Feminism in 1960's music

"Or you might walk in (respect, just a little bit)

And find out I'm gone (just a little bit)

I got to have (just a little bit)

A little respect (just a little bit)"

- Franklin stresses her equality again, stressing to her partner that she'll leave him if she isn't afforded the respect she deserves.

"I'm about to give you all of my money

And all I'm askin' in return, honey"

- Franklin empasises her independence and self reliance, asserting that, given her financal standing, she deserves the respect men give freely to one another

Respect - Aretha Franklin

Respect is a re-imagined, and re-gendered, version of Otis Redding's original recording. Reddings version told the story of a man demanding respect from his female partner, and Franklin's version flipped that story on its head. Instead of conveying a message of male domination, Franklin transformed the song into one that expressed the need for mutual respect in a relationship at a time where mutual respect was not expected. She utilized additional lyrics and background vocals to emphasize both her independence and her sense of sisterly community, signifying her lack of reliance on the man from whom she requires respect. Franklin’s rendition emerged in the 60’s as a feminist anthem championing gender equality, and it has a staying power which has allowed the song to maintain its relevance today.

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Find out what it means to me

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Take care, TCB"

- Franklin utilizes the original lyric, "Take care, TCB," which was first used in a masochistic context. The accromy stands for "take care of business," and Franklin uses it in contrast with the original context to promote gender equality.

"Franklin adopts the male dominated discourse of soul music (as well as its adherence to traditional gender roles where the woman is relegated to the domestic realm and the man participates in the public realm) to subvert meaning and appropriates the genre to give voice to several feminist ideas, including sexual empowerment and self-reliance." (Malawey, 202)

"I don't tell you what to say

I don't tell you what to do

So just let me be myself

That's all I ask of you"

Gore reiterates again and again the inequalities between herself and the man she's speaking to. She doesn't presume to be able to dictate his behavior, so he shouldn't presume to be able to dictate hers.

"You don't own me

I'm not just one of your many toys

You don't own me

Don't say I can't go with other boys"

Gore begins the song with the assertion that her male partner doesn't own her. She doesn't exist as a toy for his amusement, she's a human with the ability to make choices, just as he does.

You Don’t Own Me - Lesley Gore

You Don’t Own Me is an incredibly influential song about the humanity and power involved in womanhood. For generations, women had been seen as the property of their husbands, existing only to serve the “man of the house.” In the song, Gore makes an emotional appeal to her male counterpart, pleading with him to see her as a human being, and to allow her to make her own choices and follow her own path. This song was adopted faithfully by the women’s rights movement, and was utilized for its message of female empowerment. Even today, this song’s theme of women's freedom and power reigns as incredibly important to the feminist movement.

"Ah if you're born a woman

You're born to be hurt

A woman's lot is to give and give

And go on giving"

Posey expresses frustration at the expectation of feminine generosity. Men are not expected to sacrifice their well being for those around them, but women are. Always.

"It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor

Or if you're smart or dumb

A woman's place in this old world

Is under some man's thumb"

Posey articulates that society determines a womens role in 1960s society. Regardless of her intellect or wealth, she will always be beneath the authority of a man.

Born a Woman - Sandy Posey

Born a Woman is a song that eloquently dictates the realities of womanhood. In the time it was released, being born a woman guaranteed a life of inequality. No matter one’s social situation, a woman could never be considered equal to the men around them. A woman's entire purpose was to “give.” To give physically and mentally to the men in their lives was all a woman could hope to achieve. Posey understands this perfectly, and explains the reality in clear, brutal terms in Born a Woman.

"Yes, I've made my mistakes

But listen and understand

My mistakes are no worse than yours

Just because I'm a woman"

Parton acknowledes, in the religious and cultural context of the time, that she made a mistake. However, she also points out that her husband made the exact same mistake without the same viceral reaction.

Just Because I'm a Woman - Dolly Parton

"Now a man will take a good girl

And he'll ruin her reputation

But when he wants to marry

Well, that's a different situation"

Parton points out that, even while men will shape their potential wives for having previous partners, they will have "ruined reputations" in their own pasts without a though of how that may impact her future. It's completley fine to scoiety when men commit the act, but not when women do.

Just Because I’m a Woman - Dolly Parton

In Just Because I’m a Woman, Dolly Parton emphasizes the inequality between men and women. There was and is a double standard between men and women that says women can’t make the same mistakes that men do. Men and women can do the same action and receive completely different reactions. In this song, Parton explains a situation just like this, in which her husband shames her for having had premarital sex. He had also had premarital sex, but because of her gender her sin was seen as a bigger deal than his. She points this out, and outlines the inequality within this difference in standards. As with most of these songs, this theme is still prevalent today, as slut-shaming is still widely prevalent today.

"Strong enough to take the pain

Inflicted again and again" (Aunt Sarah)

As this song was written in the 60's, it's logical to assume that Simone symbolized modern African American woman with her depictions of women in the song. This line symbolizes the continued oppression faced by women, specifically black women.

"My hips invite you

My mouth like wine

Whose little girl am I?" (Sweet Thing)

Simone emphasises the trauma within Sweet Thing, and her coping mechanisms by juxtaposing these two lines.

Four Women - Nina Simone

In Four Women, Nina Simone details the lives of four African American women. The first is introduced as “Aunt Sarah,” who personifies the continued suffering of African American women. The lyrics clearly indicate that Aunt Sarah is a slave, as her body is described as strong in the way it would have had to be to ensure her survival. The next womans name is Saffronia, who is mixed due to a white man raping her black mother. She feels she belongs to two worlds, indicating that her mixed ethnicity allows her just a bit more grace than someone like Aunt Sarah is afforded. Sweet Thing is the next woman mentioned, described clearly as a sex worker. Simone implies that Sweet Thing copes with her trauma through her sexuality. The last woman's name is Peaches, who self describes herself as bitter because of the trauma she’s been through. This is a song about the internal struggles of black women, and how they navigate a world that was built to disavow them.

In “Four Women” Simone points to the marginalization experience associated with multiple and intersecting statuses…. Many of which were, and still are, under-appreciated in US society today. (Mena, 261)

Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood - Nina Simone

"Well, don't you know that no-one alive

Can always be an angel

When things go wrong I seem to be bad"

Simone grew up in a world that was against her. Racism and sexism was rampant, and, combined with her own personal troubles, she often struggled with mental health. Anyone, under the same circumstances, would suffer similarly.

"If I seem edgy, I want you to know

That I never meant to take it out on you

Life has it's problems and I've got my share

And that's one thing I never meant to do"

In attempting to heal from trauma, peoples failures often project onto those around them. Simone pleads for understanding, as that's all one could want when struggling with these issues.

Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood - Nina Simone

In Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, Nina Simone laments on the conditions of her personhood. This song represents the internal struggle of African Americans, specifically African American women, and how their attempts to heal can be misconstrued as personality flaws. If one didn’t understand the context behind certain reactions or actions, the reasons and trials that contribute to one's behavior, they may understand that individual as “edgy.” Simone articulates that, for her personally, her intentions are good, yet her trauma leads her to dark places that project onto the people around her. That was just the reality of the time she lived in, she was an African American woman and therefore suffered the consequences of being an African American woman.

"Her lyrics…. in “Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood,” imply a level of pain and hardship beyond normal expectations. In her lyrics, it is implied that these difficult circumstances may be related to the face that she is not only Black, but also a woman." (Mena, 256)

Society’s Child - Janis Ian

"One of these days I'm gonna stop my listening, gonna raise my head up high

One of these days I'm gonna raise my glistening wings and fly

But that day will have to wait for a while

Baby, I'm only society's child"

Ian, regardless of her deepest wishes, knows she cannot escpae the grasp of societal expectations. As a woman she is bound by the informal laws of those around her, and she's more than conscious of what her life would be like should she choose to ignore them.

"Now I could understand your tears and your shame

She called you "boy" instead of your name

When she wouldn't let you inside

When she turned and said, "but honey, he's not our kind""

In the first stanza of the song, Ian explains the racism her partner faced from her own family. He was not even considered the same "kind," as her, because of the color of his skin.

Society’s Child - Janis Ian

In Society’s Child, Janis Ian details a then controversial interracial romance. The song speaks of a man who Ian was interested in, and the oppression he and they faced from her family and society in general. This was, obviously, a rampant occurrence in the 1960’s, and society was not lenient in allowing people of different races to be happy together. Not only, though, does this song speak of the racism the man experienced, but the feeling of helplessness within Ian, as she was nothing but “Society’s Child.” Ian was not willing to forfeit her reputation or calm life for the life she would have with the man she loved. Society was so successful at dictating women’s behavior, not even love could convince her to go against its concrete laws.

"So come on, fellow females of the 20th century! Be glad that you're an American! Proclaim your freedom! Stand at attention! Pledge Allegiance!"

This patriotic sentiment by Warren encourages women to take advantage of changing times. Finally, women were beginning to be allowed the same freedoms men had been afforded since the beginning of the nation.

"Loosen the bra that binds you!

Take it off if you feel like it!

Come on, bounce your boobies

Here we go. Doesn't that feel good?"

Warren, in so many controversial words, begs women to lean into sexual empowerment. For so long feminine sexuality had been an unspoken subject, and Warren was determined to be apart of that changing.

Bounce your Boobies - Rusty Warren

This song begins with a monologue detailing the exact message Rusty Warren intended to express. Warren championed feminine freedom, encouraging women to take advantage of the free will promised to them in the very documents that built the United States. After her empowering speech, she goes on to perform a song that promotes exactly what the title suggests. Sexuality was long considered a taboo topic, one that women should avoid in order to maintain a good reputation and ensure they were pure for whomever they were to marry. Warren rejects this, promoting instead a culture in which women could take ownership of their sexuality, and make their own choices regardless of societal pressures.

"All I'm saying's I'm not ready for any person

Place or thing to try and pull the reins in on me, so

Goodbye, I'll be leavin'

I see no sense in this cryin' and grievin'

We'll both live a lot longer if you live without me"

In this song of female empowerment, all usual roles are reversed. The man is the one crying for commitment, and Ronstadt embraces her ability of free will to follow the path of sexual freedom that she wishes to follow.

"Every time you make eyes at me? Whoa

You cry and moan and say it will work out

But honey child I've got my doubts"

In somewhat of a gender role reversal, Ronstadt almost condescendingly bats away the romantic attention of her partner. He wants commitment, but she doesn't, which was surely uncommon at the time.

Different Drum - Stone Poneys (ft. Linda Ronstadt)

The song Different Drum advocates for feminine choice and individuality. It describes a contextual and historically controversial story in which a woman is unwilling to commit to a relationship with a man, simply because she doesn’t want to. Instead, she wants to travel and explore, both places and partners. She doesn’t want to be bound to a man the way society expects her to, and she spells that out very clearly in the song. Sexual freedom is defined by the feminine ability to make individual choices that may or may not coincide with societal expectations, and this song encourages women to make those choices freely, regardless of cultural coercion.

Different Drum - Stone Poneys (ft. Linda Ronstadt)

"This incubator is overused

Because you've kept it filled

The feelin' good comes easy now

Since I've got the pill"

Sex used to have serious consequences for women, often resulting in pregnancy because of the lack of birth control avalible. After 1965, though, women were finally afforded the sexual freedom men had had for so long.

The Pill - Loretta Lynn

"Miniskirts, hot pants and a few little fancy frills

Yeah I'm makin' up for all those years

Since I've got the pill"

Lynn discusses the consequences of a lack of birth control, and how it prevented women from taking control of their sex lives for so long. Now though, with the avalibility of birth control, women can finally have ownership over their own sexuality.

This is the only song in this project not from the 60’s, but it would be wrong to discuss songs championing reproductive rights without mentioning The Pill. The pill, as in the birth control method, was made nationally legal in 1965, and this sparked an eventual wave of sexual freedom. Women were no longer confined by the threat of pregnancy, in which they were ridiculed for being reckless while men were absolved of any responsibility whatsoever. The Pill by Loretta Lynn was an ode to the birth control pill, meant as appreciation for the sexual freedom it allowed to so many women.

The Pill - Loretta Lynn

Will You Love Me Tomorrow- The Shirelles

"Tonight with words unspoken

You say that I'm the only one

But will my heart be broken"

Many lines, this one included, clearly state that the situation between the woman and the man is only sexual in nature, which was very uncommon for the time. She embraces this, and states that she only feels he cares for her because of the sexual attention, which was ver bold for the time.

"Is this a lasting treasure

Or just a moment's pleasure?

Can I believe the magic of your sighs?"

The singer questions if the intense, sexual moment she shared with a man for a night would transfer into the next day. While embracing her independence and ability to choose to embrace her own sexual freedom, she acknowledges that it may just be a one night stand.

Will You Love Me Tomorrow- The Shirelles

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow was a controversial song of its time, detailing the story of a one night stand. This clearly fits into the theme of reproductive rights, as the idea of a one night stand in popular media was still new and uncommon. The woman singing acknowledges the fleeting quality of the night she and the man she speaks about spent together, all while pondering if the intensity they felt would still be around in the morning. This song, while about a woman who clearly wants more than a one night stand, still surrounds the emerging culture of feminine sexual freedom.

"'Cause all you do is feel up, feel up

Ain't you tired of feel up, feel up"

Dillon displays a deep understanding of the culture of sexual assault in the 60's. It was rampant and wasn't addressed as a serious issue. Even when pleading against it, she knows it will never stop totally.

Don’t Touch Me Tomato - Phyllis Dillon

"Touch me on me pumpkin, potato

For goodness' sake, don't touch me tomato"

Dillon knows it's unrealistic to expect men to stop sexually assaulting women, but she hopes that women can have just one body part to themselves. She uses fruits and vegetables to represent these body parts, maintaining some sort of subtley while speaking of taboo subjects.

Don’t Touch Me Tomato - Phyllis Dillon

Don’t Touch Me Tomato is a song that somewhat subtly discusses the culture of sexual assault in the 1960’s. The lyrics are intended to be sexual, which is made clear when Phyllis Dillon talks about being “felt up.” Sexual assault was a completely normal thing to experience as a woman in the 1960’s, and women who spoke out it were most often completely disregarded. Men saw it as their right to grab whatever and whoever they wished. Even in a song pleading for men to leave her “tomato,” alone, Dillon allows that other parts of her body, her “plum,” “apples,” and “pumpkin,” are, for a lack of better words, up for grabs. She wishes only that men will respect the one most intimate part of her body as hers, as something that cannot be taken by men whenever they want, and that is her “tomato.”

"These boots are made for walkin'

And that's just what they'll do

One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you"

Sinatra asserts that she will reign over men in her feild, and will not allow inequality and prejudice to keep her down.

These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ - Nancy Sinatra

"You keep lyin' when you oughta be truthin'

And you keep losing when you oughta not bet

You keep samin' when you oughta be a'changin'

Now what's right is right but you ain't been right yet"

Sinatra ridicules men who are stuck in their ways, unwilling to admit women are coming into their power and asserting their dominance in male-dominated feilds and succeeding.

These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ - Nancy Sinatra

These Boots Were Made For Walkin’ was written in response to a comment made by a man on a TV show, “They tell me them boots ain’t built for walkin’.” This is clearly a sexist comment, suggesting that women who wear boots wear them to look pretty, regardless of their impracticality. Nancy Sinata sings this song to say, in a way, “Yes, these boots were made for walking, and they look great while I do it.” It’s a song of female empowerment, encouraging women not to feel silly for their interests in fashion, not to allow men to make them feel smaller for what they enjoy. Sinatra believed she could enjoy looking good and still be just as successful as men who had little interest in what they looked like.

"And then you have the nerve to tell me

You think that as the mother I'm not fit

Well, this is just a little Peyton Place

And you're all Harper Valley hypocrites"

These lines spell out the meaning of the song perfectly, indicating that the P.T.A has no business judging the woman considering their own shortcomings.

Well, there's Bobby Taylor sittin' there

And seven times he's asked me for a date

And Mrs. Taylor sure seems to use a lotta ice

Whenever he's away

This line calls one man a cheat, and calls his wife an alcoholic, pointing out their hypocricy for judging the woman's daughter.

Harper Valley P.T.A - Jeannie C. Riley

Harper Valley P.T.A is a song about hypocrisy, specifically towards women. It tells a story of a woman whose daugher was called out and slut-shamed at school by people who have committed their own sins, and the woman refuses to let her family be ridiculed without pointing out the P.T.A’s hypocrisy. This song touches on class and gender, but largely revolves around the fact that all humans have their own faults, and judging people, especially strong, bold mothers, is never a good idea.

"He makes me do things I don't want to do

He makes me say things I don't want to say"

This line alludes to domsetic violence and mental abuse committed by the male partner of the singer.

He’s Got the Power - The Exciters

"Though I try to break the spell, I know

I can't (stop saying I adore him

I can't stop doing things for him)

He's got the power, the power of love over me"

There's a signifigance to the repeation of "he's got the power." The first alludes to the societal power of men, while the second expresses the love the singer convinces herself is the reason she stays.

He’s Got the Power - The Exciters

He’s Got The Power is a song that alludes to domestic violence, but also to the societal pressures and cultural norms that force women to stay with men that treat them badly. Many women in the 60’s were financially dependent on their husbands, and therefore stuck with them regardless of their treatment. To many, love was the only way to rationalize staying in an unsafe situation. Men had all the power, and for women, admitting their helplessness was worse than convincing themselves they were staying because they wanted to.