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As a fifteen-year-old girl growing up in the US, it's hard to find good female role models within music. We are often bombarded with images of what women should look like and how they should dress, and are told that they are merely objects for men. Female background dancers in music videos wear skimpy clothing and fight over the male(s) in the video, and many, though of course not all, female artists' songs involve how "broken up" she is after a breakup or how in love she is with this new guy.

However, in the past year and a half, I have discovered a new genre of music, one that portrays women as strong and capable human beings-- Female-fronted rock and metal.

This a blanket term, really, because women front many different bands within the subgenres of rock/metal-- from the pop-rock band Evanescence (although, admittedly, they are guilty of the love/relationships songs) to the death metal band Arch Enemy. The topics in the lyrics are intelligent and well-thought out, ranging from fantasy, to religion and society, to the environment, and many more.

The four most popular bands (in the US) of this sort are Evanescence, Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, and Within Temptation. With the exception of Nightwish, as the keyboardist is the central songwriter, the women in these bands have a main place behind the music.

One music video that comes to mind that is intelligent and sends a meaningful meassage is Epica's "Never Enough". The topic is domestic violence. I think it's great that they are trying to bring awareness to this. In Within Temptation's "Frozen" video, this topic is also addressed.

I think, though, that a woman leading a heavier band, which is usually thought of as exclusively for men, is empowering. I know I look up to these women, not only because I want to be a musician, but because they are intelligent and a nice break from the mainstream. They are more than just pretty faces-- They are respected for their voices, their instrument.

Any thoughts about this?

Check out this filk I wrote at my blog, City of Ladies, after hearing that Ms. Palin doesn't know any SCOTUS cases besides Roe:

Landmark Case Rock

Her new video , entitled "So What," is about her recent split from Corey Hart. It's not the typical Carrie Underwood-esque revenge song, nor the sad pity-me ballad, nor even the Beyonce-like, glitzy-I'm-so-hot-I-could-have-any-guy-I-want tune.

No, P!nk rejects all that crap and tells it like it is. First of all, the title implies "why do you care, anyway?"Amen.

Second, her response to the breakup basically coalesces to "Did you forget that I'm a fucking rock star? I have a great life. I didn't make my life revolve around him, so I'll be fine." This is the feature that makes me swoon. In essence she is saying that she was complete, successful, and bad-ass before him, and she be all those things after him. And she holds no lasting negativity towards him, nor him towards her, as evidenced by...

...Corey Hart was in the fucking video. Pink totally sent the message that she is above the tabloid-drama of celebrity break ups. The intention was clear "hey, he's okay with it too!" On an aside, it's always nice to see a guy who is totally comfortable being with a feminist-minded lady.

Props to P!nk and Corey for publicly defying the relationship-breakup paradigm that this country seems so desperately obsessed with.

Perhaps this is not related to feminism in an obvious way, but with the US elections looming and everything that's going wrong in my home country of Britain thanks to patriachy's latest war and our moronic male-dominated government, I remembered this song, dug it out and have been happily rocking all day to it. I reckoned it's worth posting here because this whole 'current situation' is inseparable from the context of patriarchy.

I don't know if Riz Ahmed is at all famous in America, but just in case he's not, he's a British actor and hip-hop/rap singer, and this is his first and probably most famous song, 'The post 9/11 blues'. It's a satire of the media and government responses to 9/11, so obviously if this offends you, don't watch.

N.B. Mentioned in the song are a whole load of british things like Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder plot, the tube, and chavs. I don't know about you lot, but mostly when I'm talking to Americans, they don't know what these things are any more than I knew what a taco or a burritto was until very recently, so just wikipedia them. ;)

I saw this in today's Guardian and I thought I'd share.

It's a nice piece on female singer/songwriters. As much as I'm sick of the whole 'singer/songwriter' stereotype of women in music it has some good stuff, I'll be checking out the records I don't have as soon as I get myself down to a record shop!

Hello Feministing community. I am having a dilemma about my feminism and some music that I like. For example, I love Led Zeppelin, and I recently read their biography, and by the end of the book it was apparent to me that they have little respect for women. Jimmy Page more than the others, he was quoted in this book to have said,
''I don't think much of women, and never have.'' I mean do I stop listening to their music because Jimmy Page is a misogynist?

 So really, I know I shouldn't be ranting and letting my blood boil over dead music phenomenon, BUT, last night I found the lyrics to Elvis' A Little Less Conversation. You know the song that goes, " a little less conversation, a little more action please, all this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me..." Well, here are the full lyrics.

 Now normally I wouldn't care so much because he died years ago. But I do, because it's Elvis, and though none of his songs do at all well on the Feminist thermometer, this one has to be one of the worst. I don't understand how society can fantasize, romantacize, sensationalize and be so fanatical about a performer who was so sexist. Maybe at the time that he was performing it was a little more 'acceptable' - at least by society's standards - but this song did not come out until I believe around the year 2000. I remember distinctly how enthralled with it the media became, and I still hear it played quite often on the radio. I don't understand why. 


/rant about dead womanizers.

We all have them. Those little moments we find ourselves enjoying trashy movies, TV, or magazines that offend our feminist beliefs, but satisfy our desire for some mind numbing entertainment. I usually try to catch these moments, acknowledge them, and then usually continue whatever I was doing.

Well this weekend I had one of those moments that is really kind of bumming me out. I was driving home from a wedding with a friend and the song "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" came on. I remember being six years old and screaming this at the top of my lungs, and as we drove down a country road, I stuck my head out the window and howled the words at the moon.

Then I made the mistake of thinking about the words. Look them up. You'll see how offensive they really kind of are. Really, girls don't just want to have fun...they want to have equality, choice, and success.

Anyways, this really bummed me out. I love singing at the top of my lungs, but I fear I just can't do it to this song anymore. Similar story anyone?

I wanted to spread the word about my newest love.  Alix Olson is a queer artist whose pieces range from folk to spoken word.  She deals with everything from capitalism to sexuality to rape and abuse in her pieces.  She's passionate and a really gifted writer and performer.  Her bio describes her as "one part peace vigil, one part protest rally, and one part joyful raucous concert."

If you get a chance, check out her work.  I've had the songs going through my head for days now...and it's wonderful.

Enjoy!

Since I live in Nashville and have had at least somewhat of a career as a songwriter, I want to talk about an area where women truly excel and that is in the area of singer/songwriters.

I have long been amazed at the plethora of talent among new female songwriters.  Going back to Joni Mitchell, each succeeding generation of new songwriters produces a remarkable body of work, much of it uniquely feminist in its expression.  I am sure Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin, Lucinda Williams, Cat Power and Jonatha Brooke, are familiar names, but these represent the best known, tip of the iceberg.

If you haven’t already discovered the next few women artists, I think it well worth the investment in time to do so.  Here’s some information about these talented women from the All Music Guide: