Bikini Kill was more than a band. When the group formed in Olympia in 1990, they had a purpose, bringing feminism and inclusion to a punk scene that had become macho and violent. In a lot of ways, the band’s zine, also called Bikini Kill, was just as important to the early riot grrrl scene as their music.

The Bikini Kill zine, which the band made to hand out at shows, has been well-documented online, and it’s now become a vital part of the historical record. On Instagram last night, Bikini Kill drummer Tobi Vail posted a few pages of the first issue, and she also reflected on what it all meant, acknowledging the limitations and blind spots of that early movement while modestly considering the idea that people could “maybe still get something out of it?” Here’s what Vail wrote:

There has been some debate over what came first , the Bikini Kill fanzine or the band. I’ve been trying to find my copy of the first issue and I finally located it. In the intro it says Bikini Kill is a band and this is something we made to give out at shows. In rereading this article I wrote when I was 21 years old I kind of cringe. Obviously I am not the same person I was when I first starting sharing my feminist analysis. This writing from early 1991 to me is now full of mistakes, overreaching and embarrassing in its blind spots and cultural ignorance yet we all have to start somewhere and putting something out in the world to be critiqued allows us to get to the next step. It was really important at the time to share my thinking on this stuff. It was a conversation starter. I met people because of this article who I am still friends with today (hi @theemeownoel and @julsgrrrl !) and while I do find it somewhat flawed I am sharing it again because it is an interesting bit of cultural history. I know today’s feminist youth embrace Yoko Ono, have evolved hardcore punk to be more inclusive, are way more intersectional than we were back then, and will find the gender binary overly simplistic and clearly recognize the heterosexism and bias within this essay – yet maybe still get something out of it? The larger point is don’t be afraid to share your ideas! Ask questions! Participate! Make mistakes! Talk to each other! It is how we grow, evolve, and build community xo TV **Edited to say you can find this except and more in the Riot Grrrl Collection book put out by @thefeministpress several years ago in collaboration with Lisa Darms and the Fales Archive