Your Fiercely Female Playlist

Your killer all-female playlist and soundtrack for International Women’s Day?today!

A timeless classic, so much so that I am unashamed to admit myself and IMAGE.ie’s Junior Social Editor and Content Creator Niamh listened to some Spice Girls as recently as last week. Everyone I know was a Spice Girl fan, after all, they did sell 80 million records worldwide; (I was Ginger Spice) and it wasn’t until I was a little older that I recognised their message of Girl Power was a message of feminism and female empowerment, albeit a leopard print, platform-shoe-wearing message of female empowerment. It should be critically noted however that, contrary to their popularised lyrics, if you wanna be my lover, please do not get with my friends.

Beyonc? and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Name a more iconic duo. We’ll wait.

What You Waiting For? is about Gwen’s refusal to let her fears and insecurities or even Wonderland’s greenhouse/society’s glass ceiling stop her from achieving her dreams.

This video is also the best modern cultural reimagination of Alice In Wonderland (yes this five-minute video it is better than Tim Burton’s whole movie)?and Gwen Stefani as Alice/Mad Hatter/Queen Of Hearts is the Hallowe’en costume/general day to day wardrobe of my dreams.

Lily Allen’s balloons are better than Robin Thicke’s balloons. Lily Allen sings the sentiment rumoured to have first come from Betty White, who apparently said: “Why do people say ?grow some balls?? Balls are weak and sensitive. If you want to be tough, grow a vagina. Those things can take a pounding.”

Would it be a fiercely female playlist without the inclusion of this song though?

Or this one?

Choosing just one Britney for this playlist was tough. Piece Of Me? Overprotected? My Prerogative? Work Bitch?! I think I made the right choice.

So this isn’t Miley’s song, it’s her godmother Dolly Parton’s. And maybe you don’t think of Dolly Parton as a feminist icon, but if you were to choose a more obvious feminist Dolly Parton song, you’d pick Nine To Five. Well, you would be wrong.?Yes, Jolene?is about seeing off a female rival, but there’s no blame, no vitriol, no assumption that Jolene is malicious, and in comparison to other songs of the same ilk, there’s no demonising a woman over a man’s affection. Only the feelings of Dolly Parton are relevant in this song, there’s no competition, it’s an appeal made as equals, made by Dolly on the basis of understanding. It’s also a country song written in 1974 so maybe does not deserve such attentive scrutiny, but it should also be noted that the song is written by a woman who champions the right to dress and behave as she likes.

Anyway, I don’t need to justify this. This is my fiercely female playlist and Jolene is, unquestionably, a?choon.

Now, go forth and conquer (and let us know your fiercely female suggestions in the comments below).