Feminism: Few words bring out emotions as much as this one. On the one hand are people who truly know the meaning of the word, while on the other is a group determined to forever misunderstand what it represents. Education on this topic to the masses has been ongoing for years now, with art-making the most strides.
Women’s struggle for their rights started decades ago, but it wasn’t until it started being portrayed in art that a movement really started. Women could relate to material written in the analytical essays on “The Yellow Wallpaper”, which led them to lend their voice. Reading free essay samples about “The Yellow Wallpaper” online, we see the story of a woman trapped in what she believes to be “sickening” wallpaper that she finally frees herself from in the end. When her husband finds her creeping on the floor and saying, “I am free in spite of you,” he faints. Literature analysts see it as the threat some men feel when they realize the woman is demanding for her voice to be heard when they would rather keep it as suppressed as possible.
When it comes to female empowerment, it has been clear from the get-go that the modern woman wants is inclusion and equal representation. That means a male and female student getting equal chances to shine at school and following the same at the workplace. There are several examples that, when looked at closely, show why female empowerment shouldn’t really be a cause for fighting.
Feminism in art has been portrayed by modern singers that are letting other women know it is okay to stand up and lend their voice.
Some of the modern singers seen to have embraced feminist literature fully include Beyoncé, P!nk, John Legend, and Queen Latifah, and they have accomplished this without necessarily bashing men. While P!nk refuses to be a statistic and to conform, she lets her girls know that they shouldn’t allow their voices to be dimmed for their sexuality or anything else that defines them. Her music is constantly reminding women to celebrate their sexuality.
Beyoncé says in her essay, “Gender Equality is a Myth“, what most of us know, “Humanity requires both men and women…” In accepting that we are all necessary for life to be complete, we are simply invalidating the reason for gender roles in the first place. John Legend’s music has always been about celebrating the wonder that is the woman, and this has won him applause, even though some quarters feel it is insufficient.
Artists Who Have Been Accused of Antifeminism
Lana Del Rey has been called out for lyrics to some of her songs that some people felt watered down the efforts of the women who went before us. She sings, in Video Games, of a man who made her feel unwanted by whom she confesses to loving dearly. Her other songs, Off To The Races and Ultraviolence, follow a similar route where she accepts the violence and disdain meted on her by the men in her life. In her defense, she says the world should accept women like her because “having someone be aggressive in a relationship was the only relationship I knew.” Rey admits to now hate some of the lines to her songs.
A while ago, UK girl group Little Mix got themselves in a little uncomfortable mix when one of them answered ‘we welcome visitors’ to an interviewer’s “Should Donald Trump be banned from the UK?” Though lots of people came to their defense and urged that they don’t be judged too harshly, that short interaction showed how easily singers could be dragged for their beliefs. Of course, there was also the issue of the group not seeming to be in touch with female empowerment moves like the then just-concluded #MeToo women’s movement. They were called anti-feminist for not being in solidarity with the rest of the world in female empowerment.
Is Singing About Feminism Enough?
Some people feel equality will only be achieved in music when a female artist will not have to be half-naked on a video for it to sell. When she is no longer writing overly sexualized content to attract the male listener, maybe we can then report on progress. That said, having people in the limelight make music that empowers young people in university and college is great for future generations.
