Logan Dreher
MUSC 0065
12-11-2015
Analyzing the Role of Music in Second Wave Feminism
The image most closely associated with the second wave of feminism in American
popular culture is that of women setting their bras on fire at a Miss America Pageant protest in
1968. Although the practice was later proved to be an exaggeration, it nonetheless left an
indelible mark on the perception of feminism in the United States. And the image of hundreds of
women burning symbolic tools of oppression encapsulates much of the women’s liberation
movement of the 1960s and 70s.
A largely grassroots effort, the women’s liberation movement was borne out of female
frustration with other social movements at the time, which often failed at including women in
their organization. For example, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
chairman Stokely Carmichael once claimed that “the only position for women in SNCC is prone”
(Zeitz 2008: 678). The women’s liberation movement, often called the second wave of feminism
as a nod to the first wave of suffragists in the early twentieth century, was also sparked feminist
novels like Betty Friedan’s 1963 The Feminine Mystique and Germaine Greer’s 1970 The
Female Eunuch which raised awareness of feminist issues in the United States. Music played a
similar role in the movement by helping to disseminate feminist beliefs and changing the
perception of women in popular culture. In addition, the development of outspoken female artists
and women-owned record labels defined the music industry as a frontier for women to fight for
their independence.
Like The Female Eunuch and The Feminine Mystique, Helen Reddy’s 1971 hit “I am
Woman” disseminated feminist beliefs in America. Reddy, an outspoken Australian feminist,
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originally wrote the song because she was tired of popular music that portrayed women as
“doormat[s]” and wanted her first album to reflect her pride in being a woman (Arrow 2007:
216). Reddy’s song conveys a simple message of female empowerment by subverting traditional
assumptions that women should be demure, submissive or weak. She also conflates the idea of
being a woman with positivity and confidence by singing “I am strong/ I am invincible/ I am
woman.” In addition, Reddy includes a chorus of feminine voices as background singers. This
subtle harmony reinforces the idea that feminists are “in numbers too big to ignore.” Reddy’s
assertive lyrics also encourage female strength, as she promises that she will “bend but never
break” despite any adversity she might face.
Initially, radio stations refused to play Reddy’s overtly feminist song. However, the
singer appeared on over a dozen television shows to spread “I am Woman” as widely as she
could. Eventually, women began calling radio stations and urging them to play it, shooting the
song into mainstream popularity. “I am Woman” even became the first Australian song to top
American Billboard charts. Reddy further disseminated her message by famously referring to
God as a woman in her Grammy acceptance speech in 1973 (Wollman).
As a result, “I am Woman” became the unofficial anthem of the women’s liberation
movement. Because Reddy was a popular artist and the song itself upbeat and less radical than
other feminist songs at the time, “I am Woman” allowed for a wider acceptance of feminist
beliefs. In a collection of letters recalling the song’s impact on their lives, many women
remember coming to an epiphany after hearing the song and equate it with their acquisition of
feminist beliefs. In addition, they noted that the song “epitomized the women's movement” to
them. (Arrow 2007: 224)
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During the sixties and seventies, feminist activists recall “I am Woman” as a “rallying
call” for other women. At a 1973 celebration of the tenth anniversary of the landmark feminist
book The Feminine Mystique, author and activist Betty Friedan recalls that the women “got out
of their seats and started dancing...joining hands in a circle that got larger and larger until maybe
a thousand of us were dancing and singing” to Reddy’s song (Arrow 2007: 221). The song was
also sung at a demonstration outside Parliament House in Canberra, Australia when Susan Ryan
became one of the first female Senators, and an all-girls school in Sydney, Australia also took up
Reddy’s hit as its school song in the 1970s (Arrow 2007).
“I am Woman” also represents the complex relationship the feminist movement-- and by
extension, feminist music-- had with popular culture and mass media; though the media often
distorted the movement’s methods and goals, and popular music enforced gender norms by
regaling women to “gentler” singer-songwriter roles, both could be powerful tools to further
women’s freedom (Brackett 2005: 238). By changing the message, as Reddy did in her song,
feminists had the ability to free women through the same medium that they were often oppressed
with.
However, Helen Reddy’s role as a prominent feminist activist highlights the dichotomy
within the feminist movement between cisgendered, heteronormative women and more radical
feminists, including a subculture of lesbian feminists who wanted to live completely without men
and often felt excluded from organizations within the movement (Lont 1992). Though “I am
Woman” brought feminism to the forefront of the American consciousness, its dominance over
popular understanding of the women’s liberation movement unfairly removes the narratives of
more radical feminists, who were also heavily involved changing the perception and advocating
for female agency. Despite these complications, the legacy of “I am Woman” continues today, as
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the song has been absorbed into the cultural fabric of America. There are countless references to
the opening lyrics, “I am woman, hear me roar” from sources as diverse as hip hop artist Nicki
Minaj’s 2010 song “Here I Am” to Sex and the City 2, the sequel of a romantic comedy based on
the popular HBO show of the same name.
Outside of Helen Reddy’s song, during the early seventies there was a growing
movement to within the music industry for gender equality, mirrored by similar demands in other
industries. In the early sixties and seventies, women were largely absent or misrepresented in
popular music. This absence of women’s culture mimics the lack of female narratives in
mainstream culture in the 1960s. Even female artists that were popular during the time were
largely reliant on men or male acceptance (Lont 1992). Additionally, the music industry was
almost completely controlled by men working as managers, producers, sound technicians, etc.
For the few women that did work as artists or within the music industry, sexism was simply a
part of their daily lives (Leonard 2007).
Womyn’s music, which is spelled differently to remove the grammatical reference to
“men” in the word “women,” emerged as a result of the rampant sexism and inaccurate
portrayals in mainstream music. Defined as music “by women, for women, about women, and
financially controlled by women” womyn’s music was pioneered primarily by lesbians, who felt
excluded from the larger women’s liberation movement (Lont 1992: 242). Womyn’s music
became a tangible result of the counterculture of women who wanted to lead lives without the
control of men (Wollman). Its simple existence was often in protest of the “compulsory
heterosexuality” of the culture at the time (Zeitz 2008).
The first explicitly lesbian song that was also produced by women was “Angry Atthis” by
Maxine Feldman, whose lyrics expressed frustration with being forced to hide her sexuality from
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mainstream society. Soon after Feldman’s song Lavender Jane, an explicitly queer band, released
their first album, Lavender Jane Loves Women (Lont 1992). After the album sold its initial 1,000
copies without any organized distribution system, Meg Christian and Cris Williamson, two
womyn’s music performers, decided to form their own record label called Olivia Records in
1973, which resulted in an explosion of womyn’s music as more labels, like Redwood Records
and Wide Woman/Urana were established (Lont 1992).
Though it was also a reflection of lesbian feminists culture and lifestyle at the time,
womyn’s music and specifically the formation of independent labels expanded their music
beyond simply a vehicle for dissemination or a symbolic message of protest; through efforts like
Olivia Records, the music industry became a way for women to exercise the feminist beliefs their
songs exemplified by granting themselves agency and independence from the patriarchal
mainstream music industry.
However, the focus on a political message rather than profit plagued the womyn’s music
industry. Even the largest performances, like the Michigan Womyn’s Festival, had under ten
thousand audience members and poor or absent sound systems. Performers travelled for very
cheaply, staying in other women’s homes, and were often stressed by the pressure and lack of
money (Lont 1992). In addition by the 1980s, the womyn’s market became oversaturated as
more artists were drawn to womyn’s record labels and the audience stayed the same size. As a
result, labels began to seek other audiences to stay afloat. Olivia Records, for example, moved to
more mainstream music and abandoned many of its initial beliefs about women autonomy (Lont
1992). Other labels, like Redwood Records encouraged political unity as a way to find other
politically inclined audiences. Their 1982 album, Speed of Light, encouraged feminists, gay
rights activists, and anti-war protestors to find “a common ground” (Lont 1992: 248). Though the
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womyn’s music movement collapsed at the end of the eighties, its legacy carried into the
following decades. Popular female artists like Tracy Chapman, Suzanne Vega, and Phranc owe
their success to the groundwork of daring artists in the 1970s who prepared audiences for
explicitly queer lyrics and artists (Lont 1992).
Though the womyn’s music movement was a much more inclusive form of feminism
than that of Helen Reddy’s “I am Woman,” it still excluded some forms of women. For example,
the Michigan’s Womyn’s Festival, the longest running and most popular concert for bands and
fan members of the movement, has had a history of ostracizing trans women. Dating back to
1991, when a transgendered woman was thrown out of the festival, the Michigan Festival has
gotten complaints from the LGBTQ+ community regarding their policy of allowing only
“womyn-born womyn” to attend (Ring). This controversy is especially important in the context
the recent resurgence of feminism, sometimes called third wave feminism, which focuses on
encouraging inclusion among all women, regardless of their sexual orientation, race, or birth
gender.
Ultimately, the women’s liberation movement of the 1960s and 70s led to tangible
responses in the United States. Some of this change stemmed from newly enacted laws, like the
Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974, which prohibited lending institutions from discriminating
on the basis of sex, allowing women greater agency over their own finances (Zeitz 2008).
Another landmark was the addition of Title IX to the 1973 Education Funds, which act cut off
federal funding from any school that discriminated on the basis of sex, revolutionizing women’s
athletics by forcing schools to either offer women the same opportunities as men or risk losing
funding (Zeitz 2008: 684). The scope of this legislation is apparent in the fact that the number of
women in high school sports teams increased from 30,000 in 1971 to 2.4 million in 1991 (Zeitz
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2008: 635). During this time period, Congress also improved amendments to the Equal Pay Act
of 1963, extending the right for equal pay for equal work to women in professional jobs. Other
gains include changes to marriage and divorce laws to allow women more freedom from their
husbands and the Congressional approval of the Equal Rights Amendment, although it was never
ratified by states (Zeitz 2008).
There was also a larger psychological revolution following the women’s liberation
movement. As a result of the dissemination of feminist beliefs through popular songs like “I am
Woman,” as well as acclaimed novels like “The Feminine Mystique” and “The Female Eunuch,”
and the media’s coverage of widespread protest and demonstrations by feminist organizations
like the National Organization for Women, more women than even believed in their own
independence, strength, and innate right to equality by the end of the 1970s (Zeitz 2008).
Despite this sea change, neither the music industry nor popular culture is free from
sexism today. Female musicians are still oversexualized, controlled by financially by men and
face sexism in a male dominated field (Leonard 2007). Examples of misogyny and rape culture
are apparent in almost every form of media, including popular music. However, a lasting impact
of the second wave of feminism is that women are no longer afraid to speak up and defend their
rights, whether that is through creating music, attending a protest, or another medium entirely.
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Works Cited
Arrow, Michelle. "'It Has Become My Personal Anthem': 'I Am Woman,' Popular Culture and
1970s Feminism." Australian Feminist Journal 22.53 (2007): 213-30. Print.
Brackett, David, comp. The Pop, Rock and Soul Reader: History and Debates. New York:
Oxford UP, 2005. Print.
Leonard, Marion. Gender in the Music Industry: Rock, Discourse and Girl Power. Burlington:
Ashgate, 2007. Print.
Lont, Cynthia M. "Women's Music: No Longer a Small Private Party." Rockin' the Boat: Mass
Music and Mass Movements. Ed. Reebee Garofalo. Boston: South End, 1992. 241-51.
Print.
Ring, Trudy. "This Year's Michigan Womyn's Music Festival Will Be the Last." Advocate. N.p.,
21 Apr. 2015. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
Wollman, Elizabeth L. "Women and the Music Industry in the 1970s." The Gilder Lehrman
Institute of American History. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.
<https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/seventies/essays/women-and-musicindustry-1970s>.
Zeitz, J. "Rejecting the Center: Radical Grassroots Politics in the 1970s Second-wave Feminism
as a Case Study." Journal of Contemporary History 43.4 (2008): 673-88. JSTOR. Web.
30 Nov. 2015.
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