It seems today that every woman in music has at least one song deemed a “feminist anthem,” so this week, the women of Saturday Night Live and host Ariana Grande set out to make their mark. Unfortunately, they fell a little short of being able to pen a song that encompasses all the nuances and complexities of being a woman. Because apparently, not all experiences of women can be bundled up into one neat little box labeled “Girl Stuff — Keep Out” and topped with a big pink bow and rainbow stickers. So instead, they wrote “This Is Not A Feminist Song.”
Everyone knows that feminism can be a very tricky path to navigate, with each person having their own opinions on what is and isn’t, as well as the varying degrees. The sketch pokes fun at this perplexity singing, “This is not a feminist song, cause we were scared we would do it wrong.” And it is true, hateful backlash is prevalent any time there is a mention of feminism — just check out some of the comments sections on this blog if you don’t believe me (#reallybust).
To steer clear of the argument, they dropped the topic altogether and just showed some footage you would expect to see in a music video for a feminist anthem: Malala, Maya Angelou, women being photographed in profile, an old woman’s hands (not to say a woman should be judged only by her hands!).
As they go along, the women realize that this anti-anthem is, in actuality, a feminist song. Hooray! Now, cut to fist pumping in unison and running down the beach!
Oh! And no good feminist anthem is complete without a hashtag (otherwise how could it trend!?), so don’t forget to tell the world how much you loved/hated it with #feministsong!
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