Wikipedia Article: Feminism in Music

Overview
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines feminism as the belief that men and women
should have equal rights and opportunities.1 While feminism has been around much longer, it
wasnt until the 1980s that studiers of music, or musicologists, began to notice that feminism had
become a theme in music2. Women were beginning to write and sing about issues pertaining to
them. They composed songs about the themes of feminism like unity and equality and also talked
about the goals of the feminist movement like free birth control and privacy around reproductive
choices3. These songs empowered women, and helped to create more knowledge in society about
feminism.
Table of Contents
Background of Feminism and New Wave Feminism
First Wave
Second Wave
Third Wave
Women in the Music Industry
Feminism in Hip Hop and Rap
Feminism in Country
Feminism in Pop
Feminism in Classical Music
Impact of Feminist Music on Society
Problems with Misogyny in Music
Conclusion
Background of Feminism and New Wave Feminism
Womens feminism as it is known today is divided into three parts, known as waves.
These parts all had their own goals for the movement. Because of this, they each had their own
separate and specific accomplishments.
First Wave
The first wave, taking place in the mid 19th and early 20th century, mainly focused on the
legal rights of women. This included the right to vote, own property, and have equal parenting
rights. The first wave included the womens suffrage movement. It aimed to stimulate
1 "Feminism." Merriam Webster. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
2 Beard, David, and Kenneth Gloag. Musicology: The Key Concepts. London: Routledge, 2005.
Print.
3 Mccarthy, Kate. "Not Pretty Girls?: Sexuality, Spirituality, and Gender Construction in
Women's Rock Music." The Journal of Popular Culture 39.1 (2006): 69-94. Web.

opportunities for women outside of the home. Some feminists also focused on getting equal
economic rights for women during this wave.4

First wave feminists protesting

the governments treatment of
women.
Photo by Getty Images
Second Wave
The second wave of feminism is mainly known for the womens liberation movement in
the United States and the United Kingdom. Feminists of this wave chose their main motto as
the personal is political.5 According to Colleen Mack-Canty, feminists of the second wave
challenged womens exclusion from the public world of politics, while reintroducing the
personal experience of being female into the political discourse of the day.6 This wave expanded
the ideas of the first wave to include the campaigning for even more rights for women in all areas
of their lives. It focused on getting the Equal Rights Amendment passed and also campaigned to
get Roe V. Wade passed through the Supreme Court. This wave focused on the cultural issues
facing feminism and made women see their family structure as just as important as their political
rights7.

4 Dorey-Stein, Caroline. "A Brief History: The Three Waves of Feminism." Progressive Womens
Leadership. N.p., 2015. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
5 Napikoski, Linda. "The Personal Is Political: Where Did the Feminist Slogan Come From?"
About.com Education. N.p., 31 Aug. 2016. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
6 Mack-Canty, Colleen. "Third-Wave Feminism and the Need to Reweave the Nature/Culture
Duality." NWSA Journal 16.3 (2004): 154-79. Web. 19 Oct. 2016
7 Conger, Cristen. "How Feminism Works-Second Wave Feminism." HowStuffWorks. N.p., 17
Feb. 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.

Second wave feminists

protesting their legal right to
have an abortion in 1977.
Photo by Peter Keegan
Third Wave
The third wave, also known as the New Wave of Feminism, began in the mid 90s and
continues to this day. Third wave feminists believe that we need to rethink the ideas of duality
(i.e.: us-them). This wave aims to fix the social ideas of what feminists have to be. Feminists
arent all the same, and third wave feminists come from all different backgrounds and belief
systems. Third wave feminists believe that there is no universal woman8
Today, 47 percent of the population identify as feminists according to Dave Sheinin,
Krissah Thompson, Soraya Nadia McDonald, and Scott Clement of the Washington Post.9
Women in the Music Industry
The work done in the waves of feminism has helped pave the way for women working in the
music industry. They have helped make it so that more women have positions in the industry,
although there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. 39 percent of people working in the
music industry are female10. The music industry has been notoriously hard on women working
behind the scenes. Many women note that it is easier for women to work in areas of the music
industry such as PR and marketing. These jobs are more gender balanced, so women are not as
rare and not treated as unfairly. It gets harder, many note, when you move to areas such as
management and venue set up. In these areas, only 30 percent of people working are female7.
Because of this, women working in these sectors often have trouble getting taken seriously. In
8 Mack-Canty, Colleen. "Third-Wave Feminism and the Need to Reweave the Nature/Culture
Duality." NWSA Journal 16.3 (2004): 154-79. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.
9 Sheinin, David, Krissah Thompson, Soraya Nadia McDonald, and Scott Clement. "Betty
Friedan to Beyonc: Todays Generation Embraces ..." Washington Post. N.p., 27 Jan. 2016.
Web. 20 Oct. 2016.
10 "Women in Music." Association of Independent Music. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.

the music industry, as in many other jobs, women are more likely to be more qualified than men,
but are less likely than men to make more than 11,000 dollars a year.7
Feminism in Rap and Hip Hop
See Hip-Hop Feminism
Just as in the music business industry, many think that the hip hop industry is dominated
by men. Although rap and hip hop music is generally seen as anti-feminist, there are plenty of
examples of feminist songs and artists within the genre. Queen Latifah's U.N.I.T.Y, Tupacs
Keep Ya Head Up, and Independent by Webbie are examples of songs that lift women up
and condemn sexism. For example, in Webbies Independent, he sings, Independent, do you
know what that mean man, she got her own house, she got her own car11

Queen Latifah in her music

video for U.N.I.T.Y.

Hip hop feminism is seen by many as its own subgroup of feminism. It consists of
women and men who use hip hop to further the feminist message while still maintaining their
culture and music12. Hip hop feminism combines many ideas from Third Wave feminism and
African- American feminism, yet holds its own weight when it comes to feminism in music. Hip
hop feminists believe that they can use hip hop as a medium for social change.
Feminism in Country
As more and more empowered female artists come out in genres like hip-hop, artists in country
music are following. Artists like Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, and Miranda Lambert have all come
out with songs in which they condemn misogyny and try to empower women. Because of a
higher presence of female country music artists and a growing number of fans of these women,
more females in the genre are getting awards that would typically have gone to a male recipient.
For example, Taylor Swift, the Dixie Chicks, and Shania Twain have all won Entertainer of the
11 Webbie. Independent. 2008.
12 Peoples, Whitney. ""Under Construction": Identifying Foundations of Hip-Hop Feminism
and Exploring Bridges between Black Second Wave Feminism and Hip Hop Feminism."
Research Gate (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.

Year at the Country Music Awards in the past 20 years13. This award typically goes to males in
the industry.
Maddie and Tae, country music artists, came out with a song in 2015 called Girl in a Country
Song. It hits back at how women are often portrayed in country music. In the song, they sing,
Bein' the girl in a country song/ How in the world did it go so wrong?/ Like all we're good for/
Is looking good for you and your friends on the weekend/ Nothing more/ We used to get a little
respect/ Now we're lucky if we even get/ To climb up in your truck, keep our mouth shut and ride
along/ And be the girl in a country song.14 It has been praised for challenging the stereotypes of
women in country music as play toys who just stand there and look pretty.

Country music
performers Maddie and
Tae in their music video
for their song Girl in a
Country Song
Feminism in Pop Music
Just as in country music, strong, empowered women in pop music are on the rise in the
past few decades. Artists like Madonna, Lorde, Grimes, and Beyonc have all proudly come out
and said that they are feminists.
When thinking about modern feminist pop artists, Beyonc often comes to mind. Her
song ***Flawless (ft. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) popularized feminism among the new
generation and helped familiarize young people with the term. She performed at the 2014 MTV
Video Music Awards in front of a large screen emblazoned with the word FEMINIST. Many
believe she has helped to take back the word from people who previously saw it as a dirty
word in American culture.

13 "Past CMA Award Winners." CMA World. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
14 Marlow, Maddie, and Taylor Dye. Girl in a Country Song. Maddie & Tae. 2015.

Beyonce performing at the 2013 MTV

Video Music Awards in front of a screen
displaying the word Feminist.
Photo by Jason LaVeris
Feminism in Classical Music
Unlike the multitude of feminist women in pop music, woman composers accounted for only 1.8
percent of composers in the 22 largest American orchestras. Also, women had only written 14.3
percent of the works performed.15 This is a major issue in classical music and the performance of
classical music. In order to be seen as equal and competent, women need to be given the
opportunity to perform and write music for major orchestras.
In 2011, New York Times classical music critic Anthony Tommasini compiled a list of the top 10
composers in history. They were all male.16 Notable female composers such as Clara Shulmann,
Amy Beach, and Fanny Mendelssohn were absent from the list. Many wonder whether or not it
is because they are not given the same opportunities as men or have to reach different standards
in order to be considered.

15 Molloy, Maggie. "Feminism in Classical Music." Second Inversion. N.p., 31 Mar. 2016.
Web. 20 Oct. 2016.
16 Tommasini, Anthony. "The Greatest." New York Times. N.p., 7 Jan. 2011. Web. 13 Nov.
2016.

A female conductor
conducting the orchestra.
Photo by Eve Wallace
As in other genres, women in classical music have had trouble with backlash from critics
for speaking their mind when it comes to their rights.17

Impact of Feminist Music on Society

Feminist music has had an impact on society. Music is an instrumental part of most cultures and
often seen as an everyday part of life. For young people, it serves as a way to find out who they
are and identify with their feelings and the feelings of others. Thus, feminist lyrics and feminist
music help to bring feminism and strong women to the forefront of peoples minds. It helps to
make people more familiar with the goals of the womens rights movements, and it helps people
to react more positively to the word itself. For example, Bikini Kill, a feminist punk group, uses
its platform to help inform people on issues like rape, abuse, and sexuality.18

Problems with Misogyny in Music

17 Citron, Marcia J. "Feminist Waves and Classical Music: Pedagogy, Performance, Research."
Women and Music: A Journal of Gender and Culture 8.1 (2004): 47-60. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.
18 "Double Dare Ya: Bikini Kill's Impact on Modern Feminism and Punk Rock." Golden Audio.
N.p., 18 May 2015. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.

Despite the great strides made in music by feminist women, many songs still contain
misogynist themes and messages. Misogyny is defined as the hatred or ingrained prejudice
towards women, and is the opposite of feminism.19
Because males have typically been the dominating sex, popular songs reflect that. Many
people listen to misogynistic songs and support misogynistic artists without knowing about it.
Some of the ideas and themes presented in these songs are so commonplace that people do not
think twice about the actual content and effect it might have on their mindset. As mentioned in
Lucy Foster's article Music and Misogyny: Why we are all listening to sexist music, At the
International Conference of Music Perception and Cognition in 2012, there was an interesting
presentation, where a researcher had looked at womens attitudes to the content of rap lyrics
when they read them, when they listened to them in music, and when they had watched them in
music videos. The researcher basically found that women had a much more negative attitude
about the nature of those lyrics when they read them, less so when they listened to them, and
even significantly less so when they watched them in videos.20 Ellie Goulding, a popular pop
music artist, talked in an interview with People Magazine about her experiences with the double
standards of the music industry. It annoys me that guys can easily write about one-night stands,
but if a girl writes about one? God, that's terrible, you know?21
Conclusion
The public still has a long way to go in how they view women in music as well. Women
who perform on worldwide stages are criticized in ways that do not align well with feminist
values. As Andi Zeisler writes, it is an industry where groundbreaking performers from Joni
Mitchell to Kathleen Hanna to Nicki Minaj have been defined less by their musical or vocal
skills than by their looks and whom they were sleeping with; a place where female musicians
have their work diminished by or in favor of their male collaborators; and, most definitely, a
place where female musicians are expected to go along to get along.22

19 "Misogyny." Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.

20 Foster, Lucy. "Music and Misogyny: Why We're All Listening to Sexist ..." Stylist. N.p.,
2016. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.
21 "Ellie Goulding on Sexism in the Music Industry." Interview by Jeff Nelson. People. N.p., 14
Nov. 2015. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
22 Zeisler, Andi. "Music Business 'feminism' Is Little More than Branding ..." The Guardian.
N.p., 26 Apr. 2016. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.

Joni Mitchell performing in

2013. Photo by Ebet
Roberts

Resources
Beard, David, and Kenneth Gloag. Musicology: The Key Concepts. London: Routledge, 2005.
Print.
Canosa, Sandra. "Modern Feminism: The Role of Women in Music" Highbrow. N.p., 4 Apr.
2014. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.
Citron, Marcia J. "Feminist Waves and Classical Music: Pedagogy, Performance, Research."
Women and Music: A Journal of Gender and Culture 8.1 (2004): 47-60. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.
Conger, Cristen. "How Feminism Works-Second Wave Feminism." HowStuffWorks. N.p., 17
Feb. 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
Dorey-Stein, Caroline. "A Brief History: The Three Waves of Feminism." Progressive Womens
Leadership. N.p., 2015. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
"Double Dare Ya: Bikini Kill's Impact on Modern Feminism and Punk Rock." Golden Audio.
N.p., 18 May 2015. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
"Ellie Goulding on Sexism in the Music Industry." Interview by Jeff Nelson. People. N.p., 14
Nov. 2015. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
"Feminism." Merriam Webster. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
Foster, Lucy. "Music and Misogyny: Why We're All Listening to Sexist ..." Stylist. N.p., 2016.
Web. 19 Oct. 2016.
Mack-Canty, Colleen. "Third-Wave Feminism and the Need to Reweave the Nature/Culture
Duality." NWSA Journal 16.3 (2004): 154-79. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.
Marlow, Maddie, and Taylor Dye. Girl in a Country Song. Maddie & Tae. 2015.
Mccarthy, Kate. "Not Pretty Girls?: Sexuality, Spirituality, and Gender Construction in Women's
Rock Music." The Journal of Popular Culture 39.1 (2006): 69-94. Web.
"Misogyny." Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
Molloy, Maggie. "Feminism in Classical Music." Second Inversion. N.p., 31 Mar. 2016. Web. 20
Oct. 2016.

Napikoski, Linda. "The Personal Is Political: Where Did the Feminist Slogan Come From?"
About.com Education. N.p., 31 Aug. 2016. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
"Past CMA Award Winners." CMA World. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
Peoples, Whitney. ""Under Construction": Identifying Foundations of Hip-Hop Feminism and
Exploring Bridges between Black Second Wave Feminism and Hip Hop Feminism." Research
Gate (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.
Sheinin, David, Krissah Thompson, Soraya Nadia McDonald, and Scott Clement. "Betty Friedan
to Beyonc: Todays Generation Embraces ..." Washington Post. N.p., 27 Jan. 2016. Web. 20 Oct.
2016.
Tommasini, Anthony. "The Greatest." New York Times. N.p., 7 Jan. 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.
Webbie. Independent. 2008.
"Women in Music." Association of Independent Music. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.
Zeisler, Andi. "Music Business 'feminism' Is Little More than Branding ..." The Guardian. N.p.,
26 Apr. 2016. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.