The document analyzes and summarizes the lyrics and music video for Novaa's song "Almond Eyes". It discusses themes of sexual harassment, feminist ideology, and reclaiming bodily ownership. The video depicts the singer dressed in concealing white clothing with no makeup to deter the male gaze. The lyrics and video send a message about a woman's right to exist and dress how she wants without assumption of consent or deserved harassment. The document also draws similarities between this song and works by Alice Phoebe Lou that discuss similar themes of female empowerment and agency.

1. Almond Eyes - Novaa
Influences research

2. Message
• This time the lyrics have more meaning
than the visuals, depicting a sexual
harassment/assault incident, possibly at
a club.
• It's very much anger-driven, and imbued
with feminist ideology/messaging
• "Whenever I move the way that I want to
I'll always be wrong when I feel like a
woman
Get your hands off me
Don't you think that I asked for it,
I don't want your kiss"

3. Representation
• The point of the lyrics is that "Whatever I
wear, whatever I look like
I'll always be wrong when I dress like a
woman"
• Novaa herself is dressed in
baggy, concealing clothing – a white
jumpsuit. She is also wearing no make-up
• Hey body isn’t sexualised
• It’s a point about reclamation of bodily
ownership and sexuality
• "This is not your body
This was always mine"

4. Gender performativity
• Her make-up or usual lack thereof in most of
her videos makes a point about the post-
feminist idea of having the agency
to sexualise oneself, deciding if they want to
exploit the male gaze or not.
• Her usual look however, deters the male
gaze by being so counter-normative/typical,
placing her sexuality in her own hands
• It’s looking at the abstract and fluid idea of
gender norms and beauty ideals
• Judith Butler proposed the idea that gender
is performative, and once we acknowledge
the artificiality of it its difficult to continue
adhering to paradigms and expectations of
gender

5. Similarity to other influence
• I thought it was quite similar to some of Alice Phoebe
Lou's songs, particularly Skin Crawl and My Outside
• She wrote skin crawl after being roofied on a night out. In
the music video she's using men to do everything, and
the lyrics are also about agency and autonomy and
female empowerment
• "I'm not here for your enjoyment, your amusement, don’t
need to have a reason at all,
Don’t need to have a prince at my ball
How about right now I'm my own prince,
Maybe I wouldn't cease to exist
Without a man to do the hard things,
Maybe you picked the wrong girl,
there's not one girl who deserves your aggression"

6. Similarity to other
influence
• My Outside doesn't have a music video,
but the lyrics and meaning similarity really
stuck out to me
• "I stopped caring too much about my
outside
Didn't wanna be told what I'm supposed
to look like
Didn't wanna be told what makes a
woman look right" - Alice Phoebe Lou
• "Whatever I wear, whatever I look like
I'll always be wrong when I dress like a
woman" - Novaa