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Original poster

Songs about feminism

33 replies

DuelingFanjo · 04/12/2014 15:41

Hi there, 'Scuse me for posting such a trivial thing but someone has asked me for 'songs about feminism' and wikipedia is suggesting things like

'bag it up' Geri Halliwell and 'express yourself' by Madonna.

Are there any songs about feminism that are really about feminism?

I am thinking about artists like Michelle shocked and Alanis Morrisette but there must be more? PJ Harvey 'Shelia Na Gig' perhaps?

OP posts:
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peachgirl · 15/12/2014 18:59

my favourites are, as a PP said, more about waving my feminist flag around but I'll share in case they're helpful to you:

Goodbye Earl by the Dixie Chicks
No Scrubs by TLC
Respect by Aretha Franklin
Can't Hold Us Down by Christina Aguilera
Celebrity Skin by Hole
Bad Reputation by Joan Jett
Independent Woman by Destiny's Child

Lio · 05/12/2014 15:00

Nice to 'meet' another fan Smile

I had a ticket to her most recent UK concert and wasn't well on the day, aargh!

KnittingChristmasJumpers · 05/12/2014 13:56

Aw I used to love Dar Williams - I think I'll be looking up her songs again this weekend.

Lio · 05/12/2014 13:13

It's a really good song, stubbornstains, and there's another one (also by Dar Williams) called The Babysitter, which is equally good at telling a feminist message within a lovely story about (guess what!) her babysitter when she was a little girl. There's a verse about the babysitter's boyfriend:

Will they get married with kids of their own?
He says "Not if she's going to college we won't"

And they're all told so melodically and kindly, her songs are not 'in your face', just very beautiful and simple. There's another great one (and another and another!) called I won't be your Yoko One.

The great thing about really little kids is that they're open to everything; long may that last for your son.

stubbornstains · 05/12/2014 12:25

Awww...that song has just made me well up lio.....Thinking of my little boy, who is so affectionate and emotional, and loves having his fingernails painted, and wants a flower press (found him a mini one for his Christmas stocking!)......what's in store for him? (baaawl Sad).

(Ahem, may be being a tad pregnant there....Grin).

Lio · 05/12/2014 10:59

I don't think anyone's mentioned Dar Williams, whose song 'When I was a boy' is brilliant on the limitations for girls AND boys (and so men and women) of the type of pigeon-holing that is so prevalent. I won't quote the whole thing, but basically it's a really good song about being wild and physical and daring when she was a child, then as a grown woman:

"When Im leaving a late night with some friends
And I hear somebody tell me
Its not safe, someone should help me
I need to find a nice man to walk me home"

And at the end she's talking to a (male) friend about these things and it's just wonderful:

"And I so tell the man I'm with
About the other life I lived
And I say now you're top gun
I have lost and you have won
And he says, "Oh no, no, can't you see

"When I was a girl, my mom
And I we always talked
And I picked flowers
Everywhere that I walked

"And I could always cry
Now even when I'm alone I seldom do
And I have lost some kindness
But I was a girl too
And you were just like me
And I was just like you"

YonicScrewdriver · 05/12/2014 08:00

Here - unfortunately most posts withdrawn, bloody f4j

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/1166894-International-Womens-Day-Celebration-Playlist

whattheseithakasmean · 05/12/2014 07:55

Eddie Reader has some good ones:

All or Nothing - about leaving an abusive relationship "Get yourself out of the kitchen, girl – fly to the moon instead"

Patience of Angels - about motherhood being tough

What You Do With What You've Got - not a feminist song, exactly, but about power and its use and abuse (wish we could force the Tory party to listen)

YonicScrewdriver · 05/12/2014 07:55

This may help - and if you can track down the original IWD thread it would be even better!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/1416183-Womens-Music-CHAT-THREAD

YonicScrewdriver · 05/12/2014 07:47

I'm the Girl, Heather Nova.

kickassangel · 05/12/2014 00:19

Sarah Bareilles, God if Everything

TsukuruTazaki · 05/12/2014 00:14

You need to listen to Ani di Franco!

Absolute legend. Plenty of feminist songs.

Original poster
DuelingFanjo · 05/12/2014 00:07

It'll be in Welsh.

They are seeking Welsh feminist songs too, not sure if I can help them out with that!

OP posts:
mrscumberbatch · 04/12/2014 19:35

Noisettes (lead singer Shingai Shoniwa) always have good strong female perspective.

There is still songs about vulnerable relationships but its very balanced on the whole.

She has worked with Annie Lennox of recent.

WrigleysBum · 04/12/2014 19:32

Pretend that we're dead by L7
Apparently it's not about feminism but it should be!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAdlZ2F-fs8

cherubimandseraphim · 04/12/2014 19:26

I'm not necessarily a fan of it, but I suppose Lily Allen, Hard Out Here

stubbornstains · 04/12/2014 19:23

Ooh, you must let us know when it's on!

SconeRhymesWithGone · 04/12/2014 17:14

This is interesting.

Feminist Guide to Country Music

SconeRhymesWithGone · 04/12/2014 17:00

I almost cross-posted with Arsenic. I Am Woman is the anthem of the second wave.

ArsenicSoup · 04/12/2014 16:55

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Woman

Original poster
DuelingFanjo · 04/12/2014 16:52

Ah wow - thank you so much :)

It's for a regional radio programme - it's only half an hour and supposed to be a 'look at feminism through the ages' so not sure really how they plan on covering it all but these should help.

OP posts:
SconeRhymesWithGone · 04/12/2014 16:43

The March of the Women, the anthem of the Women's Suffrage Movement is very stirring:

BertieBotts · 04/12/2014 16:34

"If I were a boy" by Beyonce describes how she would behave non-abusively if she was a man, although it does end with "But I'm just a girl, and you're just a boy" so pretty defeatest.

BertieBotts · 04/12/2014 16:33

I know it's not supposed to be about feminism but I think "Read all about it" by Emile Sande describes feminism pretty well.

Fiftyplusmum · 04/12/2014 16:32

Greenham Common song book
image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2007/05/21/YourGreenham_song_book.pdf

Well, women against nuclear war...
Although, are feminists necessarily anti-war?

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