The 1920s brought an onslaught of improvements and rights for women. After World War I, the celebratory era opened the door to more scandalous clothing– e.g. flapper dresses– and suffrage via the 19th Amendment. However, these advancements were not long-lasting. By the 1950s, the end of World War II lent way for conservatism to reenter American households. In terms of the woman, the norms of motherhood grew feverishly and society preferred women that were pretty and dumb, over the ugly, smart, and unsexed. Daya concurs with Second-Wave Feminists and depicts many of these conservative stereotypes of motherhood within her song, Sit Still, Look Pretty. 

One of the most prized texts of Second-Wave Feminism is “The Feminine Mystique,” written by Betty Friedan. To summarize, she furthers the notion that mothers need to be educated to be better moral compasses for their children and asserts that the women that have given up their career dreams are deeply regretting their choices (Friedan 270). As a result of this regret, Friedan suggests that wives stop being housewives as a career and learn to not depend on their husbands by getting “a job, any job” (279). This new claim spoke to a majority of white, upper-class women that felt as if their lives were wasting away as they only cared for kids and did chores around the house. Another document to consider would be Ms. Magazine’s “10 Things American Women Could Not Do Before the 1970s” article. Within this text, journalist Natasha Turner lists out laws based on pregnancy job discrimination, workplace sexual harassment, divorce cases, and more where women did not have the same rights as men. Acknowledging these restrictions makes clear how this time period tied women down to their husbands and gave their husbands more control over the household.

Daya, a 23-year-old Indian-American, released Sit Still, Look Pretty in 2016 when she was 17-years-old. Though decades apart, in her song, Daya directly aligns with the work of Friedan by calling out misogynists and individuals that devalue women. Within her song, she opposes the 1950s ideal that “dream[s] of picket fences and trophy wives” and that she needs to be “sugar sweet” to land a respectable husband. Similar to Friedan, Daya does not want her youth to be dominated by seeking a partner and marriage. This is further emphasized by her repetition of “Sure  I’m a pretty girl up in a pretty world/ But they say pretty hurts/ And I don’t wanna sit still.” Highlighting this opinion ensures the audience is aware that Daya’s current life plans are to not settle down and become that “trophy wife” we previously mentioned.   

Daya also reiterates that a woman’s life does not start at marriage. Referring to herself as a “queen” that does not “need a king” portrays this. By her own self-right she’s a queen, and she does not need marriage in order to obtain that title from a king. The concept that a woman’s life begins at marriage is incredibly restrictive and we see remnants of this to this day; for instance, many students often return to their female teachers as “Mrs.” over “Ms.” because they assume their teacher is married. 

However, it is interesting to note a more extreme view that Daya and Friedan share. In The Feminine Mystique, Friedan fails to consider how poor, or non-white women may also have the liberty of chasing their dreams without much access to external lines of work or higher levels of education. And, Daya does something along those lines when she shifts women’s housework onto dwarves in the line “7 men to do the chores/ ‘Cause that’s not what a lady’s for.” In this case, the social connotations of dwarves being lesser-than connects with Friedan continuing to expect all less-fortunate maids to have to keep up with their housework and the housework of the people they work for (Hooks, Bell 1). 

Moreover, the main audience of this song is heteronormative and misogynistic men. Which, in itself, is an issue. While she addresses a male audience that is primarily blamed for opposing domestic norms for women, Daya’s only focus is on heterosexual relationships. While the 1950s was less receptive to homosexual or polyamorous relationships, this modern song should have left more room for interpretation and representation of other couples. Daya also fails to mention how this 1950s conservative view is hurtful to men as well: men are expected to always be the financial providers and continuously work, instead of being home and emotionally present around their wives and kids. As a result, Daya’s song misses the mark on many contemporary aspect of nonheteronormative relationships; still, she does great work showcasing the work of Betty Friedan and Second-Wave Feminism.