Girl Power Anthems:
Enough to Influence Women, but Not Society
Kierra Wright
The pop culture of modern America is inclusive of a vast array of ideas, language, clothing, food, actors, musicians, performers, and trends in general. Pop culture is highly influenced by the needs and wants of society; pop culture is typically a clear indicator of society’s most current interests, and overall thinking and lifestyle. While society can influence pop culture, pop culture may also quickly become an influencer of society. The general public will alter themselves individually to fit the standards they believe pop culture sets for them. For example, as new fashion trends flood in, women will run to the closest stores to buy the clothing, whether they like it or not, pop culture tells them it is what they should want. Thus, pop culture becomes a crucial part of society due to its overwhelmingly influential nature.
Music is a major part of pop culture, and a newly defined genre of music, is “girl power anthems.” A “girl power anthem” expresses an entire range of ideas, beliefs, and values regarding women and their power in society. As female musical stars like Beyoncé, Katy Perry, and Alicia Keys belt out their feelings and beliefs, they are using pop culture as a means to influence society to not only think about the way it treats women, but the way in which the power of boys and men are viewed.
In his article “Harry Potter and the Functions of Popular Culture,” Dustin Kidd explores five ways by which pop culture is able to influence society. Kidd claims that popular culture can establish norms, social boundaries, and rituals, and has an innovative tendency that paves the way for social change (71). Kidd argues that pop culture holds the ability to define social normality’s. Kidd explains that pop culture creates social norms, by telling the public what is acceptable; he uses clothing as his primary example,
So what do I wear and how do I decide? The fashion industry lifts this anxiety from me. I know what to wear when I see it advertised on television and in magazines where these norms of fashion are presented. The norms are reinforced by film and television actors, and musicians, who embrace advertised fashions. They are reinforced again when the department store only offers those fashions that have been advertised. (75–76)
Much like Kidd says that he will know what to wear and what is considered fashionable, as he will see it advertised on television and worn by different actors, so will girl power anthems begin to define new social norms by empowering women to fight for gender equality. As famous and influential pop culture artists like Alicia Keys sing about girl power, society will begin to consider gender equality a norm.
In his article Kidd also asserts that another ability of pop culture is that it gives rituals the opportunity to occur. Kidd describes how rituals brought about by pop culture generate solidarity; in turn solidarity is crucial because it is the basis for social cohesion. Kidd writes “…the sense of trust that solidarity engenders is a necessary precondition before members of society will take the risky step of investing their resources, time, and selves into their societies” (79). Women need girl power anthems to inspire them to want to do something about inequality; there is clearly a need in society regarding the way in which women are treated that causes girl power anthems to be necessary.
Girl power anthems express ideas about women and their typically assumed roles in society, while attempting to challenge such social norms by empowering and encouraging women to make a choice about the ways they are treated. However, the songs themselves will never directly change the role of women in society; they will only give women the chance to build trust and a sense of cohesion with one another, before they invest their time and energy in attempting to change the inequalities of women versus men in society. The anthems are simply a production of art designed to inspire and perhaps even console audiences, not a plan to create gender equality.
In her blog post “Behind every strong man, there is an even stronger Beyoncé,” Samhita argues, among many other things, that girl power anthems are only tricking women into thinking they have power, when in reality their choices are confined by limitations already set by society, she writes “Pop culture perceptions of grrl power have become the stand-in for what feminism actually is, obscuring the reality that women are far from running the world, instead we are often forced to make choices that are not really choices but conditions we are managing” (paragraph 5). Samhita sees this as a problem, but does it truly matter if girl power anthems have a set plan for gender parity, so long as the songs are uniting women, and showing audiences that they are capable of making their own choices against the preset gender inequalities of society?
In a response post to Samhita, “Why I Like My Feminism Gray…” blogger Natasha argues a different view “any form of empowerment starts with an internal decision to be empowered” (paragraph 8). Natasha recognizes that to initiate any form of change towards the social norms already set in place around equality, women must first chose to want to do something about the inequality. Women are empowered and motivated to come together and make such choices by girl power anthems, though the actual change of social norms may be farther down the road as Samhita suggests, Natasha is correct in recognizing that the power to cause such changes begins with influential pieces of pop culture, like girl power anthems.
One of Alicia Keys’ most well known songs is her girl power anthem, “Girl on Fire.”
Alicia Keys successfully shares her confidence, which inspires her viewers, through her video. Alicia creates a sense of social cohesion not only among audience members, but also a strong bond between herself and all women viewing her anthem. In her video Alicia portrays herself as a single mother trying to raise a family all while paying the bills, making meals, and cleaning the house. During one scene Alicia snaps her fingers, and automatically all the toys and clutter on the floor fly into a single organized box, Alicia then looks at the camera, seeming very pleased with herself, and gives her audience a knowing and reassuring nod while smirking. This nod of reassurance shows women viewers that they need not be afraid of independence, that tasks like cleaning up a cluttered room can be completed without the presence of a male. This action may also be consoling to some viewers, as they see Alicia Keys’ character conquering the struggles of being a single mother, they too will feel a sense of empowerment in their abilities to do the same. Alicia creates a sense of trust with her audience by acting as if this is a newfound secret she is sharing only with them; this is important as it makes women feel empowered to go forward and practice this idea of independence.
In the second chorus of the song Alicia truly shares her struggles and successes with the audience as she changes her lyrics from “she got both feet on the ground, and she’s burning it down, ohhhh oh oh oh oh, she got her head in the clouds, and she’s not backing down,” to “we got both feet on the ground, and we’re burning it down, ohhhh oh oh oh oh, got our heads in the clouds, and we’re not coming down.” Perhaps Alicia is advocating for “burning down” a society that produces gender inequalities, again empowering women to challenge the social norms of society . Regardless of the intentions of Alicia’s lyrics, by changing to an inclusive “we” Alicia is empowering all her women viewers; including them all in the fight for gender equality, creating a sense of power in numbers as women prepare to make the choice to change social norms or to not. Alicia creates the option of a social norm many women may have not yet considered, one in which women come together to fight against gender inequality.
Alicia Keys is using her “girl power anthem” to relay the message to female viewers that they do not need a male presence in their lives. An interesting part of Alicia’s video then, is when a man enters the scene, and attempts to become part of the story. However, Alicia is not at all welcoming to the man. The man is shown trying to touch Alicia’s character, interrupting the music she is listening to, but Alicia refuses the touch of the man, and mouths the word “stop,” sticking with the message she has been sending her audience the entire song. Alicia empowers women by continuously showing them that they need not depend on a man. As Natasha explained in her blog, Alicia is giving women the choice to be empowered. If women so chose they can bond and learn to trust one another through the empowering scenes Alicia creates in her video, and with this sense of empowerment women can begin to form new social boundaries, where men are not necessary parts of life.
Girl power anthems like “Girl on Fire” clearly attempt to inspire women and influence them to challenge male domination in society, however, Alicia Keys does not include a well thought out set of directions on how to solve gender parity in society throughout her lyrics. As Natasha states in her post, when analyzing one of Beyoncé’s girl power anthems, “Beyonce’s song is just that…a creative, aesthetic, call to empowerment…I think Beyonce is an artist doing what artists do…creating her vision of what reality should be” (paragraph 9). Though girl power anthems call women together to challenge inequality, the artists most likely do not have a top secret plan hidden in their lyrics that has the ability to completely modify years of societal history through one song. Alicia Keys, whether intentionally or not, is simply empowering women through her work, to begin challenging social boundaries that are currently set in place, if they so chose.
Kidd uses different terminology to focus on the same idea, that while Alicia’s video is empowering and inspiring for women, “girl power” may not have been her original intent. Kidd refers to pieces of commercial culture as those that seek to generate profit and are popular for their fame and widespread enjoyment (72). Alicia’s song “Girl on Fire” was not initially famous for its abilities to empower women, and her goal when producing the song was not to solve the issue of gender inequality in society. Alicia produced the song to benefit her career, and the song became popular because of her prior success as a modern pop star.
Alicia Keys is a reputable, talented, and successful female pop star. Her music is admired and appreciated by a large fan group. While Alicia Keys’ hit girl power anthem “Girl on Fire” is able to empower women, and inspire them, it may not have a strong enough influence to cause an immediate and significant change in society. Through the context of her song she is able to give women more than just four minutes of momentary happiness or positivity, she gives them the confidence and encouragement necessary to face their own difficulties through creating a sense of trust and cohesion by showing her audience that other women are facing the same challenges as them. Alicia Keys is able to influence the thinking of women and give them the idea that they have a choice of power, yet she cannot control society and make this illusion a reality or thinking for everyone, men included. As much as Alicia Keys presents herself as a strong, independent, female mother in her video, the power of her career itself is limited in its ability to change society, as her main goal is to advance her career, not solve the issue of gender inequality in society.
Kierra Wright
