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Music can be seen through many lenses, but female artists throughout time have spoken of public issues regarding to female rights, justice, equality, work, sexual orientation, and power. From Beyonce’s Lemonade to Kesha’s Rainbow, there are many artists who have shed light on feminism in the 21st century. There are many political movements related to musical representation in the American society. The evolution of feminism has rapidly changed due to the political issues in all different ethnicities. The symbolism in an 21st century female artist’s album has more power behind the live touring. The symbolism and political activism is seen through a more dramaturgical lens in response to the political regards of the United States of America. From costumes, to dance numbers, and visual art, one can see that there is true power behind the ways 21st century artists can make political impacts on society. Female artists in the modern era have been the central voice of entertainment for generations all over the world. Female artists uphold a backbone to the cultural and gendered strength of women.
Introduction of Female artists in 21st century politics
Artists all over the world have used music to influence the political world. One of the hottest topics that impacted the public is the relationship between the music industry and politics. In the 21st century, female artists have expressed the violence and racism in the presence of politics through their music. There were many cases that showed the real ideological perspective of feministic activism. The production of many songs and support for feminism within the political atmosphere influenced the public. Three female artists in the music industry who highlighted the rights for equal treatment for everyone were Taylor Swift, Kesha, and Beyoncé.
Taylor Swift is one of the most powerful musicians of the current decade. She has been in the industry since 2006. When she first broke out, she didn’t have a voice in the political world. Over time, she has developed a foundation of connections. In the last two years, she woke up to the political scene and has “broke the silence.”
Kesha, another female artist, spoke of the mistreatment of female artists within the music industry. After winning her case, she recorded an album that expressed the harm and hurtful battle for freedom against a powerful rich man named Dr. Luke.
Beyoncé is known as the queen of speaking up about African American rights through her music. Her album Lemonade expressed the real injustice in the political system. Tied all together, Beyoncé symbolised the equality of black culture within the current political world. Beyoncé established the cultural reality of African American women through her lyrics, performances, and her videos.
Taylor Swift’s Politics
“I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for all Americans, no matter their skin, color, gender, or who they love”, (Taylor Swift, Billboard). Taylor Swift is the highest paid and the largest female icon in the music industry. With doors shut and a conservative power, she didn’t reveal anything about her political conservatism. Now, she is expressing how she is liberal and very much against Trump. She did not speak up about gendered politics until her case against the Colorado DJ and Kesha’s case against Dr. Luke.
In the paparazzi world, she is known as the “silence breaker” as she is the one who started lengthy responses to Trump’s decisions as president. She reached out to Hillary Clinton and fought actively for justice against Trump’s actions. Even though she is one of the most powerful women in the music industry, she had no skill in standing up against Trump because she was afraid of diminishing her reputation. With one hundred and twelve million Instagram followers, there is symbolism behind the belief of solving political chaos. Through Twitter and other social media platforms, the public commented that it is Swift’s obligation to stand against negative bureaucratic situations. The only chaos she dealt with was her court case against the Colorado DJ. She saw the political scene as a way to boost money in her pockets. She didn’t care about political activism unless it involved cash. However, most recently she has been posting about the governor election in two thousand and eighteen. Trump’s abrupt response to Taylor Swift was, “Let’s just say that I like her music 25% less, “(Trump, the guardian) with a smile at the paparazzi.
Taylor swift’s case and Kesha’s case were two cases that had the most significant impact on Taylor Swifts first steps in being an activist in feminism. Taylor Swift took to court the groping act of the Colorado DJ. She actively spoke out by inappropriate action of this musician to court. She said after winning her one-dollar case, “I think this moment is important for awareness, for how parents are talking to their children, and how victims are processing their trauma, whether it be new or old,” (Taylor Swift, TIME). To backup Kesha, she donated two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to Kesha, so Kesha could cover any financial issues regarding her case against Dr. Luke. Taylor Swift has previously tried to express her politics in Reputation.
Red and black with a snake being slowly uploaded in the month of October showed the fuming new Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift released “Look What You Made Me Do” with a lyric in the lyric video saying “the old Taylor Swift can’t come to the phone right now, oh why? Oh. because she is dead,” (Taylor Swift, Look What You Made Me Do). Taylor Swift spoke out when it came to when she made a very detailed political statement about the election in the West. She made sure that her evolution in her public image was evolving into this state of the game. Along with her reputation in flame, she takes her political statement with fiery mannerisms and symbols within her Instagram posts and music. As a message it is seen that Swift has turned a cheek from being so silent for so long to biting back at the hate around her political image. She wrote Reputation when it came to deal with “slut shaming” and “racism”. This focus was on her case against the Colorado DJ and the issue of politics within the music industry. She wanted to make it known that one’s reputation is to be able to take in account one’s stand just as she does politically for women through her posts on social media.
KE$HA
Kesha won her case against Dr. Luke in a male dominant entertainment industry; she spoke up about being sexually assaulted by Dr. Luke. Kesha’s abuser is rich and powerful, but Kesha fought against him with support from other female artists and many other activists in the political colosseum. Dr. Luke’s lawyer said there was no physical evidence that Kesha was sexually assaulted, but sexually assaulted people saw Kesha was telling the truth. The lawyer insisted that she was just trying to defame his reputation. Dr. Luke denied any accusations that he assaulted Kesha, but with enough backup and evidence, she won the case for equal treatment of female artists in the music industry.
The case itself, Dr. Luke versus Kesha, got the world spinning when she spoke up about her past experience with him. She said how much she didn’t want to work with Dr. Luke because of what he did to her. “For the past ten years, Dr. Luke has sexually, physically, verbally, and emotionally abused Kesha to the point where Ms. Sabert almost lost her life, (Lawsuit, Why Taylor Swift gave $250,000 to Kesha. An act of feminism?). Kesha in the eyes of the music industry disrupted her five-year deal with working with Dr. Luke and she replied in August saying, “I cannot work with this monster”, (lawsuit, Why Taylor Swift gave $250,000 to Kesha. An act of feminism?). She was backed up by other artists who said she didn’t have to deal with the producer because the deal at this point set Kesha to crash and burn. The worst part was Sony said they would not promote any of her songs unless she collaborated with Dr. Luke. He replied with, “All the horrific allegation of abuse, threats, and other purported misconduct by me against Kesha are completely untrue and deeply hurtful, “(Lawsuit, Why Taylor Swift gave $250,000 to Kesha. An act of feminism?). Kesha replied within the music industry with other female artists through her music. She showed feministic stability in the political foundation through all of her challenges.
Kesha was backed up by many different artists from Taylor Swift to Demi Lovato. From Taylor Swift’s donation to Lady Gaga’s response with 88,000 retweets. Lady Gaga tweeted to Kesha by saying, “There are people all over the world who love you,” (Lawsuit, Why Taylor Swift gave $250,000 to Kesha. An act of feminism?). Demi Lovato who is the queen of feminism tweeted, “#freekesha this is only gonna make you stronger you brave and beautiful girl.” (Lawsuit, Why Taylor Swift gave $250,000 to Kesha. An act of feminism?) Women empowerment is speaking up for other women even when it’s something uncomfortable to speak up about. With backup and winning the case, she released her most powerful album: Rainbow.
During the Grammy’s performance, Kesha performed the song “Praying” with many powerful artists including Rihanna which represented the real power behind lyrics of the emotional and physical instability of sexual violence. She was singing with the resistance revival chorus and other major activists in the me-too movement. She sang with people such as Camila Cabello and Bebe Rexha. The performance itself was seen as making a huge impact that stood out at the end when all the women came together for a group hug. This performance Kesha made with the female artists stood out more than any performance before.
Kesha made a mark in history in female power when it came to sexual violence. Sexual assaults are not reported out of fear, power dynamics, and personal guilt with victim pointing. Any kind of sexual violence is statistically told to be sixty eight percent not reported to the police. Ninety eight percent of rapists get away and never get in jail.
Lemonades and Police
Beyoncé is known as the queen of black culture and it shows in her smashing film and album called Lemonade. The narrative behind this album was derived by a political movement Malcolm X evolved as a historical movement. Everything about the production and album had African symbolism for activism. Beyoncé’s album shows real fight within the modern era of the 21st century regarding feministic and cultural rights. Beyoncé shows her political lens through three bases of ethnicity, class, and gender.
Beyoncé has mastered the color presentation in every performance and video she has made. She symbolised the New Black Panther movement through all African American materialistic attire from Afro hair to her outfit. There are certain points in her film Lemonade that show real social politics and love topics when involved in all moments of ethnicity, gender, class, and female power. Beyoncé’s specific songs such as Formation had huge activism throughout her outfits and representation of the black culture in both her film and her Super Bowl performance. The main symbolism was the police brutality within the Civil Rights fight. She also represented the shooting of the black church in South Carolina. To add onto the symbolism was the way she dressed in the Super Bowl performance. This was the day she represented the black culture in a show. She had passed the challenge other African American female artists have failed to pass; she expressed political injustice through Lemonade. Beyoncé not only is a huge influence of political resonance in the country, but she also is the weapon against the bureaucratic message against police brutality.
Beyoncé’s political symbolism is in the way she performs in places such as Coachella. Her presentation of self was diversely in the way she was saying no matter how successful she is, she won’t disconnect with African American culture. She states that controlling black mannerisms and presentation shouldn’t be an issue at all. Her mom was concerned that Beyoncé would fail at promoting Black Lives Matter and Beyoncé responded saying, “I have worked very hard to get to the point where I have a true voice. And at this point in my life and my career, I have a responsibility to do what’s best for the world and not what is most popular “(Beyoncé, Beyoncé and the end of respectability politics). She dropped Malcolm X’s wisdom by even saying this, “The most disrespected woman in America is a black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman,” (Beyoncé, Beyoncé and the end of respectability politics). Beyoncé’s outfit made a statement to express with denim jeans and a cover up. She appeared to be shadowing the college experience of black females in a college setting as full of pride and intellect.
Beyoncé for the rest of time has been an activist in feminism and African American activism in the political world. Lemonade was a swallow of reality when it came to what needs to be done with police brutality. She spoke of true politics through every detail in her performance, presentation, and production of her musical journey. As she has demonstrated the real stride in black activism that other African American artists in the past failed to do.
Work Cited
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