blogger profile

Chloe Angyal

Student/Intern/Writer

Chloe Angyal is a senior majoring in Sociology at Princeton University. Raised in Sydney, Australia, Chloe aspires to to be writer, a women's rights advocate, and an all-around good person. In her spare time, she loves to dance, sing, ice skate, drink good wine, eat good food, rock out to bad music ...

READ MORE

A feminist playlist

I was listening to the lyrics,

I never pretend to be something I'm not
You get what you see when you see what I've got
We live in the real world, I'm just a real girl
I know exactly where I stand

And all I can do is be true to myself
I don't need permission from nobody else
'Cause this is the real world, I'm not a little girl
I know exactly who I am

And they were so refreshingly feminist. That got me thinking about my favourite feminist songs. The first one that came to mind was “U & Ur Hand” by Pink:

I'm not here for your entertainment
You don't really want to mess with me tonight
Just stop and take a second
I was fine before you walked into my life
Cause you know it's over
Before it began
Keep your drink just give me the money
It's just you and your hand tonight

And, of course, “Video” by India.Arie:

I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Aria
When I look in the mirror the only one there is me
Every freckle on my face is where it's supposed to be
And I know our creator didn't make no mistakes on me
My feet, my thighs, my lips, my eyes; I'm lovin' what I see

I'm not the average girl from your video
And I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes

I love these songs because unlike so many pop songs out there today, they’re not about men and they’re not about material wealth – they’re about women. They’re about being comfortable in your own skin and feeling beautiful without a man’s attention, that is, being sexy without being sexualized.
Unfortunately, when I tried to put together a playlist of these kinds of songs, I found a grand total of...five. There aren't a lot of feminist pop songs out there. That said,what are your favourite feminist songs, and why?