Post #5

One musical artist that I find especially inspirational in terms of feminist ideals in her work is SZA. SZA was born in Saint Louis, Missouri and named Solána Imani Rowe, but she was raised in New Jersey. She was raised as an orthodox Muslim, which she still follows and respects, but became subject to harassment and bullying following the attacks of 9/11, which led her to become more secretive about it. When talking about her in relation to feminist ideals and what I admire, I will be focusing on her most recent body of work which is her album CTRL. While at first glance it may be strange to view her work as explicitly feminist, I think the impact of it comes from the social undertones she sings about instead. Her approach to storytelling comes from her own personal experiences which she describes in her lyrics, as well as just from observations she has made, making it feel as authentic as possible while empowering women to make their own choices.

SZA at The Met Gala 

First, I feel like it’s important that I define my own understanding of feminism, which I believe to be the ~radical~ notion that women and men are of the same social standing, so women and men should be treated as equals. As we discussed in class, feminism doesn’t just aim to uplift only women, but it also works to make sure the men are treated in the same respect/aren’t being influenced by the already apparent toxic masculinity that is present in our society. As bell hooks explains in The Will to Change, “Patriarchy promotes insanity. It is at the root of psychological ills troubling men in our nation.” (30) This particularly impacts men of color because of the often internalized misogyny and unreachable expectations among communities, which is something I think SZA recognizes and nods to both in her lyrics and in other media like interviews and tweets. That being said, a big part of what SZA addresses in her music is sexuality and the differences or double standards that are presented between men and women.

These are lyrics from SZA's song with Rihanna "Consideration" which again promotes the idea that people as people (men or women) need to be in control of their own choices.

Relating back to a reading/quotation that I’ve cited before in a post, in Jean Kilbourne’s “The More You Subtract, The More You Add”, she delves into the expectations of women and how according to men’s standards they are supposed to be “overtly sexy and attractive but essentially passive and virginal”. (130) One of the strong points of SZA’s music is that she completely rejects this notion. SZA instead owns her sexuality and makes a statement in which she encourages other women to do the same, but also doesn’t make the claim that her way is the right way. She also tries to steer away from male terminology that has been used in the past to put down women. For example, her song “The Weekend” is basically about her sharing a guy with other girls, and expecting nothing more than for him to come through when its supposed to be their time together. SZA doesn’t use the term “side chick” because of its heavy influence from men towards women in a negative connotation. Instead, she proposes the idea that women can in fact use their sexuality in the same way that men do. Women instead should act on as much or as little of their sexuality as they feel comfortable, with SZA getting personal and singing about how she chooses to outwardly express herself.

For a while, SZA was also the only woman signed to her label, Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). In addition to the mere lack of representation, this meant that she was also semi responsible for the narratives that were being sold of women. However, one of the most admirable things that SZA did in her music was make it clear that these stories were personal to her, especially through her use of voice recordings of her mom on some of her tracks. Even her song like “Broken Clocks” speaks of her old life and what she made of it, yet never tried to lecture anyone else on how they should live their own. As someone who is typically introverted and timid, I really admire SZA because in her art, she ignores the preconceived guidelines that society expects of her/women in general and instead speaks from her heart and empowers women along the way. Much like we discussed in class, perhaps SZA may even be seen as a “bad feminist” based on the notion that some women don’t think that sexuality should be tied to women at all. What makes SZA’s work inspiring though is that she simply speaks up and for herself, which is something that empowers other women to do the same.

Works Cited

“SZA Talks Being the Leading (and Only) Lady of TDE.” Mass Appeal, 7 Apr. 2014, archive.massappeal.com/sza-talks-being-the-only-girl-on-tde/.                                                                                                                           

“SZA's 'Ctrl' Proves That Vulnerability Is Liberation.” The Community for Black Creativity and News, Blavity, blavity.com/szas-ctrl.