The recent release of the Barbie movie has spawned a widespread conversation about girlhood, with young people taking to social media sites to share childhood photos and reminisce on their experiences as young girls. The movie has triggered sentimentality across generations, all united by fond childhood associations with the dolls. Barbie has proven just how much the media that we consume in our youth becomes inevitably bound to the memories we form.
With our childhood memories come the songs of our youth — growing up comes with a soundtrack, and for many girls, it revolves around pop. With pop being particularly female-dominated compared to other genres, it has produced some of the music industry’s most significant female role models for young girls. Female pop stars have some of the largest and most devoted fanbases in the world, and much of this is thanks to idolization by young girls. Having a persona and following allows stars to evolve from musicians to icons — they become more than the music, especially for impressionable younger generations. Stars like Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato dominated the 2000’s through their Disney Channel personas, amassing huge followings that launched their music careers. These musicians significantly influence the girls listening to them — having women in the industry to look up to can be extremely powerful for young girls as they grow and work towards dreams of their own. This said, pop icons have arguably amassed an aspirational devotion that makes them a cornerstone of coming of age.
Recent years have also brought an increasingly political edge to the music scene, particularly its extension to young people. While music geared towards younger age groups has historically leaned apolitical, female musicians with young followings have become far more vocal in their personal views and values. With increasing polarization pushing them to speak out and social media making politics more accessible to younger generations, musicians have felt more desire and freedom to pick sides. Taylor Swift made her first political statement in 2018, when she announced her support for two Tennessee Democrats, simultaneously urging young people to register to vote. Billie Eilish went so far as to say that she feels a “responsibility” to talk openly about politics, following a performance at the Democratic National Convention that solidified her support for then-candidate Joe Biden.
It certainly must be noted that a great deal of responsibility comes with influence. Women in the music and film industries have spoken out about the pressure to act as a role model for their fans, and their difficulty growing as adult musicians with personas to upkeep. Stars like Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears have broken out of their kid-friendly roles, and received much backlash for it. However, even their continued success in the male-dominated music industry is enough to make these women an ongoing inspiration. And as the pop idols of the 2000s have aged into more mature personas, they’ve made way for a new generation of women in the industry, such as Lizzo and Olivia Rodrigo. There will be women to look up to as long as there are women in music.
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Music hooks on tightly to memory and our youths are inevitably shaped by what — and who — we grew up listening to. The current cultural conversation around girlhood comes with a soundtrack; the background of the “girlhood” montage is, after all, crooned by the aforementioned pop icon Billie Eilish. The female pop star will always play a role in shaping young girls and their experiences of growing up. These women carry us through the most significant times in our lives, and most importantly, they give us something to return to.
Quotables
“Honestly, I didn’t have an accurate definition of feminism when I was younger. I didn’t quite see all the ways that feminism is vital to growing up in the world we live in. I think that when I used to say, ‘Oh, feminism’s not really on my radar,’ it was because when I was just seen as a kid, I wasn’t as threatening. I didn’t see myself being held back until I was a woman. Or the double standards in headlines, the double standards in the way stories are told, the double standards in the way things are perceived.
A man writing about his feelings from a vulnerable place is brave; a woman writing about her feelings from a vulnerable place is oversharing or whining. Misogyny is ingrained in people from the time they are born. So to me, feminism is probably the most important movement that you could embrace, because it’s just basically another word for equality.”
—Taylor Swift
“I am a modern-day feminist… Women have to work much harder to make it in this world. It really pisses me off that women don’t get the same opportunities as men do, or money for that matter. Because let’s face it, money gives men the power to run the show. It gives men the power to define our values and to define what’s sexy and what’s feminine, and that’s bullshit. At the end of the day… it’s about how we think. We have to reshape our own perception of how we view ourselves… We have to step up as women and take the lead.”
— Beyoncé
“I feel like I’m one of the biggest feminists in the world because I tell women to not be scared of anything.” — Miley Cyrus
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“I’m tough, I’m ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, OK.” — Madonna
“Women will be hidden no more. We will not remain hidden figures. We have names…. It was woman that gave you Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was woman that gave you Malcolm X. And according to the Bible, it was a woman that gave you Jesus. Don’t you ever forget it.” — Janelle Monáe
“I am tired of living in a world where women are mostly referred to as a man’s past, present, or future property/possession. I … do not. belong. to anyone. but myself. and neither do you.” — Ariana Grande
“There’s something so special about a woman who dominates in a man’s world. It takes a certain grace, strength, intelligence, fearlessness, and the nerve to never take no for an answer.” — Rihanna
Pop music has always encoded desire as power — a dynamic Laurelanne.media explores across eras, genres, and scenes in our Sex, Desire, and Power in Pop Music hub.
