Functions of Femininity in Popular Music -- Matthew Harbinson 2010

1. Functions of
Femininity
© Matthew Harbinson
2010
A brief
exAminAtion into
the roles of
gender in populAr
music

2. In recent times, postmodernists and
cultural relativists have attempted to create
an ideology which reinvents gender as a
nothing more than a cultural construction.
However as media students, we state that
reinvention is best left to Madonna…
With this in mind, we shall begin.

3. Fifteen (2008)
Taylor Swift
When you’re 15 and
someone tells you
they love you, you’re
gonna believe them.
But in your life you’ll do
things greater than dating
the boy on the football
team. You might even
find who you’re
supposed to be.
I didn’t know that at 15.

4. Femininity as Experience
Throughout much of her first two albums, Taylor Swift details her
experience as an ‘everygirl’ growing up in America.
In her reflective song, Fifteen (2008), she addresses femininity in
two ways:
Swift notes upon reflection of her middle school experience and
recounts the importance of symbols and social phenomenon
(‘cars’ and ‘boys on the football team’) to her being depicted
and recognised as female.
She looks back critically, expressing a sentiment that she sees
her desire for stereotypical femininity as naïve and
irresponsible.
By the end of the song the audience has been told the story of
Swift’s experiential journey from her desire to appear feminine,
to her actually achieving a ‘true’ femininity in realising,
embracing and expressing her unique identity.

5. I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman (2001)
Britney Spears
I'm not a girl.
I'm not a girl don't
tell me what to
believe.
Not yet a woman.
I'm just trying to
find the woman in
me.
All I need is time.
A moment that is
mine, while I'm in
between.

6. Femininity as Entertainment
Across mainstream music we
observe the actuality of
hegemonic femininity being used
in and for entertainment.

7. Beautiful (2001)
Christina Aguilera
Don’t look at me…
Now and then, I get insecure, from
all the pain. I’m so ashamed.
I am beautiful, no matter what they
say. Words can't bring me down.
I am beautiful in every single way.
Yes, words can't bring me down.
So don't you bring me down today.

8. Femininity as Empowerment
In Aguilera’s song, Beautiful, she begins by whispering
‘Don’t look at me’ and proceeds to say that she feels
‘insecure…so ashamed’.
This cuts to the heart of self-awareness as the audience
learns that it’s the comments of others that has given her this
Hurt.
However, she addresses this pain by belting out an anthem,
expressing that which can empower her and all those who
hear her song.
“I am beautiful, no matter what they say…in every single
way…Words can’t bring me down, so don’t you bring me
down today.”
The last line even serves as a warning to those (presumably
men) who’ve made her feel worthless in the past. Similarly,
the bridge further empowers the listener to rediscover their
own worth in every situation.

9. Independent Woman (2000)
Destiny’s Child
The shoes on my
feet.
I've bought it.
The clothes I'm
wearing
I've bought it...
The house I live in.
I've bought it.
The car I'm driving.
I've bought it.
Coz’ I depend on me,
If I want it.
All the women who
are independent.
Throw your hands
up at me.

10. Femininity as Expression
In a similar vein to Beautiful, the focus of
Independent Woman is to recognise and refute the
perceptions of women as weak and reliant on
men. The chief lyric being “Coz’ I depend on me, If
I want it.”
As the title suggests, the singers want to express
themselves as independent, powerful and capable.
Further from this, Destiny’s Child encourage this
self-reliance amongst their audience by asking
them to participate in the song, insodoing, making
independence a virtue.

11. Madonna Whore (1999)
Cyndi Lauper
Every woman’saMadonna;Every woman’saMadonna;
every woman’sawhore.every woman’sawhore.
You can try to reduceme,You can try to reduceme,
but I’m so much more.but I’m so much more.
I don’t want to beyourI don’t want to beyour
mother, won’t beshoved in amother, won’t beshoved in a
drawer.drawer.
Every woman’saMadonna;Every woman’saMadonna;
every woman’sawhore.every woman’sawhore.

12. Femininity as Education
One of the Freudian concepts drawn on
in music is the Madonna-Whore Complex
(Freud 1957, pp. 161-167) which sees
men desiring for a promiscuous woman
rather than a romantic partner.
Lauper draws on this, telling the listener
that every woman both desires and can
provide both the Madonna; a loving
relationship and the Whore; a want for
sexual fulfillment.
The lyrics work to educate men that
women cannot be reduced towards either
extreme, the song also acts as an
anthem of empowerment regarding the
sexual liberation of women in that era.
© Bernard, Marie Lynn 2010

13. Express Yourself (1988)
Madonna
You don't need diamond rings,
Or eighteen karat gold.
Fancy cars that go very fast,
You know they never last.
What you need is a big strong
hand,
To lift you to your higher
ground.
Make you feel like a queen on a
throne,
Make him love you ‘till you can't
come down.
Don't go for second best, baby.
Put your love to the test.
You know, you know, you've got

14. Femininity as Expectation
Madonna used, Express Yourself, to prove to the
world that she wasn’t a pop celebrity who was
going to sing about unfaltering love like Stand by
Your Man.
Her love would only be ‘real’ once she knew that
her partner’s commitment was to her alone.
Her femininity came through an expectation that
she would be man’s equal.
Her songs engaged with her audience in speaking
to them directly about what they should expect as
women.

15. Glee: The Power of Madonna (2010)
“Culturally,
Madonna’s legacy
transcends her
music because by
and large the
subtext of her
songs are about
being strong,
independent and
confident no
matter what your
sex.
But more than
anything,
Madonna’s
“As Madonna once said, ‘I'm tough, I'm
ambitious and if that makes me a bitch,
that's what I am’.
Madonna, is the most powerful woman
ever to walk the Earth.”

16. Functions of Femininity
Experience
Entertainment
EmpowermentEmpowerment
Expression
Education
Expectation