I’ve been on a 1970’s disco kick recently; mainly listening to the likes of Donna Summer, Anita Ward, and Chaka Khan. One of my favorite songs from this era has been “I’m Every Woman” by Chaka Khan. When I need to pump myself up before presenting in class, or to wake me up on a particularly grey morning, I reach for this song. It has the perfect beat to get me dancing in my room, while also making me feel empowered through its lyrics.
The song, released in 1978 on Chaka Khan’s debut solo album “Chaka,” has been adopted by many as a rally cry for women’s empowerment and community. It’s a pretty short song, but it gets the point across, essentially singing about women having the power to do whatever they put their mind to. Or as Chaka put it, “anything you want done, baby, I’ll do it naturally.” The outro repetition of the lyrics “I’m Every Woman” is my favorite part, but what does it mean to be “every woman?”
I like to view this lyric as a rebuttal of the “I’m not like other girls” trope. This type of mentality is often made fun of now as more “pick me” aligned, but growing up, so many stories I read about, or movies I watched, had this underlying theme of the main female character being distinctly different in some fantastical way than every other person in the book. Though it’s not a bad thing to be unique, the problem with this was that the character who was “not like other girls” was portrayed as better than the others, rather than just different.
In the song, Chaka is saying that the greatness of women is that we all have greatness within ourselves. Whether that be the having the bravery to stand up for oneself, figuring out the cure for cancer, or just absolutely crushing an in-class presentation worth half your grade (in my case). Yes, every woman is different. Every woman is technically not like the others, but every woman possesses the power to make their life the one they want. We’re resilient, self-sufficient, and intelligent. We all carry this collective power, that’s why we’re “every woman.”
So, the next time you’re feeling down or feel behind on your aspirations, look to the many successful women of the world, not with jealousy, but with pride. Any win by a woman is a win for women, and that includes you. Let that win become motivation for you to shoot for the stars; anything is possible with the support of your sisters. We’re every woman, and we can be whoever we want to be.