NZ Artist Denelle Releases A Teen Summer Feminist Anthem “Imperfectly Perfect”

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Up-and-coming singer/songwriter from New Zealand, Denelle, has just released a music video for his new single called ‘Imperfectly Perfect’ and from the first viewing of the video (let’s be honest, we’ve already watched it a few times!) we have found our feminist anthem of the summer.

First up, this young hottie has an undeniably beautiful voice and is set to take on the world of male pop stars and boy bands with those vocal chords!

Second, because of the subject matter. The song is all about empowering women to embrace who they are right here and right now, flaws and all.

Oh and third, the music video doesn’t just feature tween girls, you get to see women of ALL ages, ethnicities and sizes showcase their natural beauty on camera.

Young talented men singing about the beauty of a woman is certainly not a new concept in music. They’ve been doing it for decades. But let’s take a quick look at some of the more recent examples. Back in 2004 former Disney Channel star Jesse McCartney released ‘Beautiful Soul‘ where he professed “I don’t want another pretty face, I don’t want just anyone to hold…I want you and your beautiful soul.”

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Fast forward to 2011 a group of 5 English lads from The X Factor formed a group called One Direction and literally captured the hearts of every girl (and perhaps some adult women) with ‘What Makes You Beautiful’. They sang “you don’t know-ow-ow, that’s what makes you beautiful”.

Getting a little raunchier, another former Disney-ite Nick Jonas released his 2014 song ‘Jealous’ where he claimed “you’re too sexy beautiful, everybody wants a taste that’s why I still get jealous”.

And of course we have to give honorable mention to Amy Schumer’s parody on this trend with her ‘Girl You Don’t Need Makeup‘ comedy video. The aforementioned guys certainly have some catchy tracks, but if you really want to sing about empowering a woman, then make it about HER, not her in relation to a guy, ya know?

When we watched Denelle’s ‘Imperfectly Perfect’, it reminded us more of Colbie Caillat’s ‘Try’ than anything else, which is great because her whole message is that you don’t need to try to be anyone else, or change to impress the world.

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Every girl in Denelle’s video is make-up free and they take part in a photo shoot where they allow their personality to shine, not a made-up face.

Before the song even kicks in we hear a girl lamenting about the impossibly standards of beauty today.

“There’s always going to be a huge media focus on makeup and beauty…the multimillion dollar industry out there to make people feel bad about themselves so they will buy a product just keeps the cycle going,” she says.

“Beauty is really portrayed in a way that is not genuine today, and the song really does hit home in that respect,” adds Denelle.

It’s important to talk about this issue in a way that is genuine and not patronizing. What make’s ‘Imperfectly Perfect’ different from the rest is the diverse and inclusive nature of the women in the video. We see moms with their babies, older women, teen girls, college age girls, and a whole range of ethnicities. The idea that being beautiful means attaining some sort of unrealistic standard of perfection is getting rather old and it’s just not as believable anymore.

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With the plethora of feminist messages seeping through advertising, film and music (thanks Beyonce!) it’s important to get it right and not be patronizing. Embracing your own beauty and state of being isn’t about pleasing a guy, it’s about finding that self-confidence to know who you are is enough.

These days young women get bombarded with so many negative messages in music and media, so to have a young guy sing about something important and make a statement to his female fanbase is admirable.

Here’s the full video for ‘Imperfectly Perfect’:

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