Research Symposium

BIO

My name is Samantha Amador and I am a Criminology major and will be pursuing a Dual Degree with Psychology, and I am on a pre-law track. I am Cuban-American and am from Miami, Florida. At Florida State University, I am currently involved in the Cuban American Student Association, Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Fraternity, and the Honors program. My research project focuses on finding common themes within the music released by the Billboard Top 10 Female Artists of 2023. This project has allowed me to delve into the entertainment industry, which is a field of interest of mine for my future legal career.

Echoes of Empowerment: Feminism in Music of 2023

Abstract

The aim and purpose of this project is to understand how prominent women discuss feminism, sexual agency, and womanhood in their music. Feminism is the concept of inclusivity for all regardless of our identities in order to create a free and safe environment for people to live in. Those that have researched feminism in music have largely focused on the presence of sexualization and feminist themes (or lack thereof) in rap and R&B music, finding that it is in these genres where these themes are most present, both in the lyricism and the music videos. There is very minimal research on the presence of feminism in pop music, especially by female artists, as well as on the impact of these topics on women in the industry. For this study, a qualitative thematic analysis was used to analyze song lyrics by the Billboard Top 10 Female Artists of 2023 to find lyrics containing themes of feminism, sexualization, and womanhood in order to better understand their successes/failures, fame, and historical significance to women in the music industry.

Keywords: music industry, feminism, sexualization, pop music, women