Ariana Grande Lashes Out Against 'Double Standard and Misogyny'
Ariana Grande has had enough.
-- Ariana Grande has had enough.
The 21-year-old pop star took to Twitter this weekend to air her frustrations about constant references to ex-boyfriend, rapper Big Sean, and society’s sexism in general.
The “Problem” singer vented to her 29.3 million followers in a lengthy note, writing: “What I meant when I said what I said about not being Big Sean’s ex is that I am tired of living in a world where women are mostly referred to as a man’s past, present or future property/possession. I ... do not. Belong. To anyone. But myself. And neither do you.”
She wrote that she has so much more to discuss in interviews than her romantic partner.
“I’m currently making the best music I’ve ever made in my life, having the best time of my life on tour with some of the greatest people I’ve ever known, working my a** off every single day …,” she said, mentioning that she comes from “a long bloodline of female activists,” including her aunt Judy, whom she said was the first Italian-American female president of the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
She lashed out against double standards in society, saying a man with many sexual partners was praised but a woman who has sex, be it a little or a lot, or who talks openly about sex, is shamed.
“The double standard and misogyny are still ever present,” Grande wrote, adding that she couldn’t wait to live in a world where people were valued for who they were rather judged by who their spouses or romantic partners were.
“I want the people reading this to know that they are more than enough on their own,” she wrote, and asked for the media’s help. “I’m saying this after literally eight years of feeling like I constantly had to have a boy by my side.”
After her recent breakup – she announced her split from Big Sean in April -- and being on her own for “a few months now,” Grande said she has never felt more “present, grounded, and satisfied. I’ve never laughed harder or had more fun or enjoyed my life more.”
She ended her note with this quote from noted feminist Gloria Steinem: “Any woman who chooses to behave like a full human being should be warned that the armies of the status quo will treat her as something of a dirty joke … She will need her sisterhood.”
Grande’s message seems to have resonated on Twitter. As of Sunday night, her essay had been re-tweeted more than 53,000 times, including by Taylor Swift, who wrote: “I’m so proud of you, always. But especially today.”
"Ariana has a tremendous social media footprint," Isabel Gonzalez-Whitaker, Billboard magazine's deputy editor, told ABC News. "It is no surprise that this message of empowerment and don't judge me by who I am dating reverberated and resonated with so many people."