Punk’s Not Dead: Riot Women Review
Trent Loom reviews Riot Women, the latest work by Sally Wainwright, known for Happy Valley. Although unfamiliar with Happy Valley, Loom places Riot Women within the broader context of punk-themed screen entertainment.
Influences Behind Riot Women
Riot Women draws clear inspiration from Nida Manzoor’s acclaimed Channel 4 sitcom We Are Lady Parts (2021–2024). This show itself took cues from Eyad Zehra’s 2010 adaptation of The Taqwacores, originally a 2004 novel by Michael Muhammad Knight.
“The Taqwacores depicted an imaginary American Muslim punk scene, which in due course would inspire an actual musical genre of Islamic punk rock now known as Taqwacore, championed by the likes of US band The Kominas.”
Legacy of The Taqwacores and We Are Lady Parts
- The Taqwacores created a fictional American Muslim punk culture, later influencing a real musical movement called Taqwacore.
- We Are Lady Parts focused on a fictional all-female British Muslim punk band navigating challenges in the music industry.
- The show highlighted struggles against patriarchal oppression, poverty, and societal Islamophobia.
“We Are Lady Parts concerned itself with an all-female fictitious British Muslim punk band, who were struggling to conquer the music industry irrespective of their oppressed status in society due to patriarchy, poverty and, to a lesser extent, societal Islamophobia.”
Riot Women continues this tradition by exploring similar themes of cultural resistance and punk identity.
Author’s summary: Riot Women channels the spirit of Muslim punk narratives established by The Taqwacores and We Are Lady Parts, portraying punk as a powerful voice against social oppression.