A Girls Guide to Feeling
Written by: Candice Dalton
Photography by: Liz Eike
Modeled by Autumn Adams, Tanith Frazier, Lexi Losh, & Nayah Malcom
The experience of being a woman is like no other. Womanhood involves jumping society’s hurdles to try and meet the demands of what is expected of us. We are told how to act, feel, and dress. No matter what women do, it is deemed wrong; society continues to set women up for failure and it has become so normalized in mainstream media. As a woman, the one thing that has always been an outlet for me is music. The community surrounding music, specifically for women, has always been significant to me as these powerful women are sharing their experience in the form of beautiful art, and women around the globe are able to connect through this piece of art and their shared experiences.
Throughout my teen years and going into my college years, I have found myself always listening to music. Music truly has been the background noise for my entire life and it gives me comfort, however, there is no experience like being a girl in your teenage bedroom at night with only a pair of headphones, yourself, and vibes. You begin to lose worry and sometimes you can’t help but dance to the music on your bed, bedroom floor, or bathroom, it doesn’t matter, your room becomes your stage with no one there to judge you. As I grow up, I begin to cherish these moments more than ever. The moments with just me and my headphones were truly some of the best and I’ve never felt such a sense of community as I have in those moments.
Artists like Lorde, Lana Del Rey, and Billie Eilish are few of many female artists I have found community in, as their music perfectly captures the experience of womanhood. Lorde’s songs “Ribs”, or her new “Virgin” album, are representative of being a young woman and trying to navigate this in a society that is pitted against women. Her song “Ribs” has a lyric that states, “This dream isn’t feeling sweet, we’re reeling through the midnight streets and I’ve never felt more alone, feels so scary getting old”, which has played through my headphones for years, as I’ve gotten older. The experience of growing up, into a woman, is terrifying and thrilling all at once, it’s something everyone experiences, but it is drastically different for women. Getting to feel and hear the shared experience of fear of growing up put into art, is an experience like no other.
While there is shared experience in the oppression of women expressed in female musicians art, there is also community in love songs made by women. Love songs are the songs I have found myself dancing to or staring at the ceiling the most to. Being a young girl and having a crush is one of the most exciting and sickening feelings. You find yourself longing for someone and imagining so many scenarios as these love songs play through your headphones. Songs like “Don’t Delete the Kisses” by Wolf Alice and “Supercut” by Lorde were two of my most listened to love songs as a teenager. These two songs capture the longing and excitement of young love perfectly, and I can feel the music through my body as if it’s replacing my own heartbeat.
Music has and always will be an outlet for me and many others. There is such complexity to every song and every individual can find their own interpretation from the same song, which is what makes music so beautiful. I have bonded over music with many other women as we feel a shared experience that is put into words perfectly by female artists. Being a woman is a gift. The shared experience across women is what makes the community so close-knit. Having individuals like musicians to voice the stigmas, expectations, and judgements of women are so important for young women to have as they grow up. I hope every young woman is able to find music that is an outlet for them, songs that put their feelings into words, so they are able to find their community through music.
Below are some songs and artists that women in the Springfield community find comfort in or feel represent them as a girl.
Destroy Boys
“Just a Girl” by No Doubt
Mitski
“Who you Really are” by Pisha
Olivia Rodrigo
Wolf Alice
Fiona Apple
Amy Winehouse
Weyes Blood
“Skinny” by Billie Eilish
“Normal Girl” by SZA
Sharing music made by female artists is important to spread messages and awareness about the issues women face in society and to create a community. What songs do you feel give you a voice?
