Bombshell, Bikinis, And Bikini Kill

The bikini swimsuit was named after Bikini Atoll. 

Bikini Atoll is the name of the islands where the US government originally tested the nuclear bombs. 

The military taped a picture of pin-up girl Rita Hayworth to the side of one of the bombs. 

Hayworth was a major actress in the 1940s, called “The Love Goddess” by the press, and the top pin-up girl for GI’s in WWII. 

They taped her picture to a nuclear bomb. 

That’s how she ended up being known as a “bombshell.” 

Four days after the test, French automotive engineer Louis Réard introduced a two-piece swimsuit named after the islands where the bombs were tested. 

The bombs killed thousands. 

The stories - they evoke a whole other history of why we call things the things we do. 

Almost 50 years later, a group of girls were thinking about the Gang of Four song with the lyrics, “See the girl on the TV, dressed in a bikini, / she doesn’t think so, but she’s dressed for the H-Bomb.”

They were trying to find a name for their zine and their band. 

They settled on Bikini Kill. 

Stories. They sure can run deep. 

h/t Kathleen Hanna’s Rebel Girl: My Life As a Feminist Punk.