Transcript – Cheyenne France
Dove Cameron, the singer of the song “Breakfast”, is a 27-year-old singer and actress, who started her stardom at the young age of 16 when she played the roles of Liv and Maddie in the hit Disney channel series. In 2022 she released the song “Breakfast”, written by Cameron herself, Delacey, Jessie Fink, and Evan Blair.
Tape from Dove Cameron “Breakfast” Music video
It was written as an anthem to women to reclaim the power that has been lost to men throughout history. As Cameron was in the midst of creating the music video for “Breakfast”, the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade on June 24th, 2022. Cameron, as well as countless others throughout the country, were completely devastated.
After completely changing the direction of the music video, with the help of director Lauren Dunn, an incredibly powerful piece was created, bringing to light the injustices and steps backward of Roe V. Wade being overturned, stemming from an even greater set of issues regarding women’s equality.
This next clip is a woman featured on Al Jazeera News at a rally for women’s rights.
Cameron’s determination to be a prominent advocate for women’s rights seems fitting due to her perseverance in her own personal life. In an interview Cameron had with Bella Cacciatore, she spoke about how she has had quite a traumatic past, with her father committing suicide when she was just 15 years old. According to the article, Cameron is constantly striving for the evolution of herself, regardless of the hardships she may face. She expresses this partly through a tattoo she has of the word “alchemy”, also alluding to her album “Alchemical” in which the song “Breakfast” is in. The very beginning of the music video starts with a trigger warning, and then follows with a staged news report, flipping the roles of women and men.
Taken by Getty Images
Tape from Dove Cameron “Breakfast” Music video
Throughout the entire video, the stereotypical roles of men and women are swapped, resulting in a fictional world where men can get a glimpse of what women go through, even today. The women are all dressed in suits, showcasing their power and dominance over men in the video, who are portrayed as housewives.
Tape from Dove Cameron “Breakfast” Music video
A very important aspect of the music video is the time it takes place, which is the 1950’s. Having the video take place in a setting from years ago directly alludes to the fact that the overturning of Roe V. Wade feels as if we’re going back in time to a time when women had fewer rights than today. Al Jazeera News points this out.
Screenshot from Dove Cameron’s “Breakfast” Music Video
Tape from News Source of Roe V Wade being impactful
An article by Rubin Rita states, ‘Abortion has been in the background, available for most practicing doctors for almost 50 years in this country,’ Lisa Harris, MD, professor and associate chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan and professor of women’s and gender studies, said in an interview with JAMA. “If it’s not anymore, it’s going to change the way that we provide all kinds of care.”
Tape from Dove Cameron “Breakfast” Music video
This huge step backward on June 24th of 2022 has resulted in “about 64 million American women of childbearing age have[ing] less power to decide what happens in their own bodies than they did the day before, less power than their mothers and even some of their grandmothers did” according to an article published by the editorial board from the New York Times. That same article then states, “Many women may be forced by law to carry pregnancies to term, even, in some cases, those caused by rape or incest. Some will likely die, especially those with pregnancy complications that must be treated with abortion.” This right being revoked means we are even further away from women’s equality, something that Cameron is advocating and striving for. Not only did Cameron’s approach to her music video for “Breakfast” convey the message that women’s rights need to be reclaimed, but her approach to implementing feminism into her music empowers women to do so.
Cameron’s first live performance of “Breakfast” was extremely empowering as the entire crowd sang the words “So you wanna talk about power? Let me show you power”. This united Cameron with her audience, instilling a sense of community and a compelling message of femininity and women’s equality.
Dove Cameron is one of the many artists bringing up these topics in their music. In 2009, Nelly Furtado released the song “Maneater”, which has clear similarities to the theme of Cameron singing “I eat boys” in “Breakfast”. Both songs give women a voice to be confident and have power, as well as stepping outside of gender stereotypes and discrimination.
Furtado takes the term “maneater”, which originally was used to describe women as slutty and whores, and instead remakes the term to be a word empowering women to take control of their bodies and their lives. This song is a feminist anthem but also doubles as a catchy “girl boss” sort of song, similar to Cameron’s.
Another pop artist, Shakira, released a song in 2009 titled “She Wolf”. “She Wolf” focuses on the same theme of “eating men” that we have seen in Cameron’s “Breakfast” and Furtado’s “Maneater”.
By referring to men as the “prey”, Shakira is swapping the gender roles just as Cameron did in her music video for “Breakfast”. Men are typically regarded as the ones seeking out and preying on women. By reversing this, Shakira is taking back power for women, allowing women to feel free.
Tape from “She Wolf” Music Video
Having majorly covered how women’s rights and equality are being fought for in the US, it is also important to note that there is even more work to be done in other parts of the world. According to Amnesty International, they have been working with women in Burkina Faso in their fight against forced marriage, in Argentina to change the strict abortion laws, in Sierra Leone to fight against female genital mutation, and so on. The fight for women’s equality will continue, with the help of artists like Dove Cameron to use their platforms as a voice to protest. Cameron is one of the many artists to have done this, and hopefully, one of the many more who will continue to do so.
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