Music as a Reflection of Female Struggles: Semiotic Analysis of ‘Girls Like Us’
Keywords:
Music, Female struggles, Semiotic, Ferdinand de SaussureAbstract
This article examines the meaning in Zoe Wees' song "Girls Like Us" through semiotic analysis, highlighting the representation of issues faced by women in the current cultural and social context. In this research, the researcher uses a qualitative descriptive method to collect data from various sources such as books, e-books, journals, and internet news sources, and applies a quantitative algorithm using NVivo 14 Plus for word frequency analysis in the lyrics of "Girls Like Us." The analysis shows that the song “Girls Like Us” depicts the emotional and psychological struggles of women. Semiotic analysis of dominant words such as “know,” “like,” “girls,” and “hard” reveals themes of identity search, social challenges, and resilience. These words reflect Zoe's personal experiences while also representing the conditions faced by many young women worldwide. Through symbols and metaphors like “red lights in the darkness” and “heart in a cage,” Wees portrays feelings of loneliness, uncertainty, and the desire for recognition and acceptance. The message in these lyrics highlights the importance of understanding and empathy towards women's struggles, both in social and emotional contexts.
References
Akbar, M. (2023). Scholarship Information Service on UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh Website. Journal of Society Innovation and Development (JSID), 5(1), 124-129.
Andyrestu, A. (2024). Translation Equivalence in the Song" Mine" by Petra Sihombing with the Indonesian Version. Journal of Society Innovation and Development (JSID), 6(1), 001-012.
Aprilia, F., & Neisya, N. (2022). Women’s Stereotypes in “Pretty Girl” Song Lyrics: A Critical Discourse Analysis Study. ENGLISH FRANCA: Academic Journal of English Language and Education, 6(2), 461. https://doi.org/10.29240/ef.v6i2.4902
Aranovich, R. (2016). Language as a complex algebra: Post-structuralism and inflectional morphology in Saussure’s Cours. Semiotica, 2016(208), 133–154. https://doi.org/10.1515/sem-2015-0118
Cristina, G. (2024). The Acehnese Folklore and Social Behavior. Journal of Aceh Studies (JOAS), 1(1), 51-60.
Dworsky, A. (2019). (Miss) Representation: An Analysis of the Music Videos and Lyrics of Janelle Monae as an Expression of Femininity, Feminism, and Female Rage. Honors College Theses.
Fanani, F. (2013). Semiotika Strukturalisme Saussure. Jurnal The Messenger, 5(1), 10. https://doi.org/10.26623/themessenger.v5i1.149
Ghadery, F. (2022). ‘Beyond international human rights law – music and song in contextualised struggles for gender equality.’ Transnational Legal Theory, 13(1), 31–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/20414005.2022.2081906
Ibrahi, A. (2024). The Teumatok Culture in Aceh Singkil. Journal of Aceh Studies (JOAS), 1(1), 1-8.
Johan, D. (2024). The Keuneunong Dating and Acehnese Society. Journal of Aceh Studies (JOAS), 1(1), 21-30.
Kablova, T., & Teteria, V. (2020). Popular Song Creativity in the Socio-cultural Context. Journal of History Culture and Art Research, 9(3), 147. https://doi.org/10.7596/taksad.v9i3.2647
Khoza, T. N. (2020). When Life Gives You Law, Make Lemonade: Exploring The ‘Legalised’ Oppression of Black Women in The United States of America and South Africa And Their Musical Response Thereto. Pretoria Student Law Review, 14 (2). https://doi.org/10.29053/pslr.v14i2.1834
Maisari, Y. (2024). The Role of Teachers in Increasing Interest in Learning Arabic in Madrasah Aliyah 6 Aceh Besar. Journal of Society Innovation and Development (JSID), 5(2), 161-170.
Merikangas, K. R., Burstein, M., & Schmitz, A. (2013). Anxiety Disorders in Women. In Women and Health (pp. 1257–1270). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-384978-6.00084-4
Mukhtar. (2013). Metode Penelitian Deskriptif Kualitatif. GP Press Group.
Munidar, F. (2024). The Acehnese Literature and Social Behavior. Journal of Aceh Studies (JOAS), 1(1), 31-40.
Paull, J. (2024). The Impact of Coffee Shops on Aceh's Economic Sustainability. Journal of Aceh Studies (JOAS), 1(1), 41-50.
Qamari, A. S., & Harahap, N. (2024). The Influence of Social Media on the Culture of Saying Islamic Greetings in Mtsn 1 Banda Aceh Students. Journal of Society Innovation and Development (JSID), 5(2), 140-147.
Rahmadani, A. (2024). The Writing Culture of Scholars of The Aceh kingdom. Journal of Aceh Studies (JOAS), 1(1), 9-20.
Rahmawati, G. A., & Suyudi, I. (2023). Feminism in God is A Woman MV: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis. Journal of English Teaching, Applied Linguistics and Literatures (JETALL), 6(1), 57. https://doi.org/10.20527/jetall.v6i1.15279
Rhodes, M. A., & Post, C. W. (2021). Refraining on necropolitics: Lyrical geographies of labor music. Journal of Cultural Geography, 38(3), 378–398. https://doi.org/10.1080/08873631.2021.1927322
Rodger, G. M. (2020). Popular Song and Working-Class Culture. In P. Watt, S. Collins, & M. Allis (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Music and Intellectual Culture in the Nineteenth Century (pp. 408–434). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190616922.013.17
Senen, I. (2024). The Effect of Method Pedagogy and English Teaching Learning. Journal of Society Innovation and Development (JSID), 5(2), 171-190.
Stawarska, B. (2020). Recent Developments in Saussurean Linguistics. In Saussure’s Linguistics, Structuralism, and Phenomenology (pp. 9–14). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43097-9_2
Wallis, V. (2020). Song and Vision in the US Labor Movement. In Socialist Practice (pp. 205–223). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35066-6_12
Yazid, T. P., Suryana, A. A. H., Sugiana, D., & Yulianita, N. (2019). Women representation in lyric of minang song “laki den hobi baburu.” Library Philosophy and Practice (e-Journal).
Zhi-ping, N. (2002). On Two Groups of Distinction and Argument in Saussure’s Theory of Linguistics. Social Science Journal of Qinghai Normal University.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Evi Iryani
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.