Have you ever listened to a female pop artist’s song and thought, “wow, that’s exactly what I feel!”?​ That’s because women have been underrepresented in the media as individuals whose sexuality and personal identities matter. That’s what is so important about the representation of female pop artists in the industry currently; their ability to display femininity as sexual, emotional, and complex.
The first artist I want to talk about, is a queer superstar and feminist icon alike, the fiery Chappell Roan, who has used her music to celebrate women. “Femininomenon” is a powerful example of this message, with lyrics that uplift women, and resist patriarchal norms. Roan sings, “Stuck in the suburbs, you’re folding his laundry,” which is a callout of what is expected from many heterosexual relationships.
Chappell doesn’t fear defying traditional norms for women, using her catchy tunes to highlight the imbalance many women face in relationships. The following verse lyrics, “Ladies, you know what I mean, And you know what you need and so does he, But does it happen? (No!),” also illustrates the idea of females being treated as a little more than mediocre in a relationship. She is exclaiming that the men in some heterosexual relationships don’t prioritize women’s needs and wants, both sexually or emotionally.Â
Similarly, Sabrina Carpenter embraces feminine sexual energy through her latest pop hit off her Short n’ Sweet album. The song, “Juno”, delves into the sensual and unapologetic idea of womanhood. Women’s sexual emotions throughout history have been used against them to paint them as immodest and impure. The rhetoric around virginity and the fact that it is even a well-known concept to begin with is an outstanding example of this. The fact is that women’s sexual activities, or lack thereof, should have no connection with society’s view of them.
Carpenter singing, “Hold me and explore me… I’m so f—ing horny”, is so refreshing because a huge pop princess— who’s charting number one— is singing about her sexual frustrations and fantasies. It teaches young women to embrace their sexuality, instead of feeling ashamed of basic human anatomy. There is an empowerment behind these lyrics that has not been seen in mainstream pop music yet.Â
Another lens of feminism that is addressed by popular pop artist Olivia Rodrigo is the perception of women to be demure, understanding, and motherly. Women are viewed to have a “maternal instinct” that in turn creates an expectation for them to take on the role of a caregiver to those surrounding them. Particularly, Rodrigo sings, “I am built like a mother and a total machine… I feel for your every little issue, I know just what you mean.” She uses these lyrics to convey these views, especially the “total machine” bit. Young girls often are meant to feel like mechanical creatures that must be oiled and tinkered with to be the perfect “all-American bitch” and fit the standards of that idea. This song acknowledges the constant patriarchal pressures women face and it calls out American feminism because of the historical pressure of maternal idealization women have been forced into and continue to be.Â
Additionally, women’s interpersonal relationships play a huge role in feminism. There needs to be more acknowledgment of the competitiveness women often are pressured to feel with other women, and how that plays into relationships. The comparison women get daily, negative or positive, can feel exhausting and Charli xcx (my hyper pop queen) captures that perfectly in “Girl, so confusing”.
The remix with Lorde amplifies the message because the song represents the complexities of their friendship. Charli wrote, “Sometimes I think you might hate me… Maybe you just wanna be me… People say we’re alike…”, which feels like such a negative frame of friendship. What she is trying to express is that when there is any conflict in female friendships there is an automatic defense that woman have been hardwired to use due to constant patriarchal pressures. This defense pits women against one another because we perceive each other inaccurately, with no allowance of duality, in the context of women being compared mixed with patriarchal standards.
Lorde responds with a perfect example of duality, “I was so lost in my head and scared to be in your pictures… I was trapped in the hatred and your life seemed so awesome.” She sings about being jealous, not because of not loving her friend, but because she struggled with issues forced upon her by standards and felt that Charli had something better, bigger, and happier.
The issue is that when women are forced into standards and develop hate for themselves, that hate spreads into our view of others and creates this hostility that is stagnant. However, Charli and Lorde worked it out on the remix and we, as women, can work through the negativity that comes with the oppressive beauty standard to uplift one another.Â
Overall, while we listen inadvertently to music on a daily, women in today’s pop industry have been killing the game recently in representing women as dynamic, sexual, and worthy beings despite how the patriarchy tries to oppose that. I can’t wait to see what next new pop song becomes my next feminist anthem!
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