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Yumi Hong

Professor Granillo

English 103

7 May 2019

Salute for the Power of Women

Today, songs are constantly influencing society with hidden meanings embedded within

their lyrics. Little Mix’s song, “Salute” is not an exception. Little Mix empowers the audience by

infusing them with confidence and strength to stand up for themselves when faced with adversity

from society’s perspective of women. Little Mix negatively impacts the audience as it

demonstrates the consequences of prejudice against different genders, but leaves the audience

with an emotional reminder of the oppression of women in a patriarchal society. Feminist

concepts such as “good girls” and “bad girls,” social constructionism, and male gaze can expose

prejudice against women; thus, “Salute” serves an important reminder of the strength that women

possess.

To make an emotional impact on the audience, Little Mix specifically targets people who

identify themselves as a woman and are around 16 to 26 years old. All of the singers in Little

Mix are around the target age group which allows Little Mix to better relate with the audience

than with an older group from a different generation that may have different beliefs of gender

roles in society. T​he song directly targets people who identify themselves as women by calling

out to them in their chorus as they say, “Ladies all across the world. Listen up, we're looking for

recruits” (“​Little Mix - Salute (Official Music Video)”​ 00:30-00:34​). With the statement directly

aimed toward women, the song is able to unite women to support the song’s message. ​Their
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message has an even stronger impact on the audience as they call out to their audience and

encourage them to fight against the prejudice of women. The song’s connection with its target

audience allows the song to create a deeper meaning and better unify the audience as Little Mix

shows the way women have been discriminated against in society, although it creates a negative

light on treatment of the different genders.

Despite its positive contribution to empowering women, “Salute” casts a negative light

on the relationship between different genders in society. Little Mix advocates for strength and

power in women, but goes overboard when it shows men on leashes, being led by women (​“​Little

Mix - Salute (Official Music Video)​” 00:45-00:54). By displaying men on leashes, Little Mix

implies the women’s superiority over men in society. While the display of woman dominance is

morally wrong, it reminds the audience of how power can easily be corrupted. At the same time,

however, Little Mix ignores the patriarchy created in society by stating, “It's who we are. We

don't need no camouflage” (​“​Little Mix - Salute (Official Music Video)​” 01:53-01:57). In the

past, women have restrained and forced to be submissive to men. Now, women have the

capability of being themselves and freeing themselves from the clutches of men. Instead of being

submissive, Little Mix tells their audience to be themselves. To stand up for their beliefs with

worrying too much about how society will react. To proud of who they are without trying to hide

who they really are. By sending the audience a message about society today, Little Mix informs

women of the discrimination and prejudice against them evident in the good girl versus bad girl

concept.

The good girl versus bad girl concept is evident in Little Mix’s Salute as they project the

idea of the “bad girl” to the audience more than the “good” girl”. ​ Lois Tyson, the author of
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Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide,​ describes ​ good girls as “gentle, submissive,

...[and] angelic” (Tyson 84). The good girl is someone who is submissive and attentive to the

needs of society. However, the concepts of the good girl don’t apply to Little Mix as much as the

ideology of the bad girl, as they demonstrate the complete opposite of the image of women

portrayed by the good girl ideology as they prepare their audience for battle as soldiers as they

say, “If you ready ladies, better keep steady. Ready, aim, shoot it...on a mission. And we'll hit

you with the truth” (“​Little Mix - Salute (Official Music Video)”​ ​01:32-01:37). With this quote,

Little Mix confirms the existence of little to no good girl images in their song as they advocate

for a battle against being submissive and angelic for society. Instead, Little Mix represents “bad

girl” side of the good girl or bad girl spectrum as they support ideas of battle that contradict the

morals of the good girl image.

Conflicts against the “good girl” image result in women who show traits associated with

the ideology of the “bad girl,” which is strongly demonstrated by Little Mix. As Tyson

illustrates, women are often labeled as either a good girl or a bad girl according to her actions

and “If she accepts her traditional gender role and obeys the patriarchal rules, she’s a ‘good girl’;

if she doesn’t, she’s a ‘bad girl.’” (Tyson 85). Little Mix shows women as the polar opposite of

the “good girl” ideology and as a result, they are more likely to be labeled as “bad girls”. Instead

of be subservient to the expectations of society, Little Mix tells women to fight for themselves

and informs them that “​men fight great, but women are greater fighters” (​“​Little Mix - Salute

(Official Music Video)”​ ​03:44-03:49). Little Mix is anything but gentle, and are aggressive in

their approach to fight as they demonstrate women superiority over men when it comes to battle.

Instead of projecting the ideas of being a good girl that is submissive to the whims of men, Little
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Mix shows the power of women and their capability to fight in a way that may seem violent and

monstrous compared to the ideologies of the “good girl” and the expectations of people in

society that result from concepts such as social constructionism.

Social constructionism reveals the disparities between different genders in society. ​In

Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide​, Tyson ​describes social constructionism as

something that consists of “gender categories...constructed by society” (Tyson 81). These

categories made by society create a negative impact in how people are seen in society and result

misleading stereotypes that negatively affect society. For women, stereotypes can include the

association of women and their love of shoes, which Little Mix addresses by demanding the

audience to “​Get your killer heels, sneakers, pumps or lace up your boots. Representing all the

women​” (​“​Little Mix - Salute (Official Music Video)​” 02:10-02:14).​ Shoes don’t necessarily

define a women, but with stereotypes such as this implemented by society, it alienates those in

the audience who don’t necessarily care about shoes who identify themselves as a woman.

Stereotypes such as associating shoes with women typically create negative connotations. With

Little Mix, this negative connotation of shoes with women is a sign of strength, not weakness.

Little Mix tells women to embrace who they are despite the negative connotations that

may follow and to instead be proud of who they are, instead of trying to conform to society’s

standards and the labels society imposes upon them. Simone De Beauvoir, the author of ​The

Second Sex​ addresses the derogatory use of labels of women by explaining how just the word

female “is enough to define her. From a man’s mouth, the epithet ‘female’ sounds like an

insult…[and] confines her in her sex” (Beauvoir 21). Labels given to women are often ones of a

derogatory or condescending nature. However, Little Mix puts a positive spin to the negative
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association of labels and women by using labels to strengthen their audience. To empower them

while telling them to not be ashamed of the derogatory labels given and to encourage women to

embrace them by associating confidence to the labels as Little Mix tells them, “​Divas, Queens,

we don't need no man, salute” (“​Little Mix - Salute (Official Music Video)” 0​ 1:37-01:41). The

labels of “Diva” and “Queen” associate women with confidence and power in society instead of

something to be ashamed of as Beauvoir described in her book. Being a women doesn’t

automatically attest to weakness and insuperiority in society, and Little Mix advocates that

women are capable of being confident and strong in society once they ignore the discrimination

against them created by society. In addition to social constructionism effect on stereotypes and

labels, Little Mix also addresses how women are further stereotyped to depict them as items and

things unable to defend themselves.

The male gaze affects how people view women in society by stereotyping women. In

Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide​, Tyson explains that the male gaze presents

women as “merely an object to be seen” (Tyson 97). This reminds the audience that women

aren’t just a pretty thing for display and Little Mix directly addresses this sexist view as they

declare, “You think we're just pretty things. You couldn't be more wrong” (​“​Little Mix - Salute

(Official Music Video)​” 02:29-02:46). Little Mix acknowledges the fact that looks are deceptive

and that the way women are portrayed in society as “things” is unjust and inaccurate. Women are

more than they appear to be and not everyone acknowledges it, too distracted by the exterior to

notice the interior and the true personality of women other than false beliefs based off of

appearance that affect not just their status in society, but also their capabilities.
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Little Mix fights against the male gaze and its attempt define their capabilities. As said by

Jennifer Hansen in her article, “Continental Feminism,” the male gaze is created “so that the

viewer is situated in a ‘masculine’ position of appreciation” (Hansen).​This can be seen in society

as women try to change themselves to become docile and submissive to men. However, Little

Mix reverses the typical roles of the male gaze by making women the people with power and

men the objects of appreciation. Little Mix presents women as warriors instead of objects as they

declare, “​Sisters we are everywhere. Warriors, your country needs you” (“​Little Mix - Salute

(Official Music Video)​” ​01:29-01:32). Instead of seeing women as helpless things unable to do

anything but please men, Little Mix gets the audience to view women as warriors. Warriors who

are more than capable of fighting for themselves. Little Mix exposes the prejudices against

women that have lead women to becoming things, not people, that are made for men to

appreciate and treat as they will, creating an important reminder that women have power and the

capability to fight for themselves instead of letting the views of others mold the way they act.

In conclusion, “Salute” asserts a negative message of gender treatment as it supports a

reversed patriarchy while also providing a meaningful reminder of the oppression of women in

society. Feminist concepts such as the good girl versus bad girl concept, social constructionism,

and the male gaze, can be used to expose the prejudice against women; as a result, “Salute” is

crucial to remind women of the inner strength they have. With a feminist lens, it can be seen that

“Salute” can impact how women view themselves in society. This song is an important reminder

to women that they are stronger than society leads them to believe and that they don’t need men

to support them in order for them to be strong.

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Works Cited

Beauvoir, Simone de. ​The Second Sex.​ Alfred A. Knopf, 2009.

Hansen, Jennifer, "Continental Feminism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

wwww​(Fall 2018 Edition).

Little Mix. ​Little Mix - Salute (Official Music Video)​. ​YouTube,​ 1 May 2014.

Tyson, Lois. ​Critical Theory Today: a User-Friendly Guide​. Routledge, 2015.