Kathleen Hanna, known for her work on Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, and Julie Ruin among many other things, weighed in on the controversy surrounding Odd Future, a collective of young L.A.-based rappers that has attracted considerable controversy in light of extremely offensive lyrics in an interview with Spinner. Stereogum excerpted a small part of the interview:

KH: I feel like, if you don’t want to listen to them, don’t listen to them. If you do want to listen to them, do listen to them. I couldn’t really comment about on exactly what their lyrics are about, because I haven’t gotten that deep into it. But if people are writing lyrics that piss you off, hurt your feelings and make you feel like shit, don’t listen to it. I don’t think the best idea is to have a boycott. Just don’t talk about them and they’ll go away. The more you talk about them, the more attention they get. Tegan and Sara fans probably wouldn’t even know this band existed if they weren’t talking about them. I find the whole conversation kind of boring. There are so many great artists that are doing interesting things, that I don’t want to focus on boring people.

Suffice it to say, Sara Quin feels otherwise:

When will misogynistic and homophobic ranting and raving result in meaningful repercussions in the entertainment industry? When will they be treated with the same seriousness as racist and anti-Semitic offenses? While an artist who can barely get a sentence fragment out without using homophobic slurs is celebrated on the cover of every magazine, blog and newspaper, I’m disheartened that any self-respecting human being could stand in support with a message so vile.

Though I’m inclined to agree with Hanna, my sense is that Quin’s objection derives in part from the sense that there is a double standard. Would Hanna react the same way to those who condemn racist or anti-Semitic song lyrics, i.e., tell them to cool off and ignore it? My guess is that she would react the same way, though that might not be true of the entertainment industry writ large.

(Rest assured, this is not about to become a music blog.)