12 Songs About Hating Men – Man Hating Songs You’ll Love
When a relationship comes to an end for a woman, particularly if that relationship ended due to lies or cheating, you can feel a little scorned. And when that happens, all you want to hear are songs about hating men. So in this article, we’re going to provide you with a dozen man hating songs that you can enjoy, which you’ll hopefully find quite cathartic.
Songs About Hating Men You’ll Enjoy
Let’s begin with a song by The Chicks.
1) Goodbye Earl by The Chicks
This classic country anthem is all about the importance of female friendship. It tells the story of two women, Mary-Anne and Wanda, who grew up together. Mary-Anne leaves their small town while Wanda stays behind and marries a man named Earl, who turns out to be abusive.
The song tells the story of these two women deciding that “Earl had to die,” getting rid of him, and living a much improved life in his absence. The song is equal parts angry and upbeat with a happy ending, and a great song to listen to if you’re done dealing with men being awful.
2) Your Power by Billie Eilish
This song starts out gentle and soothing, with Eilish’s signature soft vocals soaring over understated instrumental. But this softness carries with it a powerful and righteous anger that catches you off-guard.
In this song, Billie Eilish tells the story of a much older man taking advantage of a young girl, and the song is addressed to the man. She repeats the line “Try not to abuse your power,” with this mantra growing in strength every time it is repeated. In an interview about the song, Eilish referred to it as an “open letter to people who take advantage.”
If you’ve ever been taken advantage of by a man who used that power dynamic to his advantage, or if you’re angry about seeing this happen to someone else, this song is perfect for you.
3) Nice Guy by GRLwood
This song unapologetically embraces and reclaims the stereotypical image of an angry man-hating feminist. The song is from the perspective of a self-proclaimed “nice guy” who can’t figure out why women don’t want to sleep with him. By singing from his perspective, GRLwood is able to more effectively comment on how men feel entitled to women’s bodies.
The scream-pop vocals are perfect for the message of the song, as they mock the whiny tone that men often take when they’re rejected by women. If you’re tired of “nice guys” treating you like a piece of meat, this song is sure to provide catharsis.
4) Not the Doctor by Alanis Morissette
There is no shortage of man-hating songs in Alanis Morissette’s discography. But this underrated track from the album that put her on the map, Jagged Little Pill, provides an intimate look at how the patriarchy conditions men to behave in romantic relationships.
In this song, Morissette unpacks the unfair expectations that were placed on her in a relationship with a man. She talks about how he expected her to fix him, repeating over and over that she is not a doctor, and therefore shouldn’t have this burden placed on her. Morissette also mentions various objects that her partner used to comfort himself with and compares herself to them, which expresses how objectified she felt in that relationship.
If you’ve ever had unfair emotional weight placed on you by a man who decided that dating you was a great alternative to seeing a therapist, you’ll probably relate to this song.
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5) The Man by Taylor Swift
In this song, Taylor Swift reflects on how differently her career would have unfolded if she were a man. The song calls attention to traits that are rewarded in men but discouraged in women— like being assertive and promiscuous. She also talks about certain behaviors and ways of being that are nit-picked in women, but largely ignored in men.
The song is about more than Swift’s own experiences, though. In an interview with Billboard, she explained that the song was largely inspired by talking to other women in the music industry and seeing that they were all dealing with the same kinds of oppression.
If you’ve ever been frustrated by seeing men get taken more seriously than you in a professional setting, the male power-tripping fantasy provided by this pop anthem is a great soundtrack to your angst.
6) If I Were A Boy by Beyonce
While Taylor Swift’s imagining of what her life would have been like as a man was upbeat and tongue-in-cheek, this Beyonce song takes a sadder and more personal approach. Instead of looking at her career, she looks at her personal life, explaining how differently she would behave if she had the same systemic power that men have.
She compares the man that she would be to the way men have treated her, and she comes to the conclusion that “I swear I’d be a better man.” In the end of the song, she returns to her real identity, addressing the man who hurt her directly.
If you are looking for a song about how men both ignore and misuse the power that they have in how they treat the women they date, this song will hit the spot.
7) Motion Sickness by Phoebe Bridgers
Sometimes, hating a man for the damage that he’s caused is accompanied by other confusing emotions. In this song, Bridgers reflects on a past relationship and explores both the expanse of the damage caused by it and her attempt to understand how she feels about what happened.
In the bridge of the song, she makes visible the profound impact their difference in age had on the relationship. Her emotions about this past lover, however, are more complex than just anger or hatred: she hates him, feels traumatized by what he did, but still misses him. This confusing mix of feelings is what she refers to as “emotional motion sickness.”
If you’re feeling hatred for a man who hurt you that is also mixed with other complicated emotions, this song might help put words to what you’re experiencing.
8) U + Ur Hand by Pink
This is a classic anti-man club bop. Pink (or P!nk) lays out a familiar scene: she’s trying to dance with her friends at a club, but some random guy keeps putting his gross hands all over her. This song is her talking back to him (and men like him), repeating over and over that she didn’t get all dressed up for him.
If you’ve ever had a man feel entitled to your body and then blame it on the way you’re dressed, this song is great to dance along to.
9) I Eat Boys Like You For Breakfast by Ida Maria
Have you ever felt such an intense hatred for a man that you just wanted to eat him alive? If the answer is yes, then this song is likely to hit the spot.
Ida Maria’s assertive vocals accompany enthusiastic brass-heavy music as she calls out the terrible things that a man has done. She isn’t scared of him, though—she threatens to eat him, and elaborates on what dishes might accompany him as a meal.
This song is particularly impactful because men so often see women as an object there for their enjoyment, something to be consumed, and Maria flips that power dynamic on its head.
10) The Lighthouse by Halsey
This song is off of Halsey’s 2021 album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. Produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails, this song takes Halsey’s feminist rage and pairs it with a heavy grunge sound, which really emphasizes the power of her signature soft, high vocals and masterful lyricism.
While this whole album is fantastic for anyone raging against the patriarchy, this song is particularly impactful because it reclaims the image of a Siren from Greek mythology. Sirens famously lured men to their deaths, but in this song, Halsey emphasizes that ultimately, it’s men’s feelings of entitlement that leads them to fall prey to Sirens.
11) Rich, White, Straight Men by Kesha
This song gets a little bit more specific about man-hating, targeting the particular subset of men who tend to hold most of the power. Throughout the song, Kesha makes fun of male privilege by describing it in fantastic terms; she says that if a man fell off of a unicorn, he’d somehow still have healthcare.
The song imagines what the world could look like if it wasn’t ruled by rich, white, straight men, and the world she imagines seems like a really nice place to live. This song is sure to infuse a little bit of joy and whimsy into any playlist of songs about the patriarchy, shaking things up with Kesha’s powerful, fun vocals.
12) Caught Out There by Kelis
This song remains incredibly memorable because of its well known chorus: “I hate you so much right now!” If you’re looking for some songs about hating relationships, this track by Kelis is probably the one for you.
On this song, Kelis is fed up with the man in her life. Like, incredibly upset beyond belief. This is a song where Kelis sings of how things have shifted dramatically in her relationship. Just a year ago, her man spoiled her on Valentine’s Day. But fast forward 365 days, and Kelis’ man is lying to her face and cheating behind her back.
And while a lot of music in this breakup song genre are all about crying or venting one’s feelings, Kelis takes it a step further. She’s screaming on this track. She’s admitting she hates her man on this track. She’s claiming she’ll set his “truck to flames” on this track.
This no doubt feels like a cathartic song for anyone that’s ever been done wrong. But this also feels it could’ve been a song that played underneath a scene from “Waiting to Exhale,” like the one that featured Angela Bassett burning all of her man’s belongings because she found out he was cheating.
Love, and hate, makes you do crazy things.
Conclusion
While resisting patriarchal oppression is much, much bigger than just hating men, sometimes, it’s important to sit with those feelings of hatred or frustration. The systemic power that men hold impacts individual relationships in enormous ways.
All of these songs grapple with what it means to exist as a woman in a world largely ruled by men, both in relation to the system as a whole and to interpersonal relationships. Whether men are making you sad, angry, or some confusing mix of emotions you can’t quite put a name to, one of these songs about hating men is bound to give you new words to describe your experience.
- This article was written by Nathan, with one addition by Michael (Caught Out There).
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