Feminist or FemMANist? - You Decide
Top 10 You Tube Videos for Feminists
Thus a list of the top 10 You Tube videos featuring strong liberated females was born. Feminst or FemMANist? You decide.
Tied for number 10 are:
#10 Leslie Gore -"You Don't Own Me"
A pop 1960s female star, Ms. Gore sang about typical teenage girl issues: boys and heartbreak. With this song she expressed a girl's desire to freely speak her mind and to not be objectified by being displayed like a prized piece of art.
#10 Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys -"Different Drum"
It has always been acceptable for men to "sow their wild oats" before marriage. This song expresses a girl's desire to grow mature before settling down with a boy "who wants to love only me". Linda went solo building a successful musical career with a diverse selection of hits. She is known for political activism as well her music, which included romantic love ballads with different male singers.
#9 Aretha Franklin covering Sly Stone's"Everyday People".
Aretha popped into the pop music scene in the 1960's telling men what women want with her song "Respect". She never made tabloid headlines about her latest diet and effort to lose weight. She was comfortable with her appearance which is an inspiration for all females to stop trying to conform to a Hollywood standard of the "perfect" female body. Everyday people come in all sizes, shapes and colors. So do feminist women.
#8 Janet Jackson -"Control"
All those brothers! Coming from a family dominated by males, Janet became one of the first top-selling female artists. A coming of age song, she tells the world she wants "to make her own decisions". Through the years, Ms. Jackson proves a woman can be beautiful, sexy and in control.
#7 Cyndi Lauper -"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"
"What do women want?" men ask in exasperation. "When the working day is done girls just wanna have fun", 'nuff said. Cyndi is having fun in this live performance and so is her audience. In addition to having fun, Cyndi has a heart of gold, using her celebrity and talent to improve the quality of life for citizens worldwide.
#6 Cher -Believe Album Mix
Cher is another beautiful woman that did not conform to prevalent beauty modes. Do young women that write with supposed authority on what a feminist is know who Cher is? Being married to Sonny when she first started earning megabucks, she would not have been allowed, by law, to have credit in her own name. Cher embodies feminism showing a female can be strong, liberated and all female. In this You Tube video she tells the guy she is strong enough to survive the breakup and "on being used I could write the book."
#5 Helen Reddy - "I Am Woman"
Helen is probably best known for what was considered the Feminist Movement's National Anthem. She also sang standard love ballads and about mental disorders, giving a voice to a misunderstood part of the female population.
#4 Diana Ross -"It's My Turn"
Any woman that has "given up the truth for those" she "tried to please" could choose this song as the true Women's Movement National Anthem. There is an autobiographical note in this song about a woman breaking free and taking control of her own destiny. Offstage Diana gives time and money for one of the world's most valuable resource: children. As a star she is simply super.
#3 Madonna -"Express Yourself"
Known for her controversial rule and role breaking videos, Madonna is not afraid to express herself. Her songs spoke for the pregnant teenager and tell men love is more important than money. She points out in this video: "Without the heart there can be no understanding between the hand and the mind". Through her music she inspires us to cherish every moment of life, to celebrate it and to "make it happen, the way we want to take it".
#2 Tina Turner -1982 "Proud Mary"
Tina tells her audience: "People ask me when are you going to slow down. You know what I tell them? I'm just getting started." Tina was 43 when she performed for this video and continued her high energy performances for years to come. A survivor of domestic violence, Tina is the epitome of a strong woman. She knows what she's got and she is not afraid to flaunt it.
#1 Whitney Houston -"Greatest Love Of All"
All I will say about Ms. Houston and this video is: "FemMANist? I do not think so!"
Author's Note: Links to videos listed above were active as of this printing. "Ladies Night" playlist features You Tube videos featuring strong female artists.
Published by Alyce Rocco
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13 Comments
Post a CommentI really enjoyed this piece. In general, words that are associated with being either progressive or female tend to get degraded. Feminists are in pursuit of full social, political, and economic equality. It makes me cringe to hear that there are people out there who think that feminism equates to women denying who they are. That is the opposite of feminism. Feminists believe in all people having access to make informed choices. Feminists don't fit into any mold. Feminism is about freedom, not about mimicking what a man looks like.
Another great read!
Another well written, interesting, fantastic article. Enjoyed very much.
this was pretty interesting Alyce, nice work.........Lauper, lol I forgot all about her
I lived in DC in the early days of the women's lib movement. It was not an easy time for young women who were proud to be women...but just wanted to be treated fairly and equally. The pendulum had to swing pretty far one way in order to be taken seriously. No one would have won if we had not adopted a "take no prisoners" attitude. For the record, I'm fast approaching my 64th birthday and my memories are not always clear about those long ago days. But, I can honestly say that, as important as this movement was to me, I never once worried about being thought of as a lesbian, nor would I have cared if I had been called one. I was a single parent who needed to be able to support her child and herself. Salaries for women back then (even now) were horrific. I just wanted to live a decent life and be able to take care of my child the way he needed. I'm not saying that lesbian "phobia" didn't exist anywhere...just not in my circle and, it is my belief, not by anyone who was sincerely
Great article. I'm of the opinion that people should just be people, and only care about gender when they are doing something biologically gender specific.
Shamontiel: I was speaking of a young Aretha. Today she has a more "portly, matronly" look, which looks fine, but could contribute to being more prone to heart disease as well as diabetes, which is not a good thing. She has still got "it" and would hate to lose that gospel voice when a little weight loss could keep her healthy longer.
I read that other article and my comments to her are above yours (assuming she doesn't delete the three comments I made). I was amazed at her opinions. It sounded like some guy born in the 20s. Wow! In this day and age, I thought feminism had been perceived better than that. Now I understand why people were so uptight with my chivalry article when I commented on feminists. Oh, just a side note, I'm glad Aretha is losing weight. I know women are supposed to calm down on trying to look like models but Black women are extremely likely to get diabetes from being overweight so I'm always concerned with someone Aretha's size to just be comfortable there. Same for Monique. It's cool to be at a comfortable weight, but that weight was out of control.
Great read. I am a human being not just a woman. I love being a woman and always have. I just want to be treated as any man wants to be treated.
Haha - very interesting article! I guess I never really saw all the connections!