Feminism and the Top Ten

     I'm a feminist.  Not just a yeah-I-agree-with-that-in-theory kind of feminist, but a card carrying, bra burning, I-can-do-anything-you-can-do-better kind of feminist.  Is this still necessary?  Have we reached the day of true equality for both men and women?  Should I throw out that copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves that I've had since college?  I entertained these somewhat weighty thoughts after listening to Pink on the car radio.
     My, how song lyrics have changed since I attended a school dance.  Remember Shelley Fabares' "Johnny Angel" and Lesley Gore's "It's My Party?"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWBljCO0JQk and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsYJyVEUaC4  Don't you want to smack those two back to reality?  Thank Goddess that Miss Gore had a change of heart with her 1964 release, "You Don't Own Me."  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNb-8gLcXLs  Also in 1964, Gale Garnett sang about limiting love affairs to 365 days.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxZI0Cxaq20  I wonder if she would have considered renegotiating the contract at the end of the year?  She could have kept her feminist dignity and her man that way.
     Lot's of people think Helen Reddy's "I am Woman" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGMESM8JKOg  was the first feminist anthem.  She released this song in 1972.  Just a month before, John Lennon released "Woman Is the Nigger of the World."  With a title like that, it's easy to see how Helen made number one, and John's song went pretty much nowhere.  Still he made a point.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS78MX8Zmdk
     Coming back to present day, I was listening to Pink.  Whether it's "Stupid Girls," or "Trouble," Pink is no Shelley Fabares sitting around mooning over a dreamy Johnny Angel.  She might "Try" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTCDVfMz15M or she might blow the loser one last kiss http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOlYDcuyrbo .  She's a wife and a mother, and her boobs are natural.  Pink, Alecia Beth Moore, was born in 1979, perhaps the child of a feminist mother.
     The road to success is rarely easy for men or women.  Maybe things aren't truly equal, but I think it's getting closer.  When that day comes women AND men can be anything they want to be.