Feminism in Australia isn’t what it used to be. Ever since 45 ascended there has been an acceleration of aggressive social control exercised by men over the women of this nation. I cling to whatever scraps of empowerment I can find, and in this post I’ll consider my relationship with Ariana Grande’s song, ‘Needy’.
It is simultaneously an assertion of self and a self-defeating narrative. Ariana lets herself assume the position of being ‘way too damn needy’, but self-critically so. Maybe the problem isn’t that she “loves too much” but that the men in her life can’t deal with her depth of feeling and gaslight her into thinking she’s the one at fault.
Maybe ‘thinking [I’m] not enough’ is a symptom of patriarchy minimising her efforts to self-actualise to the utmost - not so much a personal failing as one that is shared by most women.
I only criticise because I deem this music good to listen to.
My search for feminist role models feels like it’s not greatly successful, and I worry that I am becoming less resistant to the dominant ideology in the USA. I’m surrounded by right-wingers, it feels like. And yet my very knowledge of this shows that I’m still swimming against the tide, perhaps even ferociously.
It is simultaneously an assertion of self and a self-defeating narrative. Ariana lets herself assume the position of being ‘way too damn needy’, but self-critically so. Maybe the problem isn’t that she “loves too much” but that the men in her life can’t deal with her depth of feeling and gaslight her into thinking she’s the one at fault.
Maybe ‘thinking [I’m] not enough’ is a symptom of patriarchy minimising her efforts to self-actualise to the utmost - not so much a personal failing as one that is shared by most women.
I only criticise because I deem this music good to listen to.
My search for feminist role models feels like it’s not greatly successful, and I worry that I am becoming less resistant to the dominant ideology in the USA. I’m surrounded by right-wingers, it feels like. And yet my very knowledge of this shows that I’m still swimming against the tide, perhaps even ferociously.
