From Doechii To Chappell Roan, How Queer Women Are Shaping The Future Of Music
Queer women have always existed and had a presence in the music industry, but today’s sound is anything but conventional. It’s bold, unapologetic, and actively dismantling the heteronormative standards that once reigned supreme in mainstream music.
In 2025, we’ve seen pop sensation Chappell Roan and rapper Doechii win big at this year’s Grammys, Cynthia Erivo on the brink of achieving EGOT status, Lady Gaga’s triumphant return to the scene and Billie Eilish’s continued dominance. Queer women’s influence in the industry has been pushing the pedal since 2024 – and it’s only gaining momentum. They aren’t just redefining the future of music, they’re driving trends and conversations in fashion and culture, but most importantly, setting the stage for an entirely new era of sound and storytelling.
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Last year we saw it in Eilish’s single ‘Lunch’ and her flirtatious feature on Charli XCX’s ‘Guess’; in Roan’s heartbreaking depiction of unreciprocated romance in her song ‘Casual’; and of course, the pre-warning of not facing one’s true feelings in ‘Good Luck Babe!’. Doechii’s Alligator Bites Never Heal mixtape saw the free-flowing rapper openly talk about being a gay Black woman, and again on her feature on Tyler, The Creator’s ‘Ballon’.
But what ties all of these songs together is that they’re vibrant, multifaceted explorations of queer relationship dynamics that put a spotlight on the complex nature of female sexuality and emotion, this time without cliché or censorship. Whether it’s through rejection and despair or yearning and devotion, no stone will be left unturned in this new age of queer female artists.
As for Eilish, whose skate and streetwear-inspired outfits have driven a cohort of young Gen Z-ers to opt for baggy silhouettes, colourful hair and clashing prints, her style is equally a reflection of dressing against a culture of misogyny and the sexualisation of women, especially those in the public eye.
Spreading over to fashion and beauty, the cultural impact and non-conformity continues. Throughout the quick rise of Roan’s career, we’ve seen her adopt a multitude of on-stage drag inspired characters. ‘My stylist Genesis Webb and I pull from drag, horror movies, burlesque, theatre.…I love looking pretty and scary,’ she said in a 2024 interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The result? A committed fanbase that flock to her concerts in full-on recreations of the camp outfits and makeup reminiscent of their idol.
And with Doechii, it’s no different. Her fun, preppy ‘swamp princess’ outfits that typically consist of earth toned hues and that play feminine and masculine structures against the other, are loved among fans and the fashion crowd. While it’s easy to argue that queer musicians are more visible and celebrated than ever, this era of unapologetic storytelling doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Many female and gender non-conforming artists continue to face challenges.
For a rising queer artist, the obstacles are rife. A longstanding hyper-sexualisation of their culture in the public eye can present challenges in terms of coverage and critical reception. Take Lady Gaga for example. While she may be one of the world’s biggest pop stars, her early career was filled with criticism and disdain for how she expressed herself.
When her career took flight in 2008, the star revealed that her record label wanted her to show more flesh in photoshoots and lean into the standardised, oversexualised mould of a female popstar. ‘My album covers are not sexual at all, which was an issue at my record label. I fought for months, and I cried at meetings. They didn’t think the photos were commercial enough.’
So, to pushback on industry pressures, she decided to dress and show skin, but on her own terms. ‘What I’ve done is that when they wanted me to be sexy or they wanted me to be pop, I always f*cking put some absurd spin on it that made me feel like I’m still in control.’
Cue over the top fashion, oversized shoulder pads, disco sticks, and a refusal to conform to the norm, even when allegations stating that she was biologically born a man ran rife.
The demonisation of drag queens in American media is not too dissimilar to criticisms of intimate narratives in queer female storytelling, a media standard that remains consistent when it comes to amplification of objectifying or graphic depictions in heterosexual male lyricism.
Queer artists are also forced to navigate the complicated system of rigid, change-resistant record labels and awarding bodies. Despite the double standards that exist around their aesthetic presentation, the rebellious nature of their storytelling and their genre-defying sound, queer women in music are not exempt from commercial expectations, or the latest wave of industry pressures incited by the rise of TikTok (see: verse 2 of Doechii’s ‘Denial Is A River’ single).
However, if there’s anything we’ve learned from the playlist of 2025, it is that success for women in music is no longer about being shoehorned into a specific aesthetic or genre. For queer artists, paving their own path via the road less travelled is essential to creating a rich connection with their community and a longstanding, commercially successful career based on unique, engaging sounds.
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