The Feminism in God Is Woman by Ariana Grande
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https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/linguistika/
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24843/ling.2023.v30.i01.p03
LINGUISTIKA, MARET 2023
p-ISSN: 0854-9613 e-ISSN: 2656-6419
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The Feminism in God Is Woman by Ariana Grande
Kadek Soge Parilokita, English Department, Udayana University, Indonesia sogepari21@gmail.com
Abstract—This study entitled “The Feminism in God is Woman song by Arianna Grande undertaken the problem related to woman empowerment in American social life nowadays. This study aimed to investigate the phrase of Arianna’s lyric in Woman is God song and it’s meaning that representing feminism. Therefore, this study was limited in the song only, included Arianna’s life as the singer. Thus, this study used descriptive qualitative method by intrinsic and extrinsic technique to analyse the data. This study has found that Arianna Grande’s song entitled “God is Woman’ mostly representing the equality and social position between man and woman. It shown that woman has also a special place in American society equal to man.
Keywords—Feminism. Song Lyric, Meaning, Woman Empowerment
Abstrak—Penelitian berjudul “Feminisme pada lagu God is Women oleh Arianna Grande” ini didasarkan atas fenomena tentang emansipasi wanita dalam kehidupan social di Amerika pada masa sekarang. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menginvestigasi prasa dalam lyric lagu tersebut serta maknanya yang mengekspresikan tentang feminisme. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini dibatasi pada lagu tersebut saja dengan kehidupan Arianna sebagai penyanyinya. Kemudian, penelitian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif-kualitatif dengan pendekatan instrinsik dan ekstrinsik untuk menganalisis data. Penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa pada lagu Arianna Grande yang berjudul “God is Woman’secara keseluruhan merepresentasikan kesetaraan dan sosial posisi antara perempuan dan laki-laki. Ini menunjukkan bahwa perempuan juga memegang peranan di kehidupan sosial Amerika setara dengan laki-laki.
Kata Kunci—Feminisme, Lirik Lagu, Makna, Pemberdayaan Wanita
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Feminist theory now seeks to interrogate inequalities and inequities that exist along the intersectional lines of ability, class, gender, race, sex, and sexuality, and feminists seek to effect change in areas where these intersectional ties create power inequity. Intellectual and academic discussion of these inequities enables our students to enter the world aware of injustices and to work to change unhealthy dynamics in any situation.
If the abstract rights of man will bear discussion and explanation, those of women, by a parity of reasoning, will not shrink from the same test. But no one made man exclusive judge. Margaret Walters (2006)
With works such as Feminist Theory: From Margin to Canter (hooks), In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens (Walker), and Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (Walker), feminist theorists and writers such as bell hooks, Simone de Beauvoir, Patricia Hill Collins, and Alice Walker contributed to the field of feminist theory in terms of the ways in which race and gender mutually inform the experiences of women of colour (Collins). Alice Walker coined the term womanism to situate black women's experiences as they struggle for social change and liberation, while also celebrating the strength, culture, and beauty of black women. Patricia Hill Collins introduced the concept of the "matrix of domination" to feminist theory, reimagining race, class, and gender as interlocking oppressive systems that shape experiences of privilege and oppression.
Feminism is a prominent theory in Western contemporary critique. As the twentieth century progressed, it challenged traditional critical assumptions. Several feminism trends addressed various issues concerning women's status in family and society, female awareness, male treatment of women, and their oppression. A woman's place and position in literary history refers to changes in her place and position. Social progress and civilization have not resulted in a significant change in the gender status of women, and they have been dominated by males.
Ariana Grande is an American singer and songwriter who performs the song "God Is a Woman." Aside from informing the world that the Almighty God is female, the song's lyrics address a variety of issues ranging from female empowerment to sexual liberation to spirituality. The lyrics of "God Is a Woman," according to the singer, centre on two major themes: "sexual female empowerment" and how women are everything in this world. According to her, women are so important that the universe is essentially housed within them.
According to Emma Nathanson (2019) One of the few studies focused on teenagers found that 88% of teenage boys were supporters of gender equality, while only 11% of them actually identified with the term “feminist.” Considering the response from the boys in her class, this data was unsurprising.so based on this data, it is possible to conclude that there are still those who oppose feminism.
In bustle.com describe emma watson (2019) said “Feminism is about giving women choice," Watson told the outlet. "Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women with. It's about freedom. It's about liberation. It's about equality.
The last research “Feminism is more progressive in that it includes not only criticism of the patriarchal system, but also recognition and a positive attitude toward the needs of women as a group. Feminism in this context can be defined as an awareness of women's oppression and exploitation in society, the workplace, and the family, as well as conscious actions by women and men to change unfair conditions. The feminism movement is a belief that fights for women's liberation from male dominance “(Fadlan, 2011).
Based on the previous researches, the researcher understands that there are several authors who have researched the same subject. However, in terms of the object, this research differs from the others. The object of study in this research is a song lyrics. Based on the studies presented above, the researcher decided to give the
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title of thesis “The Feminism In God Is Woman By Ariana Grande”
There were some studies that also discussed the implementation of feminism in a song. First, an article written by Martini et.al (2017) entitled “Liberal Feminism’s Aspect in Katy Perry’s Songs” which analysed the basic aspect of liberal feminism and explain the representation of feminism ideology within the lyric where the data taken from “One of the boys”, “Pearls”, “Part of me”, “Dark Horse”, and “International Smile”. This study resulted that most of Katy Perry’s songs were representing the power of woman that physically and psychologically equal to man. It stated that the lyric songs representing a criticism for woman that should be freed from all threats of violence.
Second, a study from Marlina. Et.al, (2020) entitled “Analysis of Post Feminism and Patriarchy in Song “The Teaser” of Janetta and Maia Estianty’s Works that discussed the representation of post feminism and patriarchal ideology in the song of Sang Penggoda. The writer of the song initially input the ideology of strengthening the first woman and marginalizing the second woman. This song built up the image of strong woman that can independently making decision for their lives. Thus, the song represented the encouragement for woman to oppressed continue the struggle to fight for freedom from patriarchal ideology and stigma. Third, a study from Bahr and Pujiyanti (2020) entitled “Woman Stereotypes Depicted in Daya’s Song Entitled Sit Still, Look Pretty” that discussed the imbalance condition between man and woman that gave privilege to man but in the other hand handicaps woman. It resulted a proof that woman stereotypes did exist in social life.
The focus of this study is the feminist meaning of the lyrics of the song "God is Woman" by Ariana Grande. The lyrics which were released in July 13, 2018 is chosen as subject of this study and used as data. The study also looks at feminist literature, emphasizing the importance of female writers in women's emancipation. Women are used
as characters in writers' work to depict reality as it is and to present real women's language through character. The data was collected in the lyrics of the song "God Is Woman" by Ariana Grande. The descriptive qualitative method was used by the writer to analyse the data. The writer used the following steps to analyse the data: In conducting this study, the thesis writer employs two approaches. There are two approaches: intrinsic and extrinsic. Because the result of the analysis was delivered descriptively, this study will use an informal method to present the results of the analysis. According to Creswell (2009) qualitative method can be defined as research that relies on text and image data.
Ariana Grande's song "God Is a Woman" is primarily about sex, but the music video, which was released on Friday, subverts traditional assumptions around sexuality and gender in a stunning show of female power. Grande celebrates sisterhood and declares women to be all-powerful forces of nature in a couple of minutes, all while rejecting slut-shaming in an unashamed celebration of female pleasure. This can be seen by several data present below:
Data 1 Line 3-4
“My one, when all is said and done You'll believe God is a woman”
These feminists respond with the hope that female imagery will create a more solid anthropomorphic way of knowing God, expressing the legitimate argument that masculine language for God has depicted the Trinity as physically male and thereby dehumanized women as image bearers. For women to reclaim their personhood, they must reclaim feminine imagery and language for God. Hence, in this line, the song representing that “God” is actually can’t be define as man, but it rather personhood that might be man or woman. Moreover, this line says “when all is said and done” which emphasis that after all argumentation between societies, it still can’t be neglected that
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woman is also such legitimate language to addressed God. The historical depiction of God as solely male has far-reaching ramifications for the creation of women's humanity, particularly in relation to violence submission. Thus, this song emphasis those addressees that God could be define as equality of gender.
Data 2: Line 17
“And I can be all the things you told me not to be”
This line related to the term “phenomenal women” where woman seen as personal that can be anything they want. It depicts the image of a selfassured woman. She is demonstrating how a woman can portray herself as a true person. It also demonstrates how, because they are powerful, confident, and autonomous, they should be able to select what they want to accomplish. It aims to demonstrate that males will never understand women who have the confidence to do anything, as well as how powerful and self-reliant women can be.
Men jockey for the top positions in whichever arena they find themselves, eliminating women as much as possible from competition, resulting in gender inequity. Because organized sports are not only an immediate site of masculinity displays, but also a source of vicarious competitiveness and the production of symbolic images of masculine strength and beauty, it is no coincidence that so much of the language of competition is the language of sports. These are, unfortunately, icons of physical and sexual violence. As a social institution, gender determines the distribution of power, privileges, and economic resources.
Data 3: Line 19-20
“And he sees the universe when I'm the company It's all in me”
Those sentences demonstrated that men could never fully comprehend why certain women were so secure in their ability to take such dramatic measures. Men concluded that because the
majority of women did not take action to address their disparity, it was irrational to expect only one woman to do so. This line is representing a woman centre perspective seen by the notion “he sees the universe when I am the company” which demonstrated that man can only see a clear universe with woman in it when they accept the existence if woman’s power itself. A woman-cantered approach was a necessary counterbalance to a gender-blind neutralism that seemed to suggest that women become just like men — work-oriented, child-free, and sexually "liberated." When women attempted to imitate males, they often found themselves working a double shift (full-time job plus household responsibilities), feeling terrible for abandoning their children (few men shared parenting equally), and being vulnerable to date rape and sexually transmitted diseases.
Data 4: Line 32-33
“And I can tell that you know I know how I want it, yeah
But you're different from the rest”
In this line, thus is expressing that man exist by differentiation with woman and here she expresses that she knows she want it because man is different. What she wants is actually what the man labelled as different by woman itself. The focus of study is thus on the opposing relationship between masculinity and femininity. Men and women cannot be examined separately; gender inequality is a link between haves and have-nots, of dominance and subordination, of advantage and disadvantage.
In the feminist theory of social construction, inequality lies at the heart of gender: women and men are socially distinguished in order to justify treating them unequally. Because gender is so ubiquitous, the gendered portion of these structures of inequality may be the most difficult to address, despite the fact that gender is linked with other unequal statuses. Indeed, it is because of this pervasiveness that so many people assume gendering is biological and so "natural."
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Data 5: Line 18
“When you try to come for me, I keep on flourishing”
In this line, the song representing that in anytime man try to take won woman’s power, they keep flourishing. The woman keeps improving. Womans are strong and always developing themselves.
Data 6: Line 6
“A feel in' that you can't fight”
In this line, the song refers to a social condition where women can also have a power and ability to be on top as well as the man. In this lyric, it is mentioned that feminism can be seen also as individual needs. It served and seemed in practical to keep the ‘down-to-earth” terms where the argument of sex and gender seen as propaganda. It is clearly defined by the word “can’t fight” (Tomlinson, 1941:46).
Data 7: Line
“So, baby, take my hand, save your soul”
The man states themselves stronger and more dominant to be able to stay alone without any female help. Take my hand and save your soul, which means that a man can depend on a girl as well, representing the same position between man and woman. The point is that the lyrics reflect that a man and a woman depend on each other without anyone being dominant (equality).
Feminism along with this line is representing to be allowed them to see now that woman also can made different (Bulbeck, 1997:77). It suggests that woman can increasingly brought feminism interpretation to bear on their choices.
This study objectives to analyse the representation and depiction of Feminism in Arianna Grande’s song entitled “God is Woman” regarding intrinsic and extrinsic approach. The data
was limited to be line analysis in there not all of the lines of the lyrics input to be analysed. Hence, the form of the analysis is a description so that the method and technique used to collect and analyse were descriptive-qualitative. This study resulted that Ariann’s song depicted feminism in a modern way where it stated that feminism in modern social American life still needed to be oppressed as man still hold dominant position and ideology toward woman.
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