorcycles-and-music\/\">footing<\/a> in biker culture.<\/p>\n<p>In this context, it makes more sense why the girls are rebels. Being a biker is inherently rebellious, embodying <a href=\"https:\/\/leatherfacegear.com\/blogs\/news\/motorcycle-club-culture\">non-conformity<\/a>, independence and embracing the thrill of the road. Being a female biker doubles those qualities. It is expected, however unfairly, that men are explorers and women are homemakers. To ride a Harley-Davidson as a woman is both symbolically and literally an act of defiance, especially in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wickedwomenchoppers.com\/history-of-women-in-biker-culture-famous-female-motorcyclists-throughout-history\">male-dominated biker culture<\/a>.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>As such, a female biker is a powerful image. Unfortunately, the two songs fail to match the concept. For Wicked Lady, there\u2019s an built-in excuse: The band is, above all else, focused on the groove of the track. They are so focused on the sound that it\u2019s admittedly unclear whether the girl is a biker. However, I can\u2019t imagine what other archetypes would fit their bare description. Survivor\u2019s song, though, is more egregious given the context. Aside from calling the biker girl an animal, the band stoops as low as to sing \u201cA rebel\u2019s heart is made of stone \/ And the light in her eyes is desire.\u201d Indeed, they have dehumanized her once again and sexualized her on top of that. Instead of admiring a girl\u2019s defiance in a male world (like Bikini Kill), the band has reduced her rebellion to coldness, to loneliness, to the unattainable manifestation of sex appeal.<\/p>\n<p>Survivor\u2019s gaze is all too common. If one were to search up images of a \u201cbiker girl,\u201d it\u2019s clear that sex has stripped the rebel. In biker culture, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.girltalkhq.com\/a-female-harley-rider-on-sexism-sport-and-biker-identity\/\">sexism<\/a> is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/sport\/2015\/aug\/16\/women-motorcycle-culture-litas-utah\">rampant<\/a>, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/winxwheels.com\/blogs\/motorcycle-articles\/female-empowerment-on-two-wheels-the-inspiring-community-of-babes-ride-out#:~:text=Portrayal%20of%20Women%20Motorcyclists%20in%20Media%20and%20Advertising&amp;text=Often%20depicted%20as%20either%20mere,and%20spirit%20of%20their%20community.\">sexualization<\/a> of biker women seems like a natural <a href=\"https:\/\/dancingthepolka.com\/2014\/12\/29\/sexism-and-motorcycling-a-frustratingly-cosy-pair\/\">consequence<\/a>. The issue is so prevalent that one blog site even showcases a series of <a href=\"https:\/\/lonerucksack.com\/women-motorcycle-culture\/\">parody photos<\/a> emphasizing the issue. In this context, Survivor not only fundamentally misunderstands the rebellious biker girl, but also feeds into her objectification.<\/p>\n<p>Green Day doesn\u2019t make the same mistake with \u201cShe\u2019s a Rebel.\u201d The track is a head-banging two-minute thrill. Backed by some frenetic drums, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has a fun stop-and-go rhythm, singing lyrics that commend a rebel girl\u2019s intelligence: \u201cShe sings the revolution \/ The dawning of our lives \/ She brings this liberation \/ That I just can\u2019t define \/ Well, nothin\u2019 comes to mind.\u201d When Billy calls this girl \u201cdangerous,\u201d it comes from respect, as though Billy wishes that he could be the same threat to the boring, normal world, that he could be as cool as her. The track is a heart-warming, sweet little tune in the same spirit of admiration as Joe Hill\u2019s song.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">\u201cRebel Girl\u201d by Angels &amp; Airwaves is an ear sore. Lead singer Tom DeLonge sounds constipated while the band seems to be doing their best impression of Coldplay meets the Chainsmokers. The way DeLonge delivers the opening live \u2014 \u201cIf you want to dance my love \/ My little rebel girl\u201d \u2014 does him no favors: He sounds like a douchebag and a creep, especially with how he drags out the \u201cgirl\u201d in that line. Worse, he has no idea what rebel even means. The premise of the song is that his ex should go against reason and get back with him. But the rebel girl is also his princess \u2014 \u201cI gotta tell ya \/ The shoe fits \/ My little Cinderella.\u201d It\u2019s a slipper first of all, and unless she\u2019s got the revolution in her hips, no princess is a rebel.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRebel Girl\u201d by the alternative and electronic Swedish band Endless Shame is surprisingly fun. Bluntly repetitive and pummeling synths define the groove, but it\u2019s extremely danceable. \u201cBlack shirt and blue-ripped jeans \/ In style, so clean \/ You\u2019re fine, sign of the times.\u201d In a cheeky move, the band decided to sing about a normal girl. Endless Shame aren\u2019t taking themselves seriously, and that makes them infinitely more listenable than Angels &amp; Airwaves.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Lastly, \u201cThe Rebel Girl\u201d by Liliac is a nothing-burger. The song positions the narrator as someone who will \u201crule your world.\u201d As such, lead singer Melody Cristea calls herself a queen, but also some boyfriend\u2019s dream. Here, Cristea defines her rebellion in relation to royalty and a man\u2019s ideation, which feels inherently oxymoronic. Isn\u2019t non-conformity the most crucial aspect of rebellion? It gets more grating: The track sounds like it was recorded in a different room where the producer was blending a smoothie. Everything sounds flat and muffled. There\u2019s no personality here.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n<p>After Liliac, I decided to look up songs with \u201cRebel Woman\u201d since all the other \u201cRebel Girl\u201d tracks were covers of Bikini Kill\u2019s song.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRebel Woman\u201d by Chiwoniso is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.womex.com\/virtual\/cumbancha_putumayo\/chiwoniso\/rebel_woman\">inspired<\/a> by a poem about the role of women in Zimbabwe\u2019s war for independence. A slow marimba, plucky as wind chimes, grounds her measured, chanting voice \u2014 pulling us into a spiritual and uplifting soundscape. Halfway through, a sparse guitar comes in, creating a warm, folksy atmosphere. The track conveys the somber tragedy of war with a great amount of pride. Chiwoniso\u2019s voice is soft but strong. \u201cRemember that you fought for your people \/ I know freedom\u2019s been so hard won, it\u2019s been so hard won.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u2019s Anne Wilson\u2019s \u201cREBEL.\u201d Anne Wilson is a Christian country artist, and she really wants you to know that: \u201cWho talks to a man that they can\u2019t see? \/ Call me crazy, call me a fool \/ I ain\u2019t scared \u2018cause I know the truth.\u201d Like Liliac, in attempting to prop herself up, Wilson sounds lame, and the music is mind-numbingly derivative. Hilariously, Wilson attempts to take a subversive stance in this song, claiming that her being a Jesus girl is not the norm. She seems <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dontrocktheinbox.com\/p\/issue-74-the-poor-and-unheard-conservative\">dismayed<\/a> by our supposedly progressive world, so she sings, rather proudly: \u201cWhen the crowd goes one way, I go the other.\u201d I wonder what she will do when she learns that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/religion\/2025\/02\/26\/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off\/\">62<\/a>% of all Americans go the Christian way. Will she go the other way and make a Buddhist country album?<\/p>\n<p>Even though we have a sample size of four, it\u2019s hard to ignore that the tracks sung by women don\u2019t reduce rebel girls into romantic fodder or alluring eye candy. Bikini Kill and Chiwoniso use their songs to convey something larger about the world \u2014 the former about sexuality and punk women in a sexist world and the latter about brave soldiers in war. Liliac\u2019s track, while confused and bland, can be viewed as empowering, and Wilson at least tries to say something about Christianity (even though it\u2019s all reactionary, unsubstantiated and self-serving). <\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-4    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>An extensive search of songs with the title \u201cRebel Women\u201d only uncovered three other tracks. Reggae tracks \u201cRebel Woman\u201d by Vivian Jones and Gene Rondo essentially use \u201crebel\u201d as code for a really hot lady. Both are groovy, and I am rather fond of Vivian Jones\u2019 sensual and desirous voice. But neither track stands out.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, Erik\u2019s \u201cRebel Woman\u201d is an engrossing proto-metal delight. The drums lack some punchiness, but they smooth the rough, unpredictable rhythms of a roaring electric guitar \u2014 one that glides, that scratches, that riffs, that solos, seemingly of its own free will. Frontman Sid Bradley\u2019s voice is haunting, sounding like a shadow of itself, hovering over a consumerist world he wants no part of. \u201cI\u2019m trying, not buying, everything I chance to see \/ It\u2019s tiring to be things other people would have you be.\u201d Some vaguely psychedelic noises bookend the track, creating an air of mystery. As for the woman, she\u2019s a muse for Bradley. Like him, she doesn\u2019t want to do what \u201cthey\u201d want her to do, and he wants to show her what it\u2019s like to live this life: \u201cYou\u2019re just a rebel woman \/ Still got lots of the world to see.\u201d Bradley doesn\u2019t glorify this lifestyle though, singing that he doesn\u2019t know whether the good life will come, but until then, he will live \u201call (he) can today.\u201d From start to finish, \u201cRebel Woman\u201d pulled me in and left me wanting for more riffs and mystical lyrics.\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n<p>Who is she?<\/p>\n<p>For the four songs led by women, she\u2019s an image of strength, courage and beauty. Given these coveted features, it\u2019s no wonder that the most popular, most covered and most acclaimed song of the 12 is Bikini Kill\u2019s, which manages to epitomize all three. The song is as anthemic and uplifting as it is symbolic of female power. Yet, despite all the songs depicting this image, only Bikini Kill and Chiwoniso fundamentally understand what \u201crebel\u201d means. Liliac confuses might and beauty with rebellion while Wilson doesn\u2019t realize she\u2019s rebelling against nothing; both, however, call themselves a \u201crebel\u201d as a term of empowerment.<\/p>\n<p>For the nine tracks led by men, the concept of a rebel girl is more complicated. Joe Hill, Green Day and Erik genuinely describe a rebel, someone who cares about a revolution or who opposes the conventional world. Wicked Lady conjures that image but only uses it to fuel the track sonically. The other four artists, deliberate or not, don\u2019t describe a rebel, using the term to encompass a sexual, unattainable quality about a woman. Survivor falls into that camp, except its description is deeply gross and dehumanizing.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-5    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Sadly, this summary doesn\u2019t reveal much. When we look at the songs that both depict and <em>attempt <\/em>to depict a rebel girl \u2014 excluding tracks by Liliac, Wicked Lady, Endless Shame, Angel &amp; Airwaves, Gene Rondo and Vivian Jones \u2014 the picture of a rebel girl isn\u2019t much clearer. Based on Joe Hill\u2019s union girl, Bikini Kill\u2019s riot grrrl, Survivor\u2019s biker girl, Green Day\u2019s punk girl, Wilson\u2019s Christian self, Chowoniso\u2019s war hero and Erik\u2019s anti-consumerist woman, a rebel girl is no different than a rebel: an individual who stands against the perceived norms of the time.<\/p>\n<p>So, we still don\u2019t know who she is. Instead, we just know that everyone loves her.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe that\u2019s the point. The fact that all the included songs express love, lust and\/or admiration toward a rebel girl is revealing in and of itself. No one cares about people who are just like everyone else (unless you\u2019re cheeky like Endless Shame). What\u2019s cooler than being different? Better yet, what epitomizes difference more than defiance?<\/p>\n<p>Being a rebel is desirable and seductive. The inverse of that, however, isn\u2019t true. It seems like every artist here writes about what they find desirable \u2014 with the main difference being whether they understand the fallacy of this inversion.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the songs do a great disservice to the women they describe, and the ones that don\u2019t contribute anything negative or positive to the discourse feed into a larger cycle of reducing rebellion to a sexy aesthetic. The greatest shame is that only five tracks (Joe Hill, Bikini Kill, Green Day, Chowoniso and Erik) grant the rebel girl what she\u2019s been fighting for: an identity. The rest only care about her husk.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-6    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>So, when the next rebel girl song comes out, I won\u2019t be asking who she is. I won\u2019t try to tie its depiction with its peers. Instead, I\u2019ll ask, \u201cWhy do they love her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Summer Managing Arts Editor Ben Luu can be reached at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/arts\/music\/everyone-loves-a-rebel-girl-but-who-is-she\/mailto:benllv@umich.edu\"><em>benllv@umich.edu<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For whatever reason, I was listening to a playlist of patriotic folk tunes last week, and a song caught my ear: \u201cThat\u2019s the Rebel Girl, the Rebel Girl \/ To the working class, she\u2019s a precious pearl \/ She brings courage, pride and joy \/ To the fighting Rebel Boy.\u201d In 1915, labor activist Joe [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[2083,2081,2082],"class_list":{"0":"post-1868","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-girl","9":"tag-loves","10":"tag-rebel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1868"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1870,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1868\/revisions\/1870"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}