Femininomenon

{{Short description|2022 single by Chappell Roan}} {{Use American English|date=June 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox song | name = Femininomenon | cover = Chappell Roan - Femininomenon.jpg | type = single | artist = Chappell Roan | album = The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess | released = August 12, 2022 | recorded = | genre =  *New wave *club | length = 3:39 | label = Self-released | writer = * Kayleigh Amstutz * Daniel Nigro | producer = * Nigro * Mike Wise | prev_title = My Kink Is Karma | prev_year = 2022 | next_title = Casual | next_year = 2022 | misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|xdaKBAuO8zg&pp|“Femininomenon”}}|header=Audio|type=single}} }} "'''Femininomenon'''" ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|f|ɛ|m|ə|n|ɪ|ˈ|n|ɒ|m|ɪ|n|ə|n}} {{respell|FEM|ə|nih|NOM|ih|nən}}; a portmanteau of ''feminine'' and ''phenomenon'') is a song by the American singer Chappell Roan, released on August 12, 2022 as the third single from her debut studio album, ''The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess'' (2023). Produced by Dan Nigro and Mike Wise, "Femininomenon" is a new wave and club track with electroclash influences and alt-pop and dance-pop elements. The song became a sleeper hit in 2024, as one of Roan's seven simultaneously charting songs on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, along with "Good Luck, Babe!", "Casual", "Red Wine Supernova", "Hot to Go!", "Pink Pony Club", and "My Kink Is Karma".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Unterberger |first=Andrew |date=2024-08-14 |title=Is Chappell Roan About to Catch Up to Taylor Swift on the Billboard 200? |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/chappell-roan-taylor-swift-billboard-200-albums-race-1235753057/ |access-date=2024-12-05 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241207173146/https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/chappell-roan-taylor-swift-billboard-200-albums-race-1235753057/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Background== Chappell Roan worked with Dan Nigro on the song, writing sections on different days and piecing them together. In an interview with ''Earmilk'', she stated "I've been dreaming of releasing a song like this my whole career. It took years to build up the confidence to even sing in that style." Roan added, "I always try to push myself and how I write pop music. I want to see if I can get away with being as ridiculous as I possibly can. I wanted a dance song. Something people could do drag to. A Queer anthem that had a sad undertone of what really happened to me, but with a beat."<ref name="EM">{{cite web |last1=Treadgold |first1=Emily |title=Chappell Roan wants to create a "Femininomenon" [Interview] |url=https://earmilk.com/2022/08/17/chappell-roan-wants-to-create-a-femininomenon-interview/ |website=Earmilk |access-date=20 August 2024 |date=August 17, 2022 |archive-date=5 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220905180948/https://earmilk.com/2022/08/17/chappell-roan-wants-to-create-a-femininomenon-interview/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Speaking with ''Cherwell'', Roan described the song as a "slumber party pop". When asked about the song's meaning, Roan said, "It's about the confusion I have in relation to my sexual relationships with men. Something is not connecting. I feel like every man I've been with is never satisfying. With a woman, it's easy and different and wonderful. It's a phenomenon. It's a queer song – hidden in there...It's a phenomenon that this magical, perfect scenario somewhere out there exists, and it's probably a woman in my case."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ribner |first=Sonya |date=2022-08-12 |title=Slumber Party Pop: A New Authenticity with Chappell Roan |url=https://cherwell.org/2022/08/12/slumber-party-pop-a-new-authenticity-with-chappell-roan/ |access-date=2024-08-20 |newspaper=Cherwell |language=en-GB |archive-date=2022-09-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220905180948/https://cherwell.org/2022/08/12/slumber-party-pop-a-new-authenticity-with-chappell-roan/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Composition== “Femininomenon” has been described as a new wave<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zaleski |first=Annie |date=2024-06-29 |title=Why Chappell Roan is your dream girl's dream girl – and 2024's breakout artist |url=https://www.salon.com/2024/06/29/chappell-roan/ |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=Salon |language=en}}</ref> and club<ref>{{Cite web |last=Levine |first=Nick |date=2024-02-05 |title=Chappell Roan: the pop supernova who feels like one of the 'Drag Race' girls {{!}} The Cover |url=https://www.nme.com/the-cover/chappell-roan-05-02-2024-3582467 |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=NME |language=en |archive-date=2025-03-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250318025149/https://www.nme.com/the-cover/chappell-roan-05-02-2024-3582467 |url-status=live }}</ref> song with electroclash<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cills |first=Hazel |date=2024-07-25 |title=What is it about Chappell Roan? |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/07/25/g-s1-13100/why-chappell-roan-is-the-perfect-pop-star-for-our-anxious-music-industry |access-date=2025-02-27 |work=NPR |language=en |archive-date=2024-08-06 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240806171351/https://www.npr.org/2024/07/25/g-s1-13100/why-chappell-roan-is-the-perfect-pop-star-for-our-anxious-music-industry |url-status=live }}</ref> influences and alt-pop and dance-pop elements.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-01 |title=Chappell Roan Femininomenon Lyrics: Echoing Across Pop Culture |url=https://neonmusic.co.uk/chappell-roan-femininomenon-lyrics-echoing-across-pop-culture |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250214171848/https://neonmusic.co.uk/chappell-roan-femininomenon-lyrics-echoing-across-pop-culture |archive-date=2025-02-14 |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=Neon Music |language=en |quote=‘Femininomenon’ blends alt-pop and dance-pop elements, creating a sound that feels as fresh today as it did upon release.}}</ref> The song opens with production consisting of strings<ref name="Allmusic">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-rise-and-fall-of-a-midwest-princess-mw0004065262#review|title=Chappell Roan – ''The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess'' review|website=AllMusic|last=Yeung|first=Neil|date=September 22, 2023|access-date=August 20, 2024|archive-date=August 20, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240820171912/https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-rise-and-fall-of-a-midwest-princess-mw0004065262|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Paste">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/chappell-roan/no-album-left-behind-chappell-roan-the-rise-and-fall-midwest-princess|title=Chappell Roan: ''No Album Left Behind: Chappell Roan Introduces Her Brazen, Theatrical Self on The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess''|magazine=Paste|last=Bennett|first=Eric|date=December 28, 2023|access-date=August 20, 2024|archive-date=June 2, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602233315/https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/chappell-roan/no-album-left-behind-chappell-roan-the-rise-and-fall-midwest-princess|url-status=live}}</ref> and piano,<ref name="NME">{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/chappell-roan-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-midwest-princess-review-debut-album-radar-3499595|title=Chappell Roan – ''The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess'' review: unabashedly fun anthems|website=NME|last=Mylrea|first=Hannah|date=September 22, 2023|access-date=August 20, 2024|archive-date=September 27, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927045736/https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/chappell-roan-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-midwest-princess-review-debut-album-radar-3499595|url-status=live}}</ref> as Chappell Roan reflects on an ex-partner who could not satisfy her.<ref name="NME" /><ref name="Paste" /><ref name="TLOBF">{{cite web|url=https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/albums/chappell-roan-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-midwest-princess-confronts-modern-issues-with-pop-smashes|title=Chappell Roan: ''The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess'' – big pop smashes lead the way {{!}} Pop|website=The Line of Best Fit|last=Franzini|first=Sam|date=September 21, 2023|access-date=August 20, 2024|archive-date=September 27, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927045751/https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/albums/chappell-roan-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-midwest-princess-confronts-modern-issues-with-pop-smashes|url-status=live}}</ref> Before each chorus, she gradually increases the melodrama in tone and demands for a song to be played "with a fucking beat".<ref name="Allmusic" /><ref name="NME" /><ref name="Paste" /><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://diymag.com/review/album/chappell-roan-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-midwest-princess|title=Chappell Roan – ''The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess'' review|magazine=DIY|last=Robinson|first=Otis|date=September 22, 2023|access-date=August 20, 2024|archive-date=November 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231116041754/https://diymag.com/review/album/chappell-roan-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-midwest-princess|url-status=live}}</ref> During the chorus, the sound of a dirt bike revving is used in the background,<ref name="EM" /> before synthesizers are played.<ref name="Allmusic" /> In the spoken-word bridge, Roan encourages women in a similar situation as her ("Ladies, you know what I mean, and you know what you need!").<ref name="Allmusic" /><ref name="TLOBF" />

==Critical reception== Emily Treadgold of ''Earmilk'' remarked "the song somehow goes in a million different ways but fits together so well" and "It's all so fun and loud but so intricate."<ref name="EM" /> Reviewing ''The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess'' for AllMusic, Neil Z. Yeung wrote the song "perfectly captures the album's ethos as it transforms from a sweet, string-laden ballad into a pulse-pounding empowerment anthem punctuated by a mid-song pep talk and hilariously escalating adlibs".<ref name="Allmusic" /> Hannah Mylrea of ''NME'' commented the song as having a "serious earworm of a chorus."<ref name="NME" /> Olivia Horn of ''Pitchfork'' called it "a Frankenstein's monster that splices stacked vocals à la Lorde, ad libs à la Kesha, a synth that sounds like a groan tube, and the inane lyric 'Get it hot like Papa John!'—perhaps the pizza franchise's biggest pop crossover moment since they plastered Taylor Swift's face on their boxes."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/chappell-roan-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-midwest-princess/|title=Chappell Roan: ''The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess'' Album Review|website=Pitchfork|last=Horn|first=Olivia|date=September 27, 2023|access-date=August 20, 2024|archive-date=January 1, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240101030822/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/chappell-roan-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-midwest-princess/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==In popular culture==

During the 2024 United States presidential election campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris used "Femininomenon" as a campaign song, posting a montage of photos of herself on the social media platform X, with the song audio playing and captioned "what we really need is a Femininomenon".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wickman |first1=Kase |title=For Kamala Harris, First Came Charli XCX. Then Beyoncé. Now the Campaign Is Chappell Roan-ing. |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/story/kamala-harris-chappell-roan-femininomenon |access-date=5 April 2025 |publisher=Vanity Fair |date=July 24, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Daw |first1=Stephen |title=Kamala Harris Calls for a 'Femininomenon' This November With Chappell Roan Sync |url=https://www.billboard.com/culture/politics/kamala-harris-campaign-chappell-roan-campaign-video-1235737353/ |access-date=5 April 2025 |publisher=Billboard |date=July 23, 2024 |archive-date=5 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250405035745/https://www.billboard.com/culture/politics/kamala-harris-campaign-chappell-roan-campaign-video-1235737353/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Harris's post also went viral on TikTok, acquiring 4.8 million likes and nearly 30,000 comments in less than 24 hours.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Delaney |first1=Jillian |title=Kamala Harris uses this pop star's song to boost campaign in viral Tik Tok |url=https://www.silive.com/politics/2024/07/kamala-harris-uses-this-pop-stars-song-to-boost-campaign-in-viral-tik-tok.html |access-date=5 April 2025 |date=July 24, 2024 |archive-date=5 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250405035745/https://www.silive.com/politics/2024/07/kamala-harris-uses-this-pop-stars-song-to-boost-campaign-in-viral-tik-tok.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2025, Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz released a mashup, which fused "Femininomenon" with "Killer Bee" by the American indie rock band Menomena.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Deville |first1=Chris |date=August 15, 2024 |title=Speedy Ortiz's Sadie Dupuis Mashes Up Chappell Roan's "Femininomenon" With Menomena |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2276282/speedy-ortizs-sadie-dupuis-mashes-up-chappell-roans-femininomenon-with-menomena/music/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241101205337/https://www.stereogum.com/2276282/speedy-ortizs-sadie-dupuis-mashes-up-chappell-roans-femininomenon-with-menomena/music/ |archive-date=1 November 2024 |access-date=5 April 2025 |work=Stereogum}}</ref>

"Femininomenon" was used in the trailer for ''M3GAN 2.0'' (2025) alongside Britney Spears' "Oops!… I Did it Again" (2000).<ref>{{Cite web |title=New M3GAN 2.0 trailer tries really hard to be a Femininomenon |url=https://www.avclub.com/m3gan-2-final-trailer |access-date=2025-06-23 |website=AV Club |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Charts== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |+ Chart performance for "Femininomenon" ! scope="col"| Chart (2024) ! scope="col"| Peak<br />position |- {{single chart|Canada|69|artist=Chappell Roan|rowheader=true|access-date=August 23, 2024|song=Femininomenon}} |- {{single chart|Billboardhot100|66|artist=Chappell Roan|rowheader=true|access-date=August 23, 2024|song=Femininomenon}} |}

==Certifications== {{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for "Femininomenon"}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=2022|certyear=2025|title=Femininomenon|artist=Chappell Roan|access-date=March 13, 2025}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=single|award=Platinum|relyear=2022|certyear=2024|title=Femininomenon|artist=Chappell Roan|access-date=December 17, 2024}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=2022|certyear=2024|title=Femininomenon|artist=Chappell Roan|source=radioscope|access-date=January 23, 2025}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=2022|certyear=2025|title=Femininomenon|artist=Chappell Roan|access-date=October 3, 2025|id=20537-6813-1}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|award=Platinum|relyear=2022|certyear=2025|title=Femininomenon|artist=Chappell Roan|access-date=January 23, 2025}} {{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:2022 singles Category:2022 songs Category:Alternative pop songs Category:American dance-pop songs Category:American new wave songs Category:Chappell Roan songs Category:Island Records singles Category:Song recordings produced by Dan Nigro Category:Song recordings produced by Mike Wise (record producer) Category:Songs written by Chappell Roan Category:Songs written by Dan Nigro Category:LGBTQ-related songs