My New Hermione: Miranda Lambert

Ever since the beginning, Hermione Granger has been praised as being the first female character who showed girls that it is ok to be the hero of the story, to be smart, to stick up for yourself and to not take a back seat to the boys. Now that the series is over, who will us girls look to for inspiration? I think I may have found our answer in the music world.

You may know her as an outlaw of country music. Or you may know her as Blake Shelton’s “honey bee.” Or you may have no idea who she is. Her name is Miranda Lambert and she is my heroine: she’s my new Hermione. Bet she’s never gotten that comparison before.

Miranda first came to the scene with a little ditty about young love, called “Me and Charlie Talking,” and from then I’ve been hooked. She may be blonde, she may wear pretty dresses and she may even play a pink guitar, but that doesn’t mean you should mistake her for every other female pop-tart artist out there. Sure, Taylor Swift has a gift for writing knock out songs, Carrie Underwood has a killer voice, and Shania Twain has that relatability and humility thing on her side. But Miranda has something none of them have: attitude. I’m not talking about that know it all, snotty kind of attitude. I’m talking about a “I-know-who-I-am-so-don’t-mess-with-me” kind of attitude.

A favorite song of mine is the single off her 2009 album Revolution called “Only Prettier.” The video is set up as a 1950’s period piece in which Miranda and her gang of less-than-popular girlfriends (fellow country music artists) attend a party and are placed up against another group of girls in the age-old competition of “who's prettier.” In the song, Miranda is basically saying that she’s just like the popular group, but way more awesome. As someone who doesn’t always fit in with the “in crowd” this is definitely my version of Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You” song.

On her website there is a quote that perfectly embodies Miranda’s song style:

“I mean every word I say in every lyric of every song on this record, and every record I’ve ever done. I would never take back one word or lyric or point I’ve ever made, because it’s part of who I am. If you’re into honesty, I have the records for you.”

The really cool thing about Miranda is that she serves as a musical role model for any young woman looking to get into music. She writes, sings, and performs all her own music. She plays her own guitar on stage. And, most importantly, she writes and performs the kind of music she likes, not the kind of music people want to see her perform. This shows girls that they too can do their own thing when writing music. No matter what genre someone is looking to get into, Miranda’s attitude towards music is one that would be valuable to learn about and utilize in one’s own music. Even for someone who isn’t interested in music, Miranda’s attitude is certainly a good one to try to employ in everyday life as well.

Originally posted on Grrrl Beat