The band’s defenders will often point to the bawdy humour in their songs. Oafish, sexist and brilliant ... AC/DC in 1979. by Kat George 6/9/2014. We take the music far more seriously than we take the lyrics, which are just throwaway lines.” But if the band members are merely pranksters, then women are their punchlines. Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes. And yet, if you look closely at the lyrics, you’ll see that, while AC/DC’s woman are pitifully one-dimensional, they are also having a good time and are, more often than not, in the driving seat in sexual terms. A song penned by Lastesis, a feminist theater group in Chile, has gone incredibly viral. Royals singer Lorde had previously critized Del Rey for her anti-feminist lyrics, labeling her songs: "Shirt-tugging, desperate, ‘don’t leave me’ stuff.'" It was just role-play, an imitation of something seen on television or perhaps said by a parent, but it was chilling to hear; an unsettling fantasy of future anxiety. 2021 Bustle Digital Group. Santigold Big Mouth. What these feminist songs all have in common is a decidedly pro-woman message, perfect for literally every occassion. I’ve adored AC/DC since I was 12 and it’s not just nostalgia that keeps me going back. This much I know. Black Magic (song) Black Widow (Iggy Azalea song) Body (Megan Thee Stallion … Thread starter Galatea; Start date May 25, 2017; Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. The big-breasted, thunder-thighed women and hopelessly horny boys that inhabit them bring to mind saucy seaside postcards and Carry On films. We'd spend our lives writing and reading it! There's a lot that can go wrong when it comes to writing a feminist song. Here are some of the least feminist songs from the '90s. AC/DC were one of the first bands I heard as a child coming from my older brother’s bedroom. I realise now that the crucial difference between my own musical discoveries as a child and those of my daughter is context. As she sings "The reason I breathe is you" and "There's nothing that I wouldn't do", she implores her love interest to tell her what to do in order to please him. If we’re looking at power balance, there are plenty of instances where it is stacked in the women’s favour. They have been doing it for 30 years, I’ve seen it twice and I did not want my child to see it. If being a traditional woman is being anti feminist, maybe you missed out on a broader definition of feminism. Like. It’s this context that, in the case of AC/DC, renders their lyrics daft as opposed to damaging. The fact that they are rock’n’roll catnip to me surely isn’t enough. Predictability is rarely a virtue in music – it usually points to a shortage of ideas. Hum Tere Pyaar Mei.N (Dil Ek Mandir 1963) 5. What is important is that she already understands that their portrayal of women, their bodies and their function, is not an accurate one. But, much as I feel bad about it, I just can’t. Is it making fun of women who prefer plastic surgery and blonde hair? Unfortunately, "O.P.P." But it’s not just about me any more, because my daughter listens to them, too. Far from subverting the stereotype that women are jealous, petty, and competitive, Brandy and Monica's "The Boy Is Mine" furthered the notion that women just can't get along, especially when there's a common love interest involved. It should go without saying that music in any era has its problems, and that sexism in music continues today. Odder still, perhaps, is that my love for this wilfully unreconstructed rock band has led me to think about my relationship with my daughter, specifically the influence that a parent can have over a child’s cultural life and the ideological quandaries that it can raise. Here are some empowering songs to crank when you've "had it up to here," as Gwen Stefani would say. ), it's a pretty good indication that the chart-topping hits you remember nostalgically and have on all your best '90s playlists are actually pretty disappointing for women. Maddie & Tae’s 2014 debut single quickly became known as “the feminist country song.” The Billboard Country Airplay chart-topper was a response to troubling trends in contemporary country music — namely the rampant objectification of women in songs and music videos from male artists. "Big Pimpin" - Jay-Z (1999) 4. Ace of Base were purportedly Neo-Nazis. Jay-Z might be the husband of Beyonce, doting father of Blue Ivy, and shrewd businessman you admire him for being now, but earlier in his career Jay-Z didn't have much nice to say about women. While this list isn't exhaustive (Can you even imagine an exhaustive list of songs that were anti-feminist from any given decade? Far from subverting the stereotype ... 2. “Bow Down/I Been On”. Sung by the Nooran Sisters, this power-packed song is about freedom, asking women to be young and carefree. In employing minimal words to capture the overwhelming madness of teenage lust, there’s artfulness to their innuendo. Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. To order this book for £8.49 (RRP £9.99) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Later, opponents of women's entry into institutions of higher learning argued that education was too great a physical burden on women. Dheere Dheere Machal (Anupama 1966) Their songs are populated by strippers, prostitutes and young men with apparently unvanquishable erections. 12 Carrie Underwood While there are elements of AC/DC’s work that make me uncomfortable, and one or two that are unequivocally vile, there are many more that simply, through force of undiluted, old-fashioned rock’n’roll swagger, simply make me punch the air with joy. Hits such as He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss) and F***ed my Way Up To The Top are understandably up there amongst her most condemned anti-feminist songs. It might seem odd that, after 30 years of devotion, I should suddenly find myself pondering the changing values and generational shifts that have occurred since I first heard them. Which is the least feminist way to describe women, as chattels belonging to men. In 2004, in an interview with Sylvie Simmons for Mojo magazine, guitarist and band founder Angus Young remarked, “We’re pranksters more than anything else,” while his brother Malcolm noted: “We’re not like some macho band. We have talked about why so many of the female characters in classic kids’ books are dismissed as bossy, or cry a lot, or play second fiddle to the boys. Bills, Bills, Bills. For definitely "anti-feminist"? She’s 10 years old and, because of me, she adores Rock’n’Roll Train, in which singer Brian Johnson sings: “Take it to the spot/You know she’ll make it really hot.” She also loves You Shook Me All Night Long in which Johnson’s lover is a “fast machine” who keeps “her motor clean”. As a new book collects essays from female fans writing on their favourite problematic artists, one writer explain why she’s reappraising the rock band, First published on Mon 2 Oct 2017 16.13 BST. Not yet. Five Anti-Feminist Bollywood Songs That Will Make You Cringe 1. Mar 9, 2018 Getty Images. "The Boy Is Mine" - Brandy & Monica (1998) Two women fighting over a man isn't exactly inspiring for feminism. Writing on Instagram , the star criticised "female writers" who have attacked her for "glamorising abuse". Dreams of the Everyday Housewife by Glen Campbell (ack!) 1. 7 Of The Least Feminist Songs Of The '90s. It’s because of moments such as this that I’ve made a point of offering my child an alternative narrative – one in which women can be proud of their bodies, exist apart from the male gaze and not just reject but hoot with laughter at the moronic archetypes presented in advertising, the media, film, TV and music. And then there's the fact that she's dancing around dressed as a fetishized school girl, which is way creepier than we realized at the time. Jay-Z's first line goes "You know I - thug em, fuck em, love em, leave em/Cause I don't fuckin need em" which sets the tone for the rest of the song, in which he treats women like sex objects to be disrespected at his will. This is an obvious choice. 10. Two women fighting over a man isn't exactly inspiring for feminism. I am a proud feminist, and a sizeable proportion of my work as a journalist is about combating sexism. So I'm going to check them now! Salute is the ultimate girl-power song and it has been compared to Beyoncé’s Run The World (Girls).The track praises independence and individuality. Please help to improve this list by introducing more precise citations. Share Share Tweet Email Comment. This is an edited extract from Under My Thumb: Songs That Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them, edited by Rhian E Jones and Eli Davies, published on 19 October by Repeater. But consider this: the Backstreet Boys are singing "I don't care who you are, where you're from, what you did, as long as you love me" as the video cycles through women who morph seamlessly into one another. Listen to the best feminist songs. In the case of AC/DC, however, the inexorability of their songs, the visceral, if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it familiarity of those riffs, is precisely the appeal. 15 Popular Songs That Are Actually Feminist Anthems. I try, where possible, to encourage my daughter to think about how women are represented in art, music, film and everyday life. Z-FLOThe Feminist Song℗ Solar Music, LLCReleased on: 2019-01-18Auto-generated by YouTube. Back before a time when Internet think pieces would tear apart songs and music videos, '90s songs that were anti-feminist went by largely unchecked. A few years ago, while my daughter was playing with a group of girls at a friend’s house, I overheard one of them prancing around in front of a mirror and wondering out loud if she looked fat. RECOMMENDED: Full guide to protests in NYC. This much I know. The pop hits you loved in the '90s could be shockingly anti-woman, and sometimes it was even women who were behind these songs, which makes it all the more surprising. As well as big riffs, they are defined by casual sexism and oafish double entendres. Anti-feminism is opposition to feminism in some or all of its forms. This is rock’n’roll cut to the bone. "O.P.P." The opening riff to Back in Black has the same effect on me as the lengthy synthesised intro on I Feel Love by Donna Summer, or the thunk-thunk-thunk of New Order’s Blue Monday. When not extolling the delights of fighting, gambling, drinking and fast cars, their songs are about getting laid or hoping to get laid. Well by the definition of your thread - called anti-feminist - being against feminism (which is at the very heart equality not about being a traditional-housewife), the songs I posted would fall under that category. What if that woman, the Barbie Girl, is actually a very nice, accomplished person otherwise? This is because my daughter loves AC/DC, too. They never reach this conclusion lyrically though, so without the video (say, if you just heard it on the radio or sang it at karaoke, something I admittedly do more often than is necessary), the song is pretty anti-feminist. By Rachel Epstein. And yet still I listen to AC/DC. Music history is littered with lyrics that exclude or degrade women. Feminism is … Rejecting the Leslie Knope idea of "Ovaries before brovaries", Brandy and Monica fight each other in the song, rather than turning their anger towards the man that clearly played them both. I remembered Whole Lotta Rosie, in which the eponymous heroine, who we are cacklingly informed “ain’t exactly pretty/ain’t exactly small”, is brought to life during shows in the form of a massive blow-up effigy, busting out of her bra and knickers and sitting astride a cannon. In the '90s, there was a lot of anti-feminist sentiment in music, and some '90s songs you bopped along to (and probably still do) are actually pretty sexist. Be a Man (song) Bickenhead. And yet here I am. This is a woman who, just so we’re completely clear, “ain’t no fairy story/ ain’t no skin and bones”, and is as mandatory a part of the AC/DC live experience as tolling bells and old men in short trousers. If it's not satire, the song suggests women exist only to be seen and stroked by men, and fetishizes beauty. I still hadn’t clocked this when I first saw them live at the age of 18 and was faced with the inflatable Rosie who was, quite literally, the size of a house. They are the joke, and so is the sexism that they must endure. The basic message is you don't need a personality or any individuality, just to unquestioningly love your man, and that will make you desirable to him. Aap Ki Nazaro.n Ne Samjha (Anpadh 1962) 3. means "Other People's Pussy", and suggests that women are "owned" by their men. We have had tentative conversations about sex, physical autonomy and body image. They really are appalling. All rights reserved. Don't pretend you don't go bananas when you're on the dance floor and Naughty By Nature comes on. It's the 15th anniversary of 'Stupid Girls,' and fans can't believe Pink ever wrote something that is so judgemental of other women. Together we have looked quizzically at the acres of pink in children’s clothes shops and at the miniature cookers and plastic cupcakes aimed at little girls in Toys R Us. Nina Simone’s “Four Women” details black female archetypes and tackles questions of identity for women of color in a post-emancipation America. [Season 41, 2016]Buy "This Is Not A Feminist Song" on iTunes! It's not exactly inspiring for a generation of independent young women. In Whole Lotta Rosie (“When it comes to lovin’, she steals the show”) and She Shook Me All Night Long (“Taking more than her share/Had me fighting for air”), it’s the men who come over as passive and hopeless, awestruck in the presence of sexual partners more experienced and adept than them. However, there's one that's subject to interpretation as to whether it's pro or anti-feminist. A lot can happen in 15 years. In fact, songs about equality and respecting women have been a staple in country music songs written by men as well. 1. When we first met a teenage Britney Spears, her loneliness was killing her. What is the new generation of young women to think of a band that cautions women not to resist their advances and reduces them to a series of body parts? Bitch (Meredith Brooks song) Bitch Bad. Women Write the Most Empowering Music—​and These 41 Songs Prove It. Their songs are populated by strippers, prostitutes and young men with apparently unvanquishable erections. In seeing the band for what they really are – a bunch of archly sex-obsessed idiots with sharp tunes and some seriously killer riffs – she might just grow up to love them critically, but love them all the same. When not extolling the delights of fighting, gambling, drinking and fast cars, their songs are about getting laid or hoping to get laid. "Big Pimpin'", something of a dance floor anthem, is actually one of the most terrible, anti-feminist songs to plague the '90s. I try to be frank with her at all times, but even I’m not quite ready to give her a full breakdown of the body shaming, objectification and dehumanising of women in the AC/DC oeuvre. And if so, what's wrong with that? 1. This Forgotten Pink Song Is Being Called Anti-Feminist. isn't about "getting" with women, it's about taking another man's property. Anyone can be a feminist. Tera Mera Saath Rahe (Saudagar 1973) 4. Female empowerment from the artists who do it best. C/DC are the worst. This list includes a list of general references, but it remains largely unverified because it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. "Run the World (Girls)" by Beyoncé. The song accuses judges, police and politicians of committing or failing to stop rape. I mean, the title should really tell you everything you need to know. Most Feminist Lyrics: "Go to work and get paid less than a man/When I'm doin' the same damn thing that he can/When I'm aggressive then I'm a bitch/When I got attitude you call me a … UNPOPULAR OPINION: “GOD IS A WOMAN” IS AN ANTI-FEMINIST SONG. Although the members of the girl group have misinterpreted the meaning of feminism in the past by saying, “I wouldn’t say we’re feminists; we don’t hate our men,” it cannot be denied that Salute is a song about feminism. She will roll her eyes at the teeny-weeny waists and bulging eyes of Disney heroines, but will still happily watch the movies. Saturdays Gentleman. How Anti-Feminist Are These 20 Woman Hating Songs Sung by Women? (September 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Huh? "... Baby One More Time" - Britney Spears (1998) 3. These matters came to a head when the band announced a new tour and my daughter asked if we could go to see them together. The one redeeming feature of the song is the music video, in which they totally band together at the end to reveal to their cheating boyfriend that they've uncovered his cheating ways. You might say "Barbie Girl" is satire, so it's fine. Some are capital-F feminist, some are comforting as a … Whether she continues to listen, or decides that AC/DC are a ghastly throwback to an era she’s delighted to have missed, is up to her. And then I started to panic. Since then I’ve thought more about my blithe tolerance of AC/DC and wondered why I appear to have given them a free pass, when I have seen other artists reducing women to walking vaginas and cried foul. AC/DC are the worst. Why should women be judged solely on their appearance and interests? It’s the fact that their songs are packed with precision and power, as catchy as the finest throwaway pop music. Man, I love AC/DC. By Laurel Walsh Published Feb 07, 2021. On hearing this, the conscientious feminist would surely stop listening and build a bonfire out of the band’s back catalogue. This is an edited extract from Under My Thumb: Songs That Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them, edited by Rhian E Jones and Eli Davies, published on 19 October by Repeater. As well as big riffs, they are defined by casual sexism and oafish double entendres. Shouldn't a young woman with the world at her feet put her self worth in something more than the attentions of a boy? Meanwhile, "All That She Wants", which is one of those amazing '90s weird hits you probably remember quite fondly, is about a woman who doesn't want to work, and spends her days trolling for dudes. Lana Del Rey has defended herself against accusations that her lyrics are anti-feminist. A powerful black feminist song, “Four Women” nicely accompanies other empowering Nina Simone tunes like “To Be Young, Gifted and Black” and “Ain’t Got No, I Got Life.”. They are preposterously smutty, hopelessly unsophisticated, and pretty much every one of their songs sounds the same. Man, I love, ‘If we’re looking at power balance, there are plenty of instances where it is stacked in the women’s favour.’. Plenty, but not all. Where I simply absorbed such archetypes in my youth, my daughter is already learning to question them. It's a common misconception that to be a feminist, one must be a cis woman, but this is far from the case. Tumhi Mere Mandir (Khandan 1965) 2. These are things that can ruin a band for me. It’s worth noting that none of this – at least so far – has come at the expense of her enjoyment. Queen Bey's powerful, high-energy anthem is everything, from a crowd favorite to a ... "Nasty" by Janet Jackson. It would be her first stadium gig and I couldn’t have been more delighted. “Cherry Bomb” by … Feminist themes have always … You probably swooned over "As Long As You Love Me" in the '90s because it's "romantic". Favorite Anti-Feminist Songs. People Who Voted On This List (26) Astoria 1811 books 728 friends Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) 545 books 369 friends Susanna - Censored by GoodReads … It wouldn’t be a stretch to say Ariana Grande’s song God is a Woman has been a hit since it’s release date July 13th, 2018. Lyrically, AC/DC may be puerile, but their pithiness is second to none. I'm just going to leave that information right there. They really are appalling. Now, though, I have cause to question whether they are really a band to be celebrated. I’ve long denounced assorted 70s and 80s musicians for their lyrical depictions of sexual violence, their reductive attitude to women and their offstage penchant for teenage girls. I instinctively loved them and failed to notice that when Bon Scott pronounced his desire for Rosie, he was saying it in spite of her not being a perfect size eight. Feminist anthems call in all shapes and sizes, from the riot grrrl hard-hitters to pop radio chart-toppers. It's a pretty nasty representation of womanhood, and a complete non sequitur to Ace of Base's frivolous dance music. They might make you think twice before you belt out some awesome Backstreet Boys in the shower, for instance. Right now, the details of AC/DC’s innuendo may go over her head, but as she gets older, all will become clear. Patakha Guddi (Highway) Patakha Guddi means ‘firebrand kite’ in Punjabi. Now that we're "woke" we can start looking back on our favorite era with a little more savvy, and scrutinize the hits we held up as gospel in order to expose the rampant sexism that has a long history in the music industry. So far I’ve kept her away from Go Down, Big Balls and Let Me Put My Love Into You, but it’s only a matter of time before she finds them for herself. It reinforces the manipulative, gold digger stereotype, and considering all the female protagonist of the song wants is "another baby", you can be pretty sure she's using child-bearing to pick up some sweet child support checks. So either way, "Barbie Girl" kind of sucks for feminism. There’s an unpleasant sneering quality to Bon Scott’s assertion on Carry Me Home: “You ain’t no lady but you sure got taste in men/That head of yours has got you by time and time again.” In Let Me Put My Love Into You, Johnson sings: “Don’t you struggle, don’t you fight/Don’t worry cause it’s your turn tonight”, a grim rape fantasy with the payoff: “Let me cut your cake with my knife.”. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device. And in some countries, performing it is a risky business. Beyonce's 10 Worst, Most Anti-Feminist Songs. Also read: 10 Feminist Songs To Listen To When The Patriarchy Has Got You Down. Cher Lloyd Want U … But what is the satire here? In the 19th century, anti-feminism was mainly focused on opposition to women's suffrage. They are preposterously smutty, hopelessly unsophisticated, and pretty much every one of their songs sounds the same.

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