Women have always been a strong part of the music; however, their impact was heavily predictable. While males singers could sing about a variety of topics from political to love and friendship, women singers were mainly stuck with singing mainly concerning the theme of love and heartbreak. For example, if one was to look at the pop icon Michael Jackson, one does appreciate how his persona evolved through the decades along with his music. The album Thriller was radically different from the album Bad including the persona that Michael Jackson showed. For female musicians however that was not the case. A case in point could be award winning Whitney Houston who in comparison with Michael Jackson did not have radical changes. However, that changed in the last decade of the 20 th century and the first decade of the 21 century ("How Women Dominated Pop Music in the '00s", 2017).
In this duration, female singers became more explorative and were willing to try a number of topics and personas. Madonna was heavily credited for this as she was not shy from being controversial particularly with the hit song Material Girl in which she openly talked of using her sexuality for male financial favors. At the time such as a controversial topic and it was not a wonder that it drew controversy. Nevertheless, the glass ceiling had been broken. This saw a number of female singers sing on different topics and even become edgier in their performance not afraid to speak up about themselves in a more open manner. For example, the song If I was a boy by Beyoncé was a heart to heart telling of romance and relationships from a female viewpoint but in a reversed role of the genders. In this song, she was able to show how women and men relate differently in relationships and the effect that it has on a woman who may be unable to express it. The song was more explorative than a song such as I will survive by Gloria Gaynor which despite resonating with women who have been heartbroken lacked the explorative edge in the level of If I was a boy .
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The biggest aspect that allowed women to dominate pop music during this time is that they could match to the level of males. When Eminem was rapping and creating a lot of controversy regarding misogyny and objectifying women as sex objects, Britney Spears was topping the charts with the funky song Oops!....I did it again . In this song, Britney sang about being in control of her sex life and using that control as a power over men. Naturally, women and girls loved the song and it garnered a lot of attention. What was even more intriguing was that women singers offered a variety that would accommodate more fans making them more appealing. While Britney Spears was being seen as being too sexualized, there was the emergence of Avril Lavigne whose rebellious persona was well received by the skateboard culture. Clarkson on the otherhand avoided being too sexual making her appeal to conservative lovers of pop music. There was also a wide array of girl bands such as the Spice Girls and Destiny’s Child whose music was tailored for the teenage demographic ("How Women Dominated Pop Music in the '00s", 2017). The result of this was that the appeal to a large fan base and not shying away from bring controversy on as the male singers did, women pop musician became a dominating force during the time. The emphasis of an upbeat sound in pop music showed that women provide not only harmless fun and lyrical content in music industry but could also inspire a generation of young females to express their identities (Carson, Lewis, & Shaw, 2015, p. 10).
References
Carson, M., Lewis, T., & Shaw, S. M. (2015). Girls Rock!: Fifty Years of Women Making Music . Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky.
How Women Dominated Pop Music in the '00s . (2017). PopMatters . Retrieved 2 December 2017, from https://www.popmatters.com/185488-how-women-dominated-pop-music-in-the-00s-2495618978.html
