Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Feminist rhetoric and Feminism as a whole are often against traditional worldviews of women in society. These views are primarily seen through the eyes of scholars which mainly reach an academic audience. Christina Aguilera’s lyrics can place Feminism into popular culture. Young and impressionable women are reached far more easily through popular culture than through academia. By embracing this idea and combining what is popular with what is knowledgeable, a larger and vastly different audience can be reached. According to Sowards and Renegar, during the second wave of Feminism small group meetings were held for women to share their experiences with one another (535-536). They believed in raising consciousness, as a ‘rhetorical strategy’ that helped women recognize their personal oppression (Sowards and Renegar 536). Aguilera incorporates the same philosophy into her music. She speaks of her own experiences so that others will know that they are not alone. This method “unite[s] women so that they [can] understand that their individual experiences [are] not isolated events and to eliminate self blame” (Sowards and Renegar 536).

Christina Aguilera radically changed her image from a “bubble-gum” pop star to a sexually charged, liberated woman with the release of her 2002 album “Stripped.” In this essay, I demonstrate that her seemingly controversial and unethical image masks the positive feminist messages embedded in her songs. To do so, I will analyze a selection of songs from “Stripped” to show the rhetorical implications of Aguilera’s lyrics on young women’s self definition. It is important to recognize the cultural impact of Aguilera’s lyrics because they can not only influence young women’s identity development, but also allow them a different form of social empowerment.