Female Role Models in Popular Culture Part Two: Music

In part one I wrote about female role models in TV, now it’s the turn of the music industry…

Katy Perry has been through a lot.  She grew up in a suppressive family, but after discovering Queen’s “Killer Queen”, she decided that she, too, wanted to be a Killer Queen.  She managed it, and she did it with style.  She’s unabashedly unafraid to be herself, whether she has pink, blue, blonde, black or rainbow coloured hair.  She’s talented, she exudes confidence and she’s not afraid to take risks.

British girlband The Saturdays are one of the only manufactured pop groups that last more than a couple of years before bitchiness and egos take over (they’ve been together since 2007).  They’re all close friends, and they hang out even when they’re not working together.  You can see how close they are just from watching them together.

She started off young, but she’s never stopped working hard.  She worked her ass off as lead singer of Destiny’s Child, wowed millions when “Crazy in Love” was released, showed that you can be bootylicious and bag the guy, have a beautiful baby and still have a great career.

Adele doesn’t look like your typical celebrity.  She’s not a twiglet, but she doesn’t care.  Her figure is voluptuous and she wears clothes that suit her.  She has an amazing voice, and she writes lyrics that everyone can relate to.

Whilst Lady GaGa’s fashion sense is often questionable, her moxie is always clear.  With her song “Born This Way”, and now her new Born This Way charity, she encourages people to be themselves.  A gay rights activist, she thinks that we should be allowed to marry based on love, not on gender.  She spreads messages of love throughout the world and she inspires people with her lyrics and outlandish videos.

The Veronicas are two sisters you don’t want to mess with.  Their lyrics are bitchiness at their best, but they’re also relatable and the tunes are catchy.  They don’t strive to be in the centre of the spotlight, they just do what they do, and they do it well.

In Kylie’s twenty five year career, she’s been through a lot.  Even when diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, she didn’t let it stop her.  She took a break from her career, focused on herself, but most importantly, stayed positive.  She’s now been in remission for nearly six years, and her career is doing better than ever.  Not to mention that she’s proof that you can still look fabulous over the age of forty.

Former lead singer of the Eurythmics is not just a singer-songwriter, but she’s also an activist and humanitarian ambassador with her own charity.  She wants to give back to a world that’s given her so much, and she’s an icon for the LGBT community.

She may be plastic fantastic, but she knows that it’s inner beauty that really matters. She works hard on her relationship and has been married for over forty five years. She’s been in the music industry since nineteen fifty five and is proof that you can have a long, healthy career if you work hard enough. She also has her own theme park called Dollywood, which is the biggest employer in its area of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and has been a part of many philanthropic work over the years for a wide array of causes from AIDs to literacy.

Photo Credits
Katy-Perry.org
The-Saturdays.co.uk
Beyonce Gallery
Adele Fan
GaGa Images
The Veronicas
Kylie
Ultimate Eurythmics

Last Updated: 29/09/12