Believe in the Strength of Women

On November 30^th, the Billboard’s Women in Music event honored pop star Katy Perry as the “Woman of the Year.”  Her speech started out on a very inspirational note about how she had to “fight for [herself] and [her] vision.”  Yet, right after she said that, she spewed out the words, “I am not a feminist, but I do believe in the strength of women.” 

Her statement poses the question – what exactly is feminism, and why is she so reluctant to call herself a feminist?  The goal of feminism is simply to give women equal rights and opportunities as there are for men. 

She said that her mantra is “If you believe in yourself, you can be anything.”  Many of her songs, including Firework and Part of Me, express the theme that you can achieve anything as long as you put your heart to it.  Perry is strong, independent, and confident – all of the qualities she has developed through her life experiences like being denied record labels multiple times and overcoming her failed marriage to Russell Brand.  Despite embracing all of the qualities of a feminist, she chooses to separate herself from the word.

Perry could have just as easily omitted that part from her speech to focus solely on the strength of women.  The fact that she went out of her way to mention it shows that feminism has a negative connotation attached to it.  Feminists don’t cover themselves with war paint and prance around a bonfire nude.  Feminists don’t smear lip gloss all over their face and go up to men screaming “Is this what you want?”  Feminists don’t exterminate the male population so they can rule the world. 

In my blog, I have written about many aspects of feminism – my view on Taylor Swift’s music, rape culture, wearing makeup, abortion, the Victoria’s Secret fashion show.   The beautiful part about feminism is that it is not black or white, but rather a diverse spectrum of thoughts and ideas.  It is a shame that it is often viewed as a bra burning cult of psycho women.  

Because just like Katy Perry said, the goal of feminism is to exercise "the strength of women."

Katy Perry's entire speech can be viewed at: http://www.billboard.com/news/katy-perry-s-woman-of-the-year-acceptance-1008036452.story#/news/katy-perry-s-woman-of-the-year-acceptance-1008036452.story.