Girls unscripted
Why 2024 has been the year of women in pop
Illustrations by Sally Waite/agencyrush.com
In this column, we invite members of Amplify, our youth steering group, and Advocates, who lead Girlguiding’s public-facing campaigning and research, to share what’s on their minds. Each topic is chosen by them, to let volunteers know what they’re thinking about, what they love, and why it matters to them.
In this edition, 14-year-old aspiring journalist Bess from Amplify writes about why 2024 has been the year of women in pop, and why that’s been so important for teenage girls.
There’s no doubt that 2024 has been a breath of fresh air in the music industry, especially for women. Music has held power throughout the year and artists have used their voices to talk about modern day issues.
We have seen Chappell Roan speak up for closeted LGBTQ+ young people across the Midwest of America, living in homophobic and conservative households. We have seen Tyla spotlight African pop music, which for decades had been swept under the rug. We have had sold-out music tours including Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Guts World Tour’, Charli XCX and Troye Sivan’s ‘Sweat Tour’ and of course, Taylor Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’ finally came to Europe.
Let’s take a deep dive into some of the most influential artists of 2024, and why it’s important for teenage girls to see women on the rise in the music industry.
‘Brat summer’ - why it’s more than just a trend
To me, Charli XCX represents that taking creative risks creates rewards. She didn’t compromise her confident personality and rebellious artistry to fit anybody’s expectations or standards and it paid off. She released her latest album ‘Brat’ on 17June 2024. The main reason for the success of Brat was the superb marketing.
The Brat album cover features a lime green background with the word ’Brat’ written in a black lower-case font. The cover has become iconic in pop culture. The lime green colour may seem flashy and even ugly, but Charli made this decision for a reason. She said in an interview following the release that she purposefully made the album look stereotypically unattractive to expose the harsh expectations of female artists to have their photograph all over their work. Charli called this expectation ’misogynistic and boring’.
Before the album release, Charli started a TikTok live of nothing but a wall being painted in the signature lime-green brat colour. Over the summer, the message on the wall changed to tease upcoming news about the album. This wall, which is in Brooklyn, New York, has been nicknamed the ’Brat Wall’ by fans. It was the perfect, distinctive way to promote the album. Since then, many brands have adopted the signature ’Brat’ wallpaper, and soon the phrase ’Brat summer’ was all over social media and a key phrase in Gen Z vocabulary. Possibly the most influential use of ‘Brat’ was 2024 Presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ team adopting the words ’Kamala HQ’ to the Brat background after Charli tweeted ‘kamala IS brat’.
‘Brat’ shows that women and girls can be edgy and bold whilst also being able to speak about inequalities and double standards. ‘Brat summer’ will remain a legendary aspect of pop culture.
Almost 1 in 3 girls and young women aged 11-21 are worried about not being treated fairly or respectfully in the future because they’re a girl or woman.
What you can do
As a volunteer, giving girls a safe space to express themselves and feel more confident, is one of the biggest impacts you can make. Try these mindful programme activities with older girls to help them shed stress and celebrate their uniqueness:
Guides:
Sabrina Carpenter: a lesson in hard work and self-belief
Sabrina Carpenter is living proof that over night success is a rare thing. Many people think she rose to fame this year but she’s no stranger to the music industry. At the young age of 25, she has released 6 studio albums. She’s also an actress, and first gained recognition by starring in her own Disney Channel series ‘Girl Meets World’ at age 15.
She worked hard on her music for a decade, but her big break came in winter 2023, when she opened for Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour. It was her first stadium tour, but it was clear that Sabrina was destined to be a star. Her ability to appear natural and own a stage in front of tens of thousands of people at age 24 was mind-blowing. It was clear that the past decade of performances, choreography and vocal training had shaped her into a once-in-a-generation talent.
In 2024, Sabrina released ‘Espresso’ before her set at Coachella, the popular Los Angeles music festival. It seemed like this had been the moment Sabrina had been waiting for. ‘Espresso’ topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and won Sabrina’s first MTV Video Music Award for Song of the Year. On 23 August 2024, Sabrina released her sixth studio album, ‘Short n Sweet’ which debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard 200. Throughout the year, Sabrina has continued to stay record-breaking and chart-topping.
In a recent speech, Sabrina stated that throughout her teenage years, her mother frequently compared her to a ‘tortoise’, referencing the old story of the ‘Tortoise and the Hare’, and reminding her that slow and steady will always win the race. And it did. Sabrina’s successful year can remind young women and girls to stay strong, have confidence in themselves and work hard because your moment to shine will come, even if you don’t know it yet.
Our 2023 impact report revealed that Girlguiding girls are up to 23% more confident than the UK average. And we know that Girlguiding girls really trust and value volunteers – 89% agreed,
’I think just the confidence that it gives you because of the things that you’ve done is quite empowering.’
- Ranger
Chappell Roan: why boundaries matter
Finally, Chappell Roan is the newly emerging LGBTQ+ icon of our generation. Her music reflects the complexities and nuances of being a LGBTQ+ woman in society. She grew up in a conservative household in Missouri, and, like Sabrina and Charli, worked for years towards her success. However, what stands out about Chappell Roan is her ability to turn her experiences into art and lyricism.
She covers LGBTQ+ topics that are rarely spotlighted in the music industry by mainstream artists. Chappell released her debut album ‘The Rise and Fall of the Midwest Princess’ on 22 September 2023, but 2024 has been the year she has gained stardom at the level she deserves.
Since gaining popularity, Chappell has showed bravery by establishing boundaries with fans. She said in a recent social media post, ‘I chose this career path because I love music and art… I do not accept harassment of any kind’. Seeing a public figure asserting her right to have boundaries like this without apologising for it is so important for young women and girls. It was a brave thing to do, and the public criticism she received afterwards just goes to show how difficult it can still be as a woman to stand up for yourself.
Chappell’s music and aesthetic inspires young women to be authentically unashamed of who they are, and to celebrate their individuality and creativity.
Helping girls speak out
By showing up for girls each week, you’re already reminding girls and young women that they have a voice.
If girls want to speak up about their experiences with Girlguiding they can sign up to our insight pool.
They can also look out for opportunities to be a part of our girl-led groups like Amplify and Advocates.
However you feel about their music, these women are showing girls everywhere what it means to claim your power, speak your mind, and live boldly in the face of criticism.
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