You read a lot of stuff about Riot Grrrl, most of which isn't true. Things such as ...

1. That it existed as a moment in time

No. It was always fluid, always changing. The name wasn't supposed to stick. The musical style wasn't supposed to gel. It wasn't intended to be particularly about music: more, a way of seeing, a means to empowerment. It was as much about walks on the beach in the early morning as it was eschewing pen and paper for sloganeering. It became codified far too rapidly into a handy tag – but hell, what a great tag.

2. It began in Olympia, WA, in 1991 in the aftermath of the first IPU (International Pop Underground) convention

No, no, no. Ask Bill Karren. The first Riot Grrrl meeting was in Malcolm X park in DC. He was there.

3. The fact that two members of Huggy Bear – a leading UK proponent of Riot Grrrl – shared a Brighton house with two Melody Maker writers had any bearing on anything

Some of us might've been having all-night conversations about feminist language and doctrine and behaviour, in-between bouts of Asterix card games and recording Frank Sinatra covers underneath the dining room table, but we would have been doing that anyway. Also: no one spoke to anyone after Huggy Bear's one American tour.

4. Riot Grrrl was (and Ladyfest is) unnecessary: equality was achieved long ago in "alternative" music

I'll cite two examples. In 2006, NME placed a series of stories across the national media stating how cool it was that Beth Ditto had made their Top 10 Cool List – that finally women were "cool". In 2007, Word magazine ran an article proclaiming "The Rise of The Indie Hottie" (female only, natch) and no one batted an eyelid. I'll leave you to fill in the gaps.

5. It didn't matter which side you were on

Wrong. It always matters which side you're on. I once spent an entire Brighton to London train journey with another music critic shouting at me, "You're just a fucking music journalist!" No, I wasn't. I was Everett True. I could change worlds.

6. Riot Grrrls hated men

Um. Try telling that to the male musicians in the two leading Riot Grrrl bands, Bikini Kill and Huggy Bear. (I mean, sure, it was true. But who doesn't? It's a given these days.)

7. There is only one version of history

I wasn't present at Huggy Bear's pivotal appearance on The Word ("This is happening without your permission!"), or there to see Courtney Love punch Kathleen Hanna for being more punk rock than she could ever dream of being, or there to see the ashtray that hit the head of inspirational Beat Happening singer (and K Records founder) Calvin Johnson when his band supported insurrectionary hardcore outfit Fugazi, or exchange vows with Heavens to Betsy (who later spawned Sleater-Kinney) or watch the drummer of an Australian thrash band being thrown down the stairs by Niki from Huggy Bear. I never saw the Modern Lovers perform, or saw the Nation of Ulysses set their sneakers alight, or met underground cartoonist Julie Doucet. But I do know that all the above were major influences (one way or another) on those who followed: Nirvana, Bis, Comet Gain, Bloc Party, the Cribs, the Gossip, the Ethical Debating Society, Kids Love Lies.

8. Riot Grrrls don't drink or party or know how to have a good time.

Yeah, right.

9. Courtney Love had anything to do with Riot Grrrl

Um … actually … that one is partway true, inasmuch as, early on, she was an influence on Kathy from Bikini Kill. She most certainly wasn't one of the prime movers of Riot Grrrl, however – quite the opposite, in fact.

10. It's over

Nope. Nope. Nope. Ask the Cribs. Go on. Ask 'em.