Amidst Madonna getting her bits out on some album tour that no one cares about, Chris Brown's dubious comeback getting people anxious and Katy Perry just existing, is it possible for these two entities revel in sisterhood or will the former allow the latter to be the patriarchy's bitch?
Feminism. The internet seems to be paying attention to you and a lot of women's magazines are cottoning on, that being around for over 100 years, you're actually of relevance to their readers. But where do you stand in Pop Culture? We're you ever there or did you piss off in the late nineties? Well I was born in 1994 and the only thing I remember is being really freaked out by Prodigy's 'The Fire Starter' and The Spice Girls.
PREFACE: Honestly, thinking about this made my head hurt, so bad. I googled it; people had conflicting opinions, I was convinced by all of them and nearly punched my own head in vain, such was the dichotomy between these two things. Upon asking real people, they got confused about what Feminism actually is and I had to go through 100 years of women's rights and they got bored. Eventually, my thought process in attaining a clear cut view was like the stages of coping with death.
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DENIAL: There is a butt-load of female artists in Pop right now. There are way too many to coherently name and there may be the fickle thing of being sold on the basis of consumerism, but that's too much of a mind fuck. This is good. Never have so many females been at the centre of the music industry. That must be feminism's (and early 80's Madonna's) doing. Splendid, pass me The Female Eunuch for some light bedtime reading.
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ANGER:*stops midway to 'The Psychological Sell' chapter* OH DEAR LORD, WAIT. But they're doing vagina dances with not much clothing and talking about hetero love a lot. Katy Perry was being a capitalist driven sensationalist with 'I Kissed A Girl' and wrote a derogatory 'Ur so Gay' song. Someone wrote Rihanna a song about sex toys and her fickle personal life, Kylie never mentioned feminism, Britney Spears built her career on ephebophilia. Whenever they talk about women they say 'girls', they refer to 'girl power', a marketing tool to ruin everyone with The Spice Girls. THE SPICE GIRLS ARE EVIL. 'GIRL POWER' IS BULLSHIT ABOUT BEING NICE TO OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAVE WOMBS. This cannot be. They're pandering to hyper-sexualisation. These women make the 'FHM, I'd rape that 100 list'. FUCK THIS SHIT.*snaps tampon in half*
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BARGAINING:*takes a deep breath and is transfixed by the bent tampon, that shit is sturdy stuff* Wait, no, one must not slutshame. These women should show off their bodies as long as they are comfortable within their selves to do so. I mean, Lady Gaga did it when she was ready and subsequently came to the feminist enlightenment? Nicki Minaj has credible lyrics (woman of colour, to boot). Jessie J doesn't play on her sexuality to sell music. Beyonce has her 'sexy' alter ego and is able to discuss the rights of independent women sombre videos. Who the 'eff is Rita Ora? Azealia Banks looks nice. Iggy Azalea makes me anxious. Katy Perry can bugger off.
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DEPRESSION: *knotted eyebrows of confusion and despair* But one time, Beyonce hesitated in a Vanity Fair interview and wanted to give feminism a new name, oh god this is awful. Their images are being manipulated by some monolithic capitalist music industry. Everyone is so sexist. That guy I served at work called me 'darling', a girl told me the other day that women just weren't funny. The patriarchy has got to everyone, everything is ruined. I want Sugababes 1.0 back. Oh my god, I'm going to have to get an arranged marriage. *whimpers* "All the single ladies" *whimpers*
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ACCEPTANCE:*stops ugly crying* Right ok, no. These are women, women are different. Many of these women can articulate strongly the message for their music. Some women outright don't discuss it. They have a choice. Adele has been hailed as a woman who doesn't show flesh to sell music, but that doesn't mean the occasional beehive and 60's inspired make up doesn't mean she isn't selling herself on some sort of image. Whatever, just because these women are in Pop doesn't mean they're not arses. Pop music is a vacuous thing; you shouldn't expect anything from Pop music. You want feminism you go to the scholars, mates and your leftie Aunt. Don't expect the answers from someone, who first and foremost, tries to sell you something. That way, dodgy blogs lie ... *dumps The Female Eunuch, reads bell hooks and feels relieved*