Soft and edgy: new female artists are showing a softer side to feminism

April 2, 2010

by Dawn Van Ness

Photo by Kevin Law from Flickr

Video:  LILY ALLEN – Smile

Photo by AngelaTaylorOnline on Flickr

With names like Lily and Angel, and with soft, lilting voices like Feist, female musicians’ image and their words are not in sync.   Angel Taylor,  Lilly Allen, and  Feist, rather than shouting their angst, disappointment, or adultery, are smiling still.  Is this another brand of feminism for music?

Punk Feminism:  Mean, lean and unclean

, Photo by Jugzy Malone on Flickr

Photo by Felix Meyer on Flickr

For the last thirty years, groups like the Slits and X-Rax Spex have delivered images and stage performances which was predictable counter to the feminine ideal.  With asymmetrical died hair or shaved heads, smears of black eyeliner, ripped or stained tutus with combat boots, these artists put their feminism on stage.

The punk feminists were easily recognized and made the topic of books like Third Wave Agenda, were authors like  Leslie Heywood, assistant professor at the University of New York, and Jennifer Drake, assistant professor of English and Women’s Studies at Indiana State University, used them to explore feminism and its many forms within this particular music scene.

Feminism’s softer side?

On first glance, the girls next door seem harmless, but soon their voices bleed lyrics like “you were f***ing that girl next door, what did you do that for?” from Lilly Allen’s “SMILE” and “I’m playing the fool, because nobody loves me” from Angel Taylor’s “Like you do.” (The later seems to be extorting tension in the lyrics masterfully with a bit of Dylan’ishtic charm.)

Lyrics largely are what the audience makes of them, and maybe four letter words are the only way to clue today’s audience in on irony, but the angst and raw tenacity is there without the staging of a bad hair day.

Prim, trim, but not proper, Allen and Taylor speak-up.

In a day when punk is Disneyfied, maybe the new way for feminism in music is wearing a dress without the combat boots?

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