53 Best Women Empowerment Songs for Your Next Feminist Karaoke Night

If the patriarchy’s got you down—and let’s be honest, it happens a lot—sometimes you just need to sing along to one of these women-empowerment songs in your car while you cry and touch up your makeup and then cry it off and touch it up again. It’s called being a modern woman!

From getting-over-a-breakup ballads to getting-paid-what-you’re-worth power anthems, there are so many great feminist songs by women artists that celebrate feminine brains, brawn, and beauty. Some extol the virtues of self-love, while others tackle complicated political questions related to the challenge of gender. Some are just bops about getting dressed. All are guaranteed to provide a daily dose of girl power.

No matter what you’re in the mood for, this playlist of the best women-empowerment songs will get you healed and hyped.

1. “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child (2001)

The pity party is over, and the self-doubt has got to stop. Destiny’s Child is here to send you to confidence boot camp and whip your self-esteem into shape!

Iconic line: “You thought I wouldn't sell without ya, sold 9 million.”

2. “Part of Me” by Katy Perry (2012)

Even if you feel shattered after a breakup, you aren’t. There’s a “part of you” that’s intact, and that’s what you’ll use as your foundation to rebuild. At least, that’s what Katy says.

Iconic line: “You're not gonna break my soul.”

3. “Respect” by Aretha Franklin (1967)

If this song doesn’t make you want to climb up on a table and stomp your feet, turn the volume higher. It is simply one of the most feminist songs of all time, point blank, end of story.

Iconic line: “R-E-S-P-E-C-T.”

4. “Not Ready to Make Nice” by The Chicks (2006)

After enduring one of the most intense backlashes in music history for speaking out against the Iraq War, The Chicks returned with a Grammy-winning, searing song about never forgiving, never forgetting, never shutting up, because why should they?

Iconic line: “I've paid a price, and I'll keep paying.”

5. “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor (1978)

This disco hit about moving on post-relationship has come to signify rebirth and self-expression. It’s not just hopeful; it’s absolutely ecstatic.

Iconic line: “You think I'd lay down and die? Oh no, not I.”

6. “Brave” by Sara Bareilles (2013)

A reminder we all need sometimes: You are enough, and you are amazing. All you have to do is try, which takes courage. But Sara’s got a song for that.

Iconic line: “Maybe there's a way out of the cage where you live.”

7. “Stronger” by Britney Spears (2000)

Look how far she’s come since “Baby One More Time…” Her loneliness ain’t killing her anymore!

Iconic line: “I'm not your property as from today.”

8. “Roar” by Katy Perry (2013)

In a world that tells women to be soft-spoken and demure, make a little noise! Actually, make a lot of noise! Roar, my good bitch!

Iconic line: “I went from zero to my own hero.”

9. “Fighter” by Christina Aguilera (2002)

If what you’ve been through has made you stronger, maybe you don’t have to resent the people who stood in your way. Maybe you can even be like Christina and thank them for making you a fighter. Well, thank them a little. You did most of the work.

Iconic line: “It makes me that much stronger.”

10. “Good as Hell” by Lizzo (2016)

Five years later, we still can’t get over how good as hell this song is. A kicky, insanely catchy ditty about getting dressed up and feeling yourself from, duh, self-love queen Lizzo.

Iconic line: “Boss up and change your life.”

11. “Confident” by Demi Lovato (2015)

Lord knows Demi’s been through it, but when she’s up, she’s unstoppable, and she channels all of that energy into this powerful pop song about moving through the world like the superhero you are.

Iconic line: “You’ve had me underrated.”

12. “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten (2014)

The campaign song of Hillary Clinton’s history-making 2016 presidential run, this is basically the soundtrack of any show-the-doubters-wrong moment ever. Just…don’t think about who won the Electoral College. Think about who got more votes!

Iconic line: “Can you hear my voice this time?”

13. “When the Heartache Is Over” by Tina Turner (1999)

No one embodies triumph after hardship more than Tina Turner, and this song about seeing light at the end of the breakup tunnel will be relatable to anyone who’s missed someone…and then stopped missing them.

Iconic line: “I know that I'm stronger without you, and that I'll never need you again.”

14. “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles (2007)

Fun fact: This song isn’t about a breakup. It’s Bareilles’s musical F-you to the record execs who thought the only way she’d have a hit was to write some sappy love song. I think we all know who won that argument. Women are more than love objects!

Iconic line: “I learned the hard way, that they all say, things you want to hear.”

15. “Run the World (Girls)” by Beyoncé (2011)

A rhetorical question has never been so empowering! If you don’t know who runs the world by now, take a listen already.

Iconic line: “My persuasion can build a nation.”

16. “This One’s for the Girls” by Martina McBride (2003)

“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” for women of every age! An upbeat ode to aging ungracefully and living with flair.

Iconic line: “Yeah, we're all the same inside, from 1 to 99.”

17. “Woman” by Kesha (2017)

Finally able to record music again after suing the producer who raped her, Kesha embraced freedom with “Woman,” a brassy, big-band jam about ladies with cojones.

Iconic line: “I'm a motherfucking woman.”

18. “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera (2002)

A passionate and moving ballad about self-acceptance and body love, this song is a little corny but has such a necessary message.

Iconic line: "You are beautiful in every single way.”

19. “The Man” by Taylor Swift (2019)

Taking every sexist double standard and reversing it, Swift lays out all the ways she’d be praised if only she were a man. The song is good, but the music video—in which Swift plays an alpha bro—is even better.

Iconic line: “They'd say I hustled, put in the work. They wouldn't shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve.”

20. “The Pill” by Loretta Lynn (1975)

A groundbreaking and controversial ode to the product that singlehandedly set women on the path to true liberation: birth control. As necessary today as it was then, just like the medicine it’s named after.

Iconic line: “Yeah, I'm makin' up for all those years, since I've got the pill.”

21. “Think” by Aretha Franklin (1968)

As with much of Franklin’s work, this speaks both to the challenges of women and of people of color…and especially to those faced by women of color. A rousing pop tune about freedom, what’s not to love?

Iconic line: “’Cause freedom stands for freedom.”

22. “Gaslighter” by The Chicks (2020)

Taking aim at ex-husbands and ex-presidents alike, The Chicks hold liars accountable in the feisty “Gaslighter.” A perfect piece of pop for the #MeToo era.

Iconic line: “You know you lie best when you lie to you.”

23. “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” by Kelly Clarkson (2011)

There’s simply nothing like belting along with Clarkson’s powerful vocals, especially on this life-made-me-tougher classic. Perfect for a bad day at work, or in general.

Iconic line: “Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone.”

24. “You Don’t Own Me” by Lesley Gore (1963)

The feminist ur-anthem, the source of so much woman-powered musical pop goodness, and did you know Gore was a lesbian? This song spells it out so clearly, so frankly, so unabashedly, it’s kind of incredible that the ’60s didn’t just call it quits then and there.

Iconic line: “I'm free and I love to be free.”

25. “So What” by Pink (2008)

Sometimes there’s nothing important to learn from a bad experience. Sometimes you just gotta say “Screw it” and party. And that’s what Pink is all about. Get knocked down, get up, get back to the club.

Iconic line: “I got a brand-new attitude, and I'm gonna wear it tonight.”

26. “Most Girls” by Hailee Steinfeld (2017)

Turning the toxic “You’re different from other girls” trope on its head, this song is all about how most girls actually rock. Rather than competing and tearing each other down, Steinfeld sings about embracing other women and boosting them up.

Iconic line: “Most girls work hard, go far, we are unstoppable.”

27. “Ladies First” by Queen Latifah feat. Monie Love (1989)

They don’t call her Queen for nothing. In a time when women rappers were an extreme rarity, Latifah boldly asserted her right to have a stake in the game. And then, as we know, she leveled up.

Iconic line: “A woman can bear you break you take you.”

28. “Just a Girl” by No Doubt (1995)

Stefani may have been the pretty face at the front of her band, but she was way more than “just a girl,” and this song about defying expectations is all about how women don’t need extra help. Just get out of our way!

Iconic line: “Oh, I'm just a girl, guess I'm some kind of freak.”

29. “Unpretty” by TLC (1992)

In a culture that’s literally obsessed with telling women they need to pay for something to make them pretty, this is perhaps the most important lesson we can learn: There is nothing you can do to your body or face that will make you fixed inside if you’re broken. Nothing. NOTHING.

Iconic line: “My outsides look cool, my insides are blue.”

30. “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift (2014)

Players gonna play, haters gonna hate, but blast this ear worm and suddenly you won’t care about any of that because you’ll be having a one-woman dance party to one of Taylor’s catchiest pop hits!

Iconic line: “Can't stop, won't stop moving.”

31. “Sorry Not Sorry” by Demi Lovato (2017)

It’s no secret women are prone to overapologizing, but here Lovato reclaims the word sorry, double-deploying it to explain that if you don’t like her, that’s a YOU problem. She’s not sorry.

Iconic line: “Now, payback is a bad bitch, and baby, I'm the baddest.”

32. “Just One of the Guys” by Jenny Lewis (2014)

A more melancholy rumination on how good guys have it, this song is about facing up to the ways women are locked out of certain experiences but deciding to go on. Because when it comes down to it, you don’t want to be one of them, anyway.

Iconic line: “I'm not gonna break for you! I'm not gonna pray for you! I'm not gonna pay for you! That's not what ladies do!”

33. “Proud Mary” by Tina Turner (1988)

Originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Tina Turner’s energetic rendition soon became the widely accepted Best Version of the song, because…well, listen! She’s got all the moxie in the world.

Iconic line: “Big wheel keep on turning, Proud Mary keep on burning.”

34. “Let the River Run” by Carly Simon (1989)

Not strictly about women empowerment, but this song is indelibly linked to the classic women-in-the-workplace movie Working Girl, and frankly, it just gets us hyped for the day.

Iconic line: "We the great and small stand on a star, and blaze a trail of desire, through the darkening dawn.”

35. “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” by Shania Twain (1997)

Putting on high heels, a little makeup, and a bra that earns its keep just feels good. And when you feel good, the rest of the bullshit just doesn’t seem so bad.

Iconic line: “Let’s go, girls.”

36. “This Woman’s Work” by Kate Bush (1988)

Thanks to She’s Having a Baby, this will forever be the song most closely associated with giving birth, but it’s also about all the other incredible work women do day in and day out, whether we get paid for it or not.

Iconic line: “I know you've got a lot of strength left.”

37. “Goodbye Earl” by The Chicks (1999)

They kill her abuser. Enough said.

Iconic line: “Earl had to die.”

38. “Juice” by Lizzo (2019)

You know that feeling when you’re just a little tipsy and, like, really feeling yourself? Well, you can feel like that whenever you want if you blast this incredibly danceable tune.

Iconic line: “I'm the pudding in the proof.”

39. “None of Your Business” by Salt-n-Pepa (1993)

The anti-slut-shaming song to blast on your next walk of no-shame. Adults have sex! Everybody get over it!

Iconic line: “And she want to be a freak and sell it on the weekend. It’s none of your business.”

40. “Single Ladies” by Beyoncé (2008)

It’s hard to explain just how big of a cultural impact this song had when it was released. The video was famously parodied everywhere (and, according to Kanye West, was one of the greatest of all time), but the song was too, even launching memes about Saturn (really). Because it’s just that good.

Iconic line: “If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it.”

41. “Dancing on My Own” by Robyn (2010)

This song might be technically, literally about following your ex to the club to spy on him and his new date…but it’s also about the feeling of having fun by yourself, of dancing even though you don’t have a partner. It just gives us that independent feeling, you know?

Iconic line: “I keep dancing on my own.”

42. “Get Up 10” by Cardi B (2018)

No one works harder or had more of a meteoric rise than Cardi B, and this track is sure to put you in the “hustle harder” headspace.

Iconic line: “Went from makin' tuna sandwiches to makin' the news.”

43. “God Is a Woman” by Ariana Grande (2018)

Grande reminds us that there’s nothing as sexy as a woke partner. Worship the divine feminine together! Just couple stuff!

Iconic line: “When you try to come for me, I keep on flourishing.”

44. “IDGAF” by Dua Lipa (2018)

A slightly saucier, poppier, more grown-up “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” this level of DGAF-ness is hard to come by but something to work toward.

Iconic line: “I don't need your love, so you can try all you want.”

45. “All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor (2014)

News flash: You don’t need to fit into a sample size to be worthy of love, get attention from men, or accept yourself. That’s fake, and we aren’t doing it anymore.

Iconic line: “No, I won't be no stick-figure, silicone Barbie doll. So if that's what's you're into, then go ahead and move along.”

46. “Bitch” by Meredith Brooks (1997)

Being a woman is fucking complicated! The people need to know! We have moods! Deal with it!

Iconic line: All of them.

47. “We Can’t Stop” by Miley Cyrus (2013)

A little heathen hedonism never killed anybody. Miley defiantly throws away the last vestiges of her good-girl image in the paean to indulgence, a celebration of a certain kind of freedom.

Iconic line: “It's my mouth, I can say what I want to.”

48. “Grown Woman” by Beyoncé (2014)

Blast this on your 18th birthday and keep it on repeat till you’ve internalized it. Adults get to make their own decisions.

Iconic line: “I'm a grown woman. I can do whatever I want.”

49. “Just Because I’m a Woman” by Dolly Parton (1968)

Dolly calls out unfair double standards in marriage, inspired by a real-life argument she had with her husband about not being a virgin on their wedding night.

Iconic line: “My mistakes are no worse than yours, just because I'm a woman.”

50. “Bad Girls” by M.I.A. (2012)

We simply can’t imagine any pregame playlist being complete without this absolute banger about party girls.

Iconic line: “Live fast, die young, bad girls do it well.”

51. “BO$$” by Fifth Harmony (2015)

Close the wage gap one negotiation at a time. If this doesn’t inspire you to ask for a raise, it’s at least fun to dance to.

Iconic line: “Purse so heavy gettin' Oprah dollas.”

52. “Rebel Girl” by Bikini Kill (1992)

An ode to girl crushes, all the cool chicks who inspired us to level up our own game.

Iconic line: “When she talks, I hear the revolution.”

53. “Good Ol Boys Club” by Kacey Musgraves (2015)

Kacey Musgraves has so many songs about pursuing your own dreams no matter what society says, but this one, specifically about the frat mentality still prevalent at the top of so many industries, is especially pointed.

Iconic line: “Don't wanna be a part of the good ol' boys club.”

Rock on, ladies!

Originally Appeared on Glamour