When I say “female” you say “liberation!”
Women in the entertainment industry have become increasingly critical in using their social platforms to speak for women empowerment. Actress and singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe celebrates women and the feminist movement in her latest pop-funk single, “Make Me Feel.”
Inspired by Prince’s “Kiss Me,” the song brings 1986 to 2018 through the use of psychedelic synths and strong, striking beats.
“Prince actually was working on the album with me before he passed on to another frequency, and helped me come up with sounds,” Monáe said in a radio interview with BBC.
Prince however, not only played a role in the logistics of the song, but he also influenced its core meaning. The song focuses on sexual liberation. It is meant to celebrate female empowerment and feeling comfortable with who you are and how you feel.
Monáe told The Guardian that she “wouldn’t be as comfortable” with who she is had it not been for Prince. Monáe, whose sexuality has been a controversial topic, hopes to reiterate what Prince strived to show people in her own way, from a female point of view.
A music video accompanying the single was also released and has received a lot of praise for its fantastic ability of visually presenting the powerful female anthem. The video centers around an 80’s inspired club, where Monáe proudly flaunts her sexuality on a black and white checkered dance floor while singing “It’s like I’m powerful with a little bit of tender / An emotional, sexual bender.”
Her bold dance moves and colorful outfits add to her message of female gratification. She dances back and forth with a man and a woman, but ultimately returns to the woman in the end. She tries to convey that there is no ideal answer in regards to who she is supposed to be dancing with.
These pretentious standards of what you are ‘supposed to’ do should not exist because you’re not entitled to have to stick to society’s so-called norms. Instead, we should be focussing on how your actions make you feel. We should be celebrating women’s ability to feel powerful simply by their ability to freely express their emotions.
“I’m a young woman, a young black woman living in America.” said Monáe during a BBC radio interview. “I feel the sting of what that means to have your women’s rights trampled on, the disrespect that is happening here and also I want to celebrate, I don’t want to stay down.”
The single gives her fans a glimpse of what is to come. Her highly anticipated sophomore album, “Dirty Computer,” is expected to release mid-spring.
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