For ages I’ve listened to artist after artist, in my childhood I listened to female artists such as the Spice Girls, Agnetha, Madonna, and Anni-Frid (ABBA), and Katy Perry. Saturday mornings when I was around the age of four or five (whenever I figured out how to work the tv remote) you could find me in the family room blasting Katy Perry music videos, while my parents lay in bed upstairs.
Something I never really considered until recently is the affects artists like these have on girls and women, and to another level the feminist movement. Throughout the decades female artists have climbed the charts, according to Billboard, in 2020, “Madonna is now the first musician to collect 50 No. 1 hits on any chart”. Not only that, but the women also who strived to assist the movement through their music.
For my evolving ideas project, I’m going focus on how female artists throughout the decades affected today’s feminist movements, within both society and the music industry. I’m going to be focusing on the decades between the 1950’s to today.
Covering girl groups such as The Spice Girls and The Runaways, an all-female rock band lead by Janis Joplin, to artists such as Madonna, Mama Cass, and Leslie Gore. Along with the feminine punk rock genre that ultimately led to more women becoming more politically active, known as “Riot Grrrl”.
By looking at these artists we will be able to recognize their affects, how their girl power fueled the feminist movement, and became inspirations for people, more specifically women, all around the world.
One of the books I will be utilizing is titled Girl Groups, Girl Culture published in 2007 by music scholar Jaqueline Warwick which focuses on the culture identity of female artists in the 1960’s, after browsing through it I noticed that most of it can still be applied to artists now. From the tie between girldom and rebellion to the violence they received in the studio and the publics positive and negative perspectives.
After those Saturday mornings mentioned at the beginning, I am now a female musician, I’ve been playing the bass guitar for roughly 2 years now and I’ve always looked up to other female musicians for years, now looking up to female bassists such as Carol Kaye and Jackie Fox.
I still remember the immediate love I had for girl groups and bands when I watched the 1997 movie Spice World when I was 5. Today I still want to form my dream all-girl band.
I think it is awesome that the music industry is currently dominated by female artists like Taylor Swift and Adele! It is cool how you will be analyzing how the female artists serve as inspiration for other people. I think you should look at the reasons why some fans see the artists as “role models” and what the artists have been doing to increase their influence. And about your dream of starting a band… go for it!
This is such a cool concept to talk about. I can tell you have a strong passion for it. It would be interesting if you talked about the fan bases have developed as well as the female artists. Female artists are dominating so much that their fan bases are helping the economy grow and can take over the world if they wanted to (in my opinion, as a Swiftie!).