Sunday, September 18, 2011
Girl Power in Music
As I was trying to think of something to write my next blog about, I was messing around on Google and Youtube, typing things into the search engines to see if anything interesting came up. As I was typing in "Girl Power" it suggested "Girl Power Songs". I decided to check it out. Google came up with many lists of songs that supposed to be empowering for females. There was everything from "Respect" by Aretha Franklin to "U + Ur Hand" by Pink. I even found a book all about that focuses on how women have been more empowered through music since the 1990s (seen here on Amazon called Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music--http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Power-Nineties-Revolution-Music/dp/0865479798). This got me thinking, what makes a song a "girl power" song?
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I believe that a "girl power" song addresses an issue with societal perceptions of women, and expresses an ideal view of women while praising the empowering qualities that women already possess. I noticed a recent wave in girl power songs with Jordin Sparks "I Am Woman" and Beyonce's "Who Run The World"...in fact, their messages are virtually synonymous. I just realized a pretty big contradiction in the name "girl power"; this idea aims to promote gender pride, but at the same time it demeans women by referring to them as "girls." Isn't it funny how sometimes promoting women power often comes with simultaneously putting it down? Just like in Wonder Woman. The intention of providing the first female comic book superheroine was positive, but the comic was riddled with gender biases of women.
ReplyDeleteAzi, that's a really interesting interpretation of the idea of "girl power." I have never thought about the implications of the title of the movement before, it just seemed to me like a fun, playful, catchy name. But I suppose if you think about it, it could be demeaning. On the other hand though, it could just be saying that even girls who aren't fully grown into women can experience self-empowerment.
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