BY: Alexis Eichelberger

It’s one of the best times of the year. It’s Women’s History Month, when we dedicate the entirety of March to celebrating badass women of all kinds from throughout the years. The music industry has no shortage of badass women, and many of them have used their art to empower others and make strong statements about injustices.

Here are our eight favorite songs and music videos made by powerful women to make powerful political statements:

Beyonce’s “Formation”

 

One of the most phenomenal and most celebrated music videos of the 2010s, Beyonce’s “Formation” shook us to the core with its stunning visuals and powerful message. It simultaneously celebrates the fierce beauty of blackness while calling out the racial injustices that still ran rampant in the United States.

Taylor Swift’s “The Man” 

Just last week, Taylor Swift made her directorial debut for her song “The Man.” It hilariously and precisely calls out the double standards society imposes on women in the media, business, sports and more. Lyrically, Swift gives us just a glimpse of the frustrations of navigating her career a world where male privilege still looms large.

Janelle Monae “Q.U.E.E.N. (feat. Erykah Badu)” 

 

Two powerful women in music united for the fantastic single “Q.U.E.E.N.” and its accompanying music video. Janelle Monae and Erykah Badu play notorious rebels of the past trapped in a futuristic museum. Together, they use their song to question and reject conventions of femininity and Eurocentric beauty.

Pussy Riot’s “I Can’t Breathe”

 

Known for being hyper-political in many of their works, Pussy Riot takes Eric Garner’s last words and a rallying cry of the Black Lives Matter movement and turns it into art. The music video shows the women of the group being buried alive while the song slowly crescendos to its violent end.

Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me”

 

Women have used music to get political and express their discontent for decades, as demonstrated by Lesley Gore. Her revolutionary single “You Don’t Own Me” defies all the ownership men seem to feel toward women. It’s been such a lasting influence that pop artists Grace and G-Eazy revamped it just two years ago.

Halsey’s “Nightmare” (2019)

 

“I’m tired and angry, but somebody should be,” Halsey declares in her2019 single “Nightmare.” In the riotous music video, she bares her teeth at the camera while fearlessly embracing her strength and femininity while calling out the bigots who insist women owe them sometime.

Aretha Franklin’s “Respect”

 

Perhaps the most iconic girl power anthems of all time is Aretha Franklin’s biggest hit. It shouldn’t seem like much to ask, but the fight for basic respect continues for various genders, races, and other identities in so many spaces. We like to imagine if Franklin could’ve made a music video for “Respect” today, it’d have some killer costuming and dance sequences on par with Beyonce’s.

Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl” (1992)

 

Though it doesn’t have an official music video, the plucky girl group Bikini Kill deserves to make the list with their punk hit “Rebel Girl.” Fan-made mashup videos of the group performing the song live show their spunk and sass while they inspire us all to embrace our inner rebel girl.