Who run the world?
Girls (Girls!)
A song that encourages or praises girls and women in general. Or, alternatively a song about the singer's own prowess and independence that also encourages others to be the same. They're almost always sung by women and aren't romantic in nature (in fact, many of them double as break up songs). They're about admiration and encouragement rather than romantic interest.
Often overlaps with the Pep-Talk Song and Self-Empowerment Anthem.
Examples:
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Live Action TV
- Subverted in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Valencia's song, "Women Gotta Stick Together" seems like a song about female solidarity and power, but it quickly devolves into Valencia sniping and belittling every other woman in increasingly catty ways.
- The song "Legendary" from the Raven's Home musical episode "Raven's Home: Remix" has Nia try to encourage Spitz to let Tess audition for a male role in a play. Said song was even remade into a music video featuring various female Disney stars, as an anthem for Women's Rights.
Music
- Aretha Franklin's "Respect" rewrote many of the lyrics of the original version by Otis Redding. This, along with changing the viewpoint from a male singer to a female, made it another anthem for the feminist movement.
- Bad Bunny: "Yo Perreo Sola" (I Twerk Alone) about women who want to dance by themselves and safely. At the end of the video, the screen reads (in Spanish) "If she doesn't want to dance with you, respect that. She twerks alone."original
- beabadoobee "Dye It Red" comes off this way. The chorus is an anthem about feeling confident and powerful on your own without a shitty man holding you down, while the verses talk about all the shitty man things (like being drunk and sexually aggressive) Bea's ex did.
- "21st Century Girls" by BTS also doubles as a Pep-Talk Song where it encourages women to live their life however they want and love themselves regardless of society's criticism. The song starts with the band basically saying that you're amazing and you're worth it!
You worth it, you perfect
Deserve it, just work it
You look elegant, elegant
And you're pretty, pretty
You shine, shine - Beyoncé's "Run the World (Girls)", which currently provides the page quote.
- Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman" is a love song often interpreted as an empowering song for women.
- Donna Summer's song "She Works Hard for the Money" praises a woman who works for tips, is needed and cared for by her customers and wonders why some people have everything. The song's chorus is "She works hard for the money so you better treat her right." The song doesn't specify her line of work, but in the Music Video of the song she's a harried waitress.
- Dove Cameron's "What a Girl Is" is a song about how girls can do anything and are more than just their appearance.
- Drake's "Nice For What" is a male example about an independent single woman. It uses sampling of Lauryn Hill's "Ex-Factor".
- "Most Girls" by Hailee Steinfeld is about how most girls are strong, beautiful, and awesome.
- "I Am Woman (Hear Me Roar)" by Helen Reddy was taken up as an anthem for the women's liberation movement in the 1970's.
I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore - Jessie J's "Do It Like A Dude" is about her ladette qualities.
- Most of the songs by Kelly Clarkson are about this, mostly her known single "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" (also Album Title Drop of Stronger) which apart of invoke Friedrich Nietzsche's adage (That which does not kill us makes us stronger), also talks about a girl who starts again after a breakup. Also count songs like "Since U Been Gone" (about the relief of a woman after ending a relationship) and "People Like Us" (also taken as a gay anthem).
- Kesha's "Woman" is about her independence and how she doesn't need men to buy her things.
- Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me" is often cited as a factor in the second wave of feminism. It's about how her lover doesn't own her thoughts or body.
- "Salute" by Little Mix is in one in the vein of a war song. It's a general empowerment song.
- Martina McBride: "This One's for the Girls" is a tribute to women at different ages.
- "Stupid Girls" by P!nk is meant to be a song encouraging girls to work hard and be smart. It's been criticised, however, for its apparent endorsement of Real Women Don't Wear Dresses, especially in the visuals of the video.
- "Fight Song" by Rachel Platten, while not specifically about female empowerment, has been used for a number of ads and causes involving women, including Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and the TV show Supergirl (2015), giving it this connotation.
- "Armor" by Sara Bareilles are about all of the brave women throughout human history who give her a feeling of empowerment.
- "Ladylike" by Storm Large is about women refusing to bend to societal pressure and instead choosing their own paths.
What the fuck is ladylike if ladies like to do what the fuck they like?
- "One Girl Revolution" by Superchic[k] is about independence and individuality.
- "Fight Like A Girl" by Zolita is about female empowerment and women's rights.
- TWICE subunit MiSaMo's title track "Do Not Touch" is about consent and waiting for the right time until the partner wants to be more intimate, which is symbolized with the overall art concept.
Puppet Shows
- Sesame Street has had "Women Can Be" (1974), "Girl of the World" (1997) and "Change the World" (2011), all about how women and girls can be whatever they want.
Theatre
- The stage adaptation of 9 to 5 gives us "Get Out and Stay Out", which is about a woman kicking her abusive partner to the curb and asserting her newfound independence.
- In the stage adaptation of Peter Pan, the controversial song "What Makes the Red Man Red?" is changed into "What Makes the Brave Girl Brave?" and talks about sexism.
Web Animation
- In the Homestar Runner short "One, Two," Strong Bad is shown singing a "girl power" ballad in the shower: "Look out, world! I'm an independent girl! Rollin' around like a motorcade!" It's one of the many instances of Strong Bad being shown as a lot more sensitive than he wants people to know.
Western Animation
- Jem: The Misfits has several of these that use the "self-confident boast" variation. For example, "Designing Woman" is about Pizzazz boasting about how proactive and goal-focused she is.
