Feminist Music

 

Music with a side of feminism, or social justice for mains: whether you like their styles, some of these artists have a strong sense of women’s rights and good beats. And it’s more than just an airy declaration of equal rights used for branding purposes. Women’s music emerged during the second wave of feminism in the 60’s and 70’s, characterised as being created by women, explicitly for women and about women, with significant links to the civil rights and peace protest movements, a link which has continued throughout the years to today, with bands such as Pussy Riot protesting via music.

Accessible to all areas of society, music is a true boundary crossing - and shaping - medium. The downside of this is that much of the popular music we listen to contains references to rape culture, homophobia, and racism. So let us point you in the direction of a few favourite feminist artists… And a few favourite feminist songs, for when you need to let your anthem ring out loud! And let us take a moment out to say: we definitely acknowledge that not all artists espouse feminist views at all times, and there is always going to be differences of opinion amongst both artists and their listeners as to what truly constitutes a feminist work. This is what makes the feminist movement so vibrant and diverse – so please, have a listen, there’s something here for everyone!

 

Home-grown (Australian) Feminist Artists:

Helen Reddy

Judy Small

Nina Las Vegas

Wendy Saddington

 

World Music Artists and Bands:

Adult Mom

Alanis Morisette

Allison Wolfe

Amanda Palmer

Ani DiFranco

Aretha Franklin

Beyonce

Bikini Kill

Catie Curtis

Chastity Belt

CocoRosie

Dar Williams

Ex Hex

Girlpool

G.L.O.S.S. (Girls Living Outside of Society’s Sh*t)

Grimes

Indigo Girls

​Janelle Monáe

Joan Jett

Joanna Gruesome

Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill, Le Tigre and The Julie Ruin)

Kurt Cobain

Lorde

Melissa Ferrick

Mitski

P!nk

Peaches

Pat Benatar

Patty Larkin

Peggy Seeger

Perfect Pussy

Pussy Riot

Sarah McLachlan

Sleater-Kinney

Tacocat

Taylor Swift

Tori Amos

Warpaint

 

 

The Feminist Power Playlist:

#1 Must Have - Sleater-Kinney

7/11 - Beyonce

50 bottles of Shampoo - The King Blues (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fwwvweClGjM )

Anaconda - Nicki Minaj

Armpit Hair - Alix Olson

Ampersand - Amanda Palmer

Back Back Back - Ani DiFranco

Beautiful - Christina Aguleria 

Bitch Bad - Lupe Fiasco

Big, Beautiful & Sexy - Casey Donovan

Blank Space - Taylor Swift

Blood In The Boardroom - Ani DiFranco

Bloody Ice Cream - Bikini Kill

Bad Reputation - Joan Jett

Body Of My Own - Charli XCX

Bootylicious - Destiny's Child

Borders - M.I.A 

Born this way - Lady gaga

BO$$ - Fifth Harmony

Bounce Your Boobies - Rusty Warren

Brides for Sale - Sonita Alizadeh

Can I Run - L7

Cell Bound Blues - Gertrude “Ma” Rainey

Closer To Fine - Indigo Girls

Cockiness(Love It) - Rihanna

Confident - Demi Lovato

Crimson Wave - Tacocat

Cry me out - Pixie Lott

Dear Daily Mail - Amanda Palmer

Dear Mr. President - P!nk & The Indigo Girls 

Defying Gravity - Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel

Different Drum - Stone Poneys ft. Linda Ronstadt

Diva - Beyonce

Do Right Woman, Do Right Man - Aretha Franklin

Don't Call Me Baby - Madison Avenue

Don’t Put Her Down (You Helped Put Her There) - Hazel Dickens

Don't Say You Loved me - M2M

Doo Be Doo - Freshly Ground

Doubt - Mary J. Blige

Electric Lady - Janelle Monae

The Fear - Lilly Allen

Galileo - Indigo Girls

Giants - Kimya Dawson

Girl In A Country Song - Maddie and Tae

Girl - Destiny's child

Girls fall like dominoes - Nicki Minaj

Get Me Bodied - Beyonce

Get On Your Knees - Nick Minaj, ft. Ariana Grande

Glass Ceiling - Metric

Feeling Myself - Nicki Minaj ft Beyonce

Fight Song - Rachel Platten

Fighter - Christina Aguilera

Flawless - Beyonce & Nicki Minaj, ft. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (original and remix)

Flirting - Jess Klein

Fly - Nicki Minaj ft Rihanna

Four Women - Nina Simone

Freakum Dress - Beyonce

Hair - Little Mix

Hands Clean - Alanis Morissette

Happy - Leona Lewis

Harper Valley P.T.A. - Jeannie C. Riley

Here - Alessia Cara

Hero - Mariah Carey

Hot Topic - Le Tigre

Human Nature - Madonna

I am Woman - Helen Reddy (also Judith Lucy more recently) 

I Can Make it Through the Rain - Mariah Carey

I Love It - Icona Pop, ft. Charli XCX

I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor

I’m Doing Me - Fantasia

I’m Just A Girl - No Doubt

I was Here - Beyonce

Independent Women Part 1 - Destiny’s Child

Institutionalised - Amanda Palmer (originally by The Suicidal Tendencies) 

Irreplaceable - Beyonce

It Wasn’t God Who Made Honkey Tonk Angels - Kitty Wells

Just Because I'm a woman - Dolly Parton

Just One Of The Guys - Jenny Lewis

Keep Holding On - Avril Lavigne

Killem With It - Clairy Browne 

Least Complicated - Indigo Girls

Let It Go - Idina Menzel

Lemonade – Beyonce (album, not song)

Light of a Clear Blue Morning - Dolly Parton

Lionheart - Demi Lovato

Listen - Beyonce

Little me - Little Mix

Live It Up - Colbie Caillat

Living In Sin - Jess Klein

Lone Ranger - Rachel Platten

Looking Through A Window - Wendy Saddington

Man! I Feel Like A Woman - Shania Twain

Map of Tasmania - Amanda Palmer

March of the Women - written by Ethel Smyth and Cicely Hamilton, 1910

M3LL155X - FKA Twigs

Naughty - Tim Minchin

No - Meagan Trainor

No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) - Donna Summer & Barbra Streisand

No Scrubs - TLC

Not Ready to Make Nice - The Dixie Chicks

Non, Je ne regrette rien - Edith Piaf

None Of Your Business - Salt-N-Peppa

Not Your Way - MisterWives

Oh Bondage! Up Yours! - X-Ray Spex

Pageant Material - Kacey Musgraves

Paid My dues - Anastacia

Perfect - Pink

Piece of Me - Britney Spears

The Pill - Loretta Lynn

Pot Belly - Freshly Ground

Pretty Hurts - Beyonce

Proud - Tegan and Sara

Put your records on - Corinne Bailey Rae 

Q.U.E.E.N - Janelle Monae ft. Erykah Badu

Queen Bitch II by Lil Kim

Read All About It - Emeli Sande

Real Girl - Mutya Buena

Respect - Aretha Franklin

Rebel Girl - Bikini Kill

Run The World (Girls) - Beyonce

Salute - Little Mix

Sam Jones Blues - Bessie Smith

Second Wind - Kelly Clarkson

Secrets - Mary Lambert

Shake It Off - Taylor Swift

Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves - Eurythmics 

Sisters, O Sisters - Yoko Ono

Skyscrape - Demi Lovato

So What - P!nk

Soar - Christina Aguilera

Stupid Girls - P!nk

Stronger - Sugababes

Suggestion - Fugazi 

Supermodels - Kendall Payne

Superpower - Beyonce

Superwoman - Alicia Keys 

Survivor - Destiny's Child

Take Me As I Am - Vanessa Amorosi 

Tears For Animals - CocoRosie

Thank you - Jamelia (trigger warning: domestic violence)

This Is Our Emergency - Pretty Girls Make Graves

'Til It Happens to You - Lady Gaga

Today - Alanis Morissette  

Too Much - Spice Girls

Transgender Dysphoria Blues - Against Me

U + Ur Hand - P!nk

U.N.I.T.Y. -  Queen Latifah

Underneath Your Clothes - Shakira

Unpretty - TLC

Unwritten - Natasha Bedengfield

Video - India.Arie

The Voice Within - Christina Aguilera

Walk Away - Christina Aguilera

Welcome to My Truth - Anastacia

When I Was A Boy - Dar Williams

Which Side Are You On? - Ani DeFranco

Wings - Little Mix

Woman in the White House - Sheryl Crow

Yellow Flicker Beat – Lorde

Yes - Beyonce

You Don't Own Me - Lesley Gore

You Let Me Down - Billie Holiday

You Oughta Know - Alanis Morissette