Editor's Note: This article was originally published on March 14, 2022, and was updated on March 7, 2025 with a new photo and the addition of Karol G.

It would be painful to even imagine the music industry without the contributions of women, many of whom have long been subjected to systemic sexism, double standards, subtle dismissing, and blatant injustices throughout their careers in music. This inequality has been brought to the spotlight in recent years, as movements such as Me Too and Times Up empowered women to tell their stories and make profound changes to protect others.

The sentiment is especially pertinent for International Women's Day in 2025, which is focused on the need to Accelerate Action for gender equality. And while the disparity between men and women in the music industry remains, superstars like Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and Karol G are working to shape the music industry into a more inclusive, safe place for all artists to create and thrive.

The following artists stood up for themselves and, in doing so, have set an example and blazed the trail for others to do the same.

Taylor Swift Fought Sexism On Multiple Fronts

Taylor Swift has enjoyed successes that few in the music industry can touch. She was the first woman to win the GRAMMY for Album of the Year three times, and has been nominated in the category once again for evermore at the 64th GRAMMY Awards. Nevertheless, she has often been the target of sexism in her extraordinary career.

While Swift started in the music industry as a teenager, she noticed the sexism as she grew older and more successful. She was mercilessly critiqued for writing about her feelings and relationships, while male musicians who do the same thing were rarely challenged. In her early 20s, Swift said she was "slut shamed" for having a few relationships; others romantically linked Swift to people whom she’d only sat next to at a party. What most upset her was realizing that they were reducing her songwriting to being a trick, rather than a skill and a craft.

Swift has fought back through words, actions and art, and received praise for her efforts from feminist icon Dolly Parton. She has also written open letters for other artists who are experiencing injustice — including publicly demanding that Apple Music pay the artists during the trial period of the platform. Apple Music ultimately did as she asked. Swift has also stood up for individual women in music, and they have done the same ultimately strengthening their collective power.

Taylor Swift’s voice is strong within her music, too. "The Man," a song on her 2019 album Lover, looks at how much differently the music industry and society would have treated her if she was a man. In her 2020 documentary, Miss Americana, Swift discusses the double standards for women in music, pointing out how female artists must reinvent and reimagine their image.

Brandi Carlile Created Space For Women In Country Music

Speaking up for women in music is an important part of life for Brandi Carlile. As she told Billboard, "I wake up every day political. I can’t not be political."

Along with fellow artists Amanda Shires and Maren Morris, Carlile started the Highwomen to mentor and support fellow female musicians, according to Rolling Stone. She also co-founded the Looking Out Foundation, which funds lesser-known causes and organizations to amplify the impact of music by empowering those without a voice."

Carlile has also taken to social media for activism. When Country Music Television announced that it would promote equal play, offering "complete parity between male and female artists" on its channels, she tweeted a challenge for country radio to do the same.

Madonna Broke The Mold And Challenged Expectations Of Older Women

It’s often said that Madonna was ahead of her time, but she changed the times to fit her message and voice (the New York Times tallied 60 times Madonna changed culture). When her career first skyrocketed in the 1980s, Madonna redefined what it meant to be a powerful woman in music in many ways, and has since continued to challenge sexism in the music industry and beyond.

Madonna has repeatedly called out the rampant ageism against women in music, which has impacted how she has been perceived and treated. However, the woman who broke barriers and created boundary-pushing music believes the most controversial thing she has done is stick around when the music industry would otherwise consider her too old.

Madonna hopes to help empower other women to embrace and celebrate their bodies, talents and selves at all ages and stages of their lives. That’s part of why she doesn’t hesitate to call out anyone who mocks her or others for not adhering to the music industry's expectations of women as they age.

Alicia Keys' Nonprofit Encourages Women In Music

Alicia Keys has long been a musical force to be reckoned with and she co-founded the organization She Is The Music to help empower other women in music. The nonprofit has thrived since 2018, and it operates as a "unifying organization for women from across the industry, creating strength and impact on a global scale. On a practical level, it helps increase the number of women working in the music industry and also strives to help future generations of women develop their careers.

Keys has written and performed many empowering songs, including "Girl on Fire." She referenced that song when announcing the launch of She Is The Music, stating, "We are more on fire than we’ve ever been."

Janet Jackson Stood In Her Power And Inspired Others

With her GRAMMY-nominated album Control and hit song of the same name, Janet Jackson inspired millions of women beginning in the late '80s. "Control" celebrates the joy and fulfillment of a woman standing in her power, while taking control of her own life. Jackson advocated for women in other songs, too, such as the 1993 hit "New Agenda" which frankly dealt with sexism and racism.

Jackson has paved the way for many other female artists to reach greater heights in the music industry, often using her spotlight to inspire and empower others. When she won the Global Icon Award at the MTV European Music Awards, Jackson explained that she feels moved to speak for women whose voices have been stifled, and she confessed that her voice used to be stifled as well. 

When she won the Worldwide Inspiration Award at the Mnet Asian Music Awards in 2018, she memorably said, "I dream of the end of bigotry and discrimination in any form. I dream of a world in which we join hands across all borders and unite as one. Finally, I dream of a planet where hatred turns to compassion, tolerance turns to understanding, and a healing and lasting peace prevails."

Pink Pushed The Boundaries Of Femininity

In one of her earliest singles, "Don't Let Me Get Me," Pink declared, "Tired of being compared to damn Britney Spears." The lyric shone light on the pressures of being a female pop star and the beauty demands that come with it — but the singer has since contested societal expectations in song and on stage.

Rocking her signature short locks from day one of her career, Pink has championed those who stay true to who they are. "I'm so glad that I'll never fit in/ That will never be me/ Outcasts and girls with ambition/ That's what I wanna see," she proclaimed on her 2006 single "Stupid Girls," a direct response to the sexism women face in the entertainment industry.

"I'm grateful if I've kept one girl from feeling different, or ugly, or unempowered," Pink said while accepting the Woman Of The Year honor at Billboard's Women In Music ceremony in 2013. Four years later, while being honored with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2017 Video Music Awards, she further encouraged women to remain authentic: "We take the gravel and the shell and we make a pearl, and we help other people to change so they can see more kinds of beauty."

Ariana Grande Called Out Sexism And Defied Stereotypes

When Ariana Grande had her turn as Billboard's Woman of the Year in 2018, she touched on the discrepancies between male and female artists — from unfair stereotypes cast upon women to the standards female artists face when it comes to releasing their music.

That wasn’t the first time Grande stood up for herself and other female performers. She's also encouraged others to do the same. 

"I think the most important thing is to have each other’s backs. When you see something or hear something that’s upsetting, or someone says something that’s upsetting, even if it’s not to you, just say something and be there and support each other," Grande told Coveteur in 2017. "Misogyny is ever-present, and we have to be there to support one another. That’s really it. It’s about the sisterhood. There’s no competing in that. We have to lift each other up, not try and claw each other down."

Lady Gaga Opposed Ageism — In Her Twenties

The intersection of sexism and ageism is no joke, and women in music often feel it early on. In fact, Lady Gaga was speaking out about it in her twenties. As she declared to Billboard in 2013, when she was named their Woman of the Year, "I want to show women they don't need to try to keep up with the 19-year-olds and the 21-year-olds in order to have a hit. Women in music, they feel like they need to f—king sell everything to be a star. It's so sad. I want to explode as I go into my thirties."

Now 38 (as of press time), Gaga has cemented her place as one of the best-selling female artists of all time, even landing one of the biggest hits of her career this year with the GRAMMY-winning Bruno Mars collaboration, "Die With A Smile"; along the way, Gaga has continued to advocate for women through her music and her platform. She particularly praised Britney Spears for her resilience in 2021 following the end of her 23-year conservatorship. "The way that she was treated in this business was really wrong, and the way that women are treated in the music industry is something that I wish would change," Gaga said in a red carpet interview. "I think she will forever be an inspiration to women."

Karol G Emphasized The Power Of Womanhood

Years before Karol G became one of Latin music's most powerful women, she recognized the lack of women in the music industry. "We have to generate a movement," she urged in a 2018 Billboard interview. "It's not about a fight to see who stays — there's space for all of us."

Her achievements since then — including a GRAMMY and a chart-topping (and history-making) album — helped Karol G become the first Latina to be named Billboard's Woman of the Year. Delivering her speech in her native Spanish, she used her own story to motivate other women in the industry to keep pushing.

"I wasn't going to let being a woman be an obstacle or define my capabilities, but that it was going to be my strength, it was going to be my motive and my reason," she said. "And every time I was told no, I found the strength and the desire and everything I needed to say, yes I can. In my mind I changed the 'a woman can't do it' to 'look at this woman how she does it, look how a woman does it.'

"No one can put value on you as a person, not as a woman, not as a professional," she continued. "It is you yourself who works for it, sweats for it, gets it and earns it."