Current female singers that don't use good looks and sexuality?

[mids2019]

I was having a discussion with my daughter's about dining, specifically women, and both said you have to be good looking and sexy to be a singer. The girls quoted Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, Due Lipa, Sabrina Carpenter, Tate McRae etc. as exmaples. To my heart's dismay I had to agree......It all was tipped off by Olivia Rodrigo's nurses dress in her newest video.

Looking at the men though the likes of Ed Sheeran, Sam Fender,Alex Warren etc. can get away with jeans and a jacket. The double standards are quite apparent and I feel that girls with good singing voices are being dissuaded from careers in music because of a false impression you need to be attractive and willing to use your sexuality to make it in a career.

An I over reacting or is their an inherent sexism and exploration in the music industry?

Lorde? Although I haven’t seen any of her music videos.

Good choice.

I’m old so not up on current singers but I believe metal is having a moment right now and most heavy metal women singers don’t do the bikini thing - metal has it’s own “look”

It’s the horrible trend of performing in ‘sexy’ leotards I hate. It’s almost a uniform now. Watching an old top of the pops the other day and my dcs were amazed by the women just singing in very every day clothes - jeans and baggy t shirts, with limited make up, it nearly made me cry with nostalgia!

Holly Humberstone is the artist I wish I’d had when I was 19. Beauty Pageant is so knowing about the whole showbiz pressure that it makes me cry and I’m mid 50s.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l3cedY9fE_g&ra=m

I think there’s a difference between what they’re selling and to who. Sabrina Carpenter’s whole act is that she loves sex and double entendres, but I don’t think men buy her music. It’s for women and gay men who identify with her message.
I don’t think many men find Taylor Swift sexy. She is portraying that image again for female fans.
I think young women are attracted to women who appear to have it all, talent, great body and good looks. Do they want relatability in their pop stars? I don’t!
Lady Gaga is not conventionally good looking, her talent and creativity was enough for her to push through.
Charli XCX is very average looking, like many. She just has access to all the stuff to make her more attractive. And is insanely talented and hard working.
So being hot and beautiful is not enough to make it big. The only pop stars I can think of who are making it based on looks alone are Tyla and maybe Dua Lipa, who is a fine enough singer but I think her model good looks are what has made her memorable.

Billy Nomates!

She even has lines about not shaving to look like a child in one song

Heels:

Okay, so they might not get attention right now, but we are talking about in the last 15 years And in terms of sexualising women on stage, nothing has really changed since then. And of course Celeste is going to include people who have been successful in the past 15 years because sometimes it takes time before you can actually acknowledge that somebody has made it as a really big star but here are some very current people

1. Chappell Roan 2. Doechii 3. Billie Eilish 4. Lola Young 5. Olivia Dean 6. Maisie Peters 7. Amaarae
2. Lizzo 9. Adele 10. Meghan Trainor 11. Alessia Cara 12. Kesha 13. Brandi Carlile 14. Jazmine Sullivan 15. Lainey Wilson

Courtney Barnett

Agree about the double standards.

This is a long time issue in the music industry OP. But the trend in recent years for women singers to perform in their underwear and promote their music with basically soft porn acts and videos is truly depressing.

In fact it's quite symptomatic imo of what is happening in society in general with even very young girls learning that their worth and value is only how they look and present themselves. I was reading an article last night about how girls as young as eight are promoting skin care products on Tiktok. And for a certain percentage of girls even as young as 4 or 5 using these products and wearing makeup is seen as normal. And of course the chemicals in the products are causing plethora of problems for young skin.

Having had such hope for women after the gains women fought for to be seen as equal in society to have this increasing emphasis on women's looks and providers of sexual entertainment is a tragedy

Wet Leg
The last Dinner Party
Imogen and the knife
Billy Eilish
Beth Ditto
Skunk Anansie
Garbage
Adele
Self Esteem
Also interesting and refreshing see more artists using female musicians in their bands.
I saw Yungblud recently and he had a female guitarist, keyboard player and the string section was female. Good on him.

To a certain extent - but then I think a lot of male stars - especially in boy bands and the like - are also put under pressure by the industry (and the public) to lose weight, dress well, wear skin tight trousers etc .....

“No” has Sam fender Aldi death queue vibes, very gritty. But much more pleasant to listen to and a groovy chorus.

You seem to be mixing two points OP, artists being attractive and artists dressing provocatively. I don't think there is a single pop artist male or female who isn't attractive.

Skye Newman!

Agreed.

I can think of The Warning, Halestorm, Spirit Box, Arch Enemy, Kittie, Within Temptstion, Nightwish, Castle Rat, Halestorm, Epics, Die Spitz, Nova Twins, Jinjer, Lacuna Coil, Blood Ceremony off the top of my head and I don’t think any of the female members are overtly sexual.

Certainly many are very striking and theatrical looking as one would expect, but I don’t think they are particularly using their bodies to sell records in the same way that is now so mainstream in pop. Riley of Castle Rat wears a chainmail bikini top but she makes her own chainmail and also has a bloody great sword so I think she gets a pass.

I think you could find quite a few make artists who aren't quite conventionally attractive yet dominate the music world with gravitas. Yet if we look at successful women the stand out star of the modern era is Taylor Swift, sings in a leotard and is drop dead gorgeous. I agree that it is hard to find female singers of note that aren't attractive but that does tend to support my daughter's assertion that you need to be attractive as a woman (and a little provocation certainly helps).

Agree that she doesn't do the sex sells thing but you can't argue she isn't extremely.attracrive?

Do the metal fans remember Nashvile Pussy? 😂

I'm a metal head myself and do agree the women are a bit less sexualised but thats because they are still taken massively less seriously by the genre collectively and have to prove they are serious musicians. They are also still 99.9% white and skinny.

Susan Boyle?

it’s common as both a woman or a man musician to develop a “look”.

bjork or lady Gaga for example, or going back further Annie Lennox or David Bowie.

Lola Young, what a wonderful example she sets to young women! I love her.

Sia and Florence are in their 40s though? Not the type of singers OP is talking about I think.

OP honestly I am not up to date with young female singers but it was ever thus. It's just more extreme in 2026 like everything is. I watched old top of the pops episodes recently and I was surprised at how amateur the dancing was in the female girl groups and how unsexualised they appeared compared to now, though at the time they definitely were.