Emily’s Sassy Lime Flyer

Formed in 1993, Emily’s Sassy Lime was an all-Chinese American girl punk trio from different cities in Southern California. Wendy and Amy Yao, along with Emily Ryan, started the band after sneaking out to watch a Bikini Kill and Bratmobile show. Due to the distance between them, they often wrote songs over the phone, embodying a more fluid and fun creative process. Without formal musical training, they borrowed instruments and played whatever came to mind, fully embodying the DIY ethos of punk. Their presence marked a significant breakthrough for Asian women and women of color in the punk scene, challenging the genre’s predominantly white and male landscape. This poster reflects the handmade, tactile aesthetic of riot grrrl zines, with handwritten type juxtaposed across a textured duotone image. The raw, tangible style mirrors the movement’s ethos of disruption and defiance. Emily’s Sassy Lime existed as a crucial and rare point of representation, giving Asian women in punk a familiar face to look up to, making them feel less invisible in a scene dominated by whiteness.