Ariana Grande – ‘God is a woman’Īriana Grande has always been an outspoken feminist who has refused to be defined by her sexuality. With lines like: “Black girl magic, y’all can’t stand it / Y’all can’t ban it…” and, “We gave you life, we gave you birth / We gave you God, we gave you Earth”, she puts melanated ladies on the pinnacle of the world. In an interview with The Guardian, the American singer described this song as a response to threats being made to her rights as “a woman, as a black woman, and as a sexually liberated woman”. One exceptional track on the album is the all-rap ‘Django Jane’ in which she talks about the power of a woman and her accomplishments as one. On Dirty Computer Monáe tackles some interdisciplinary constructs of feminism, which embody womanhood, queerness, sexuality, and racism. Here are the best motivational songs released in 2018 with themes of womxnhood and independence, as well as embracing natural beauty and self-love. In a time when #feminism has often become a cynical marketing ploy, these tracks are genuinely empowering. These songs seek to help womxn express feelings of anger, pride, and freedom. Thanks to the contributions of artists like Ariana Grande, Janelle Monáe, Christina Aguilera and Ray BLK, we were blessed with inspiring, inclusive, revolutionary bops. There is something about a “girl power” anthem that still sends a rush of positivity into the brains of the target audience, and this year has seen some incredible additions to the catalogue. In 2018, these pressures obviously still exist, particularly for womxn and femme-identifying people of colour – not least thanks to social media – but music has often been the therapeutic antidote. In English-speaking parts of the world, at least, songs like Beyoncé’s ‘Run the World (Girls)’, Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ and Alicia Keys’ ‘Girl on Fire’ have the hearts of many womxn in sync when played, combatting the ongoing pressures of patriarchy and expectation. The song is apropriate for all of us, whether at work or in relationships, or any other context, we MUST stand up for ourself against men that just want to SUBJUGATE US just b/c we are women and cute.One way womxn across the globe can unite is through music.
Grandma Leyeh gave me a recording of Helen Reddy’s song: I am Woman, hear me RAWR!!!!!! YAY! However, since the song is dated back in 1971, and is older then most of the HIVE, I am copying the words here so that the ENTIRE HIVE can read it and realize that so little has changed in almost 50 years for us, and men keep trying to keep us down, but it will NOT hapen as long as we in the HIVE, RAWR as women united! YAY!!! How about you guys - do you like this genre of music? Which are your favorite songs in the genre, whether you call it female empowerment, music for hardworking women, or (go ahead, roll your eyes) ‘girl power’ music? (There’s a related genre here of “I’m an angry woman and I’m my own person and I do what I want and I don’t need you” - examples might include The Million You Never Made by Ani Difranco, F*ck You by Lily Allen, Shake it Off by Taylor Swift, Bitch I’m Madonna by Madonna, Absolutely Not by Deborah Cox, So What by P!nk, Fighter by Christina Aquilera, RESPECT by Aretha Franklin)…
For my $.02 – a political commentator I follow on Facebook just posted a link to the new Kesha song Woman (link goes to YouTube NB that the lyrics NSFW!).