Do Sexually Explicit Songs by Women Equal Empowering Ideals?

According to an online article posted in the "Claremont Forum", a blog-friendly news site of Claremont McKenna, the college next door to my all-women's college Scripps College,"Just Dance" by Lady GaGa was voted Scripps' theme song. I have no idea how accurate that information is, because I was not aware of this poll and I do not know which Scripps students voted and why, but the article quoted a freshman Scripps student saying she feels empowered by this song and thinks it holds feminist values. Confused, I googled the lyrics to the song. Some of them are as follows:

"Wish I could shut my playboy mouth, oh oh oh-oh
How'd I turn my shirt inside out? Inside outright,
Control your poison babe, roses have thorns they say,
And we're all getting hosed tonight, oh oh oh-oh"

The article somehow tried to connect the fact that this theme song had something to do with the generalization that all the women at my college have some sort of eating disorder. A major up-rise broke out and many obscene comments to this article ensued, basically bashing the article for having a lack of a point and a lack of sensitivity for the women at my college. Basically, the article was not greatly liked.

I can see why this article created such an out-pour of comments, and I also do not agree with the article. However, the article only mentioned our so-called "theme song" for one or two lines and then continued on talking about eating disorders, but what I find more interesting is the fact that somehow, some women at my college decided that Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" was an empowering song for female activists. Getting "hosed tonight" doesn't seem like a song with feminist ideals at all.

As "Just Dance" continues, there is in fact one stanza where I can see how women would in some way find this song empowering. Lady GaGa sings:

"When I come through on the dance floor checkin' out that catalog,
Can't believe my eyes, so many women without a flaw,
And I ain't gon' give it up, steady tryin' to pick it up like a car,
I'ma hit it, I'ma hit it and flex and do it till tomorr' yeah"

And then she, of course, just continues on to dance and get "hosed". Even the one line of the song that describes how all the women on the dance floor have no flaws doesn't make up for the fact that there really is nothing else empowering in the rest of the lyrics.

I've been trying to think of songs sung by women artists that I WOULD consider feminist songs. I'm not just talking about any song sung by a woman; I'm talking about a song by a woman with empowering lyrics.

There is something to be said for women who sing openly about their sexuality, because generations before us, women have had to hide that side of themselves; they have had to suppress their emotions and leave their husbands to take over the sexual role. Lady GaGa does indeed sing openly about sex, as do other women like Beyonce ("Single Ladies") or Christina Aguilera ("Candyman"), as more examples.

Yet, I find it hard to connect to these musicians. Even though I applaud them for singing openly about sex, sometimes their point fades and these songs just become an excuse for men to take advantage of women's sexuality; many rappers hold women to be objects, and these women are adding to this problem by objectifying themselves to become the sexual playthings that these men are fantasizing about in their lyrics. Sometimes these fantasies become scary realities. Case in point: Rihanna and Chris Brown (I'm sure everyone by now knows their situation - Rihanna, the R+B singer who was dating Chris Brown, another R+B singer, was physically abused by Brown, who is now fulfilling his court-ordered mandatory probation of physical labor.)

As I write this, I realize that there is one feminist empowering song that I can think of, sung by the lovely Ms. Aretha Franklin (sadly, this song is over 40 years old - can anyone think of contemporary music sung by strong, un-objectified female artists?). The song I am thinking of is "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man". She sings:

"Take me to heart and I'll always love you
And nobody can make me do wrong
Take me for granted, leaving love unsure
Makes will power weak and temptation strong,

A woman's only human
You should understand
She's not just a plaything
She's flesh and blood just like her man
If you want a do-right-all-day woman
You've got to be a do-right-all-night man,

They say that it's a man's world
Well you can improve that by me
And as long as we're together baby
Show some respect for me."

There is also, of course, her famous hit "Respect", but because that song was originally written and recorded by Otis Redding, the song proves to be oriented towards either gender and not specifically written for a strong-willed woman.

I'd love to hear some more examples of other empowering female lyrics. I also did consider Indigo Girls, but I couldn't think of a specific example of lyrics that were more than just pining over a lost love. Please submit your opinions, and let's be done with all this GaGa.