Riot Grrrl Around the World?

July 22, 2011 7:07 AM

I'm looking for explicitly feminist music sung in languages other than English. Can you help me out?

I'm living in Turkey right now, and my playlists alternate between Turkish pop and angry/empowered female vocalists who remind me not to let the patriarchy get me down.

It struck me today that I don't have any foreign-language music with explicitly feminist politics. This made me said, and I thought "Maybe Metafilter can help me out!"

Turkish/German are obviously the jackpot here, but anything you have, throw it at me! I'm curious to see what's out there.

posted by besonders to media & arts (8 answers total)

Does "women against the state" fall into this category? My very first FPP was about a Soviet Punk Rock singer who was, well, punk rock back when it was hella illegal to criticize the state in such a manner.
posted by griphus at 7:22 AM on July 22, 2011

Raus mit den Männern!
posted by misteraitch at 7:27 AM on July 22, 2011

This blog posted A Reference of Female-Fronted Punk Rock, 1977-89, Parts 1-6. I haven't managed to listen to the whole thing, but I know for sure there are songs in there that would fit the bill -- maybe a lot, depending on your definition of "explicitly feminist."
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 7:37 AM on July 22, 2011

In neighboring Armenia, here's an all-female feminist punk band (they performed in Turkey recently.)
posted by k8t at 7:49 AM on July 22, 2011

Makeda from Les Nubiens. Rough translation from the original French.
posted by Gilbert at 8:47 AM on July 22, 2011

Kece Kurdan by Aynur Dogan, in Kurdish, banned in Turkey until fairly recently
posted by runincircles at 10:13 AM on July 22, 2011

Translated lyrics fall more under (semi-ugh) girl power rather than full on feminism, but it's a really fun, catchy song, and I find it empowering! Plus, it's so Turkish that she actually wrote the jingle for Kola Turka: Nil Karaibrahimgil- Bütün Kızlar Toplandık. If you're in Istanbul, she still hangs out at the benches at Boğaziçi Universitesi sometimes.
posted by Concordia at 12:05 PM on July 22, 2011

Femicidio from Santiago, Chile should work. (via)
posted by Uncle Ira at 2:49 PM on July 22, 2011