Like a Girl by Lizzo is absolutely one of my favorite songs of all time, and is a great representation of all that we have discussed within GSS-101.
To begin, this song (and many of Lizzo’s songs) is a complete rejection of gender norms that exist within our society. Lizzo owns her identity and makes it clear that she is in control of her life throughout the song. For example, at the beginning of the song, she talks about running for president, and adding “a little estrogen” into the Executive Branch of the US government. Unfortunately, our society has normalized male domination within the government, and so Lizzo’s intervention is a clear rejection of gender norms.
Thinking beyond gender norms, one might claim that this song is rejecting the social constructs of gender and sexuality as a whole. Moreover, throughout the song, Lizzo’s dominant and powerful energy combined with her description of how she likes to live her personality is so authentic and does not conform to many aspects of gender. While it is oxymoronic that the song is titled Like a Girl, and throughout the song, Lizzo says that she is “working [her] femininity,” I would argue that she is attempting to expose the flaws of the social construct of gender, and that she is her own person and others should follow in her suit.
On another note, this song is incredibly sex positive. At one point, Lizzo references masturbation and self-pleasure when she says, “buy my whip by myself.” This representation of self-pleasure and self-love is powerful because through this, Lizzo demonstrates the importance of individuality and respect for other people.
In conclusion, Like a Girl is an amazing demonstration of what it looks like to love and accept oneself while authentically sharing who one is with their society. Everyone go listen to it!
Hey Matt! I really love your choice of artist for this feminist mixtape assignment. Lizzo is such a strong role model for women because she uses her image and fame to promote female empowerment and confidence. Reading your post made me refer back to some of her Tik Tok posts about body positivity where she displays that all women should be confident in not only their identity but also their external image as well. So many of her songs such as the one you wrote about really enhance and emphasize the importance of female empowerment.
Hey Matt! I really love Lizzo and her music. Like you mentioned, Lizzo’s songs are very empowering and are not solely focused on feminism. Lizzo is a big advocate for body positivity and accepting yourself for who you are. Your post reminded me of all her other songs, including “Truth Hurts”, where she stands up for herself and calls out a man who couldn’t appreciate her, so she chose to leave him and appreciate herself, emphasizing your point about how Lizzo is all about respect, acceptance, and self-love.
I also LOVE this song and Lizzo! I like how you point out in the beginning that a good portion of Lizzo’s work is a complete rejection of gender norms. Additionally, I find her songs to be extremely empowering and inclusive. Overall, great job and this was a perfect song choice for this assignment!
I don’t think I’ve listened to this song before, so your review has made me listen to it on repeat! I love your analysis of her rejection of gender norms, especially in terms of sexuality. I feel like many media outlets don’t include sexual expression in the fight for feminism, so I really find it interesting whenever women are able to speak freely about their sexuality since it is still so heavily controlled in pop-culture.