Introduction
It seems rather popular among famous female pop stars to make high-talk statements about feminism and the role of women in modern society. Feminist notes have been subjects of songs and performances of such stars as Christina Aguilera and Beyonce. Ariana Grande’s recent feminism manifesto may be regarded as a smart career move, though not unique, but still, the one that represents her indignation about the public’s too much interest in her private life rather than in herself. It is important to find out how the notion of feminism is represented in Grande’s manifesto. To do so it is necessary to investigate what feminism is. Feminism is a well-known theory, the principal point of which is the equity between men and women. Equity should be achieved in all aspects of personhood and life in society, namely: political, cultural, economic, personal, and social rights. The first steps towards parity concerned the rights to vote, to receive education, to work, to have property, equal rights in marriage, and fair pay. However, the problem of women underestimation or humiliation still takes place. The very nature of feminism has changed up till nowadays. Every woman supports the idea that women can work, receive an education, and be equal with men, but far not everyone will call herself “feminist”. Nowadays feminism can be divided into different branches.
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Cultural feminism is aimed at getting rid of such prejudices as, for instance, women are kinder than men. Ecofeminism presupposes that patriarchal philosophy does harm to a woman. Moderate feminism is the most widespread nowadays. It deals with believing in equity without recognition of oneself as a feminist. The idea that women are equally physically strong as men are the fundamental one in Amazon feminism. There are also separatist feminists, who are often regarded as lesbians, as far as they wish total division between men and women. Much more old and severe branches are radical and material feminism.
Ariana Grande never confirmed that she belonged to one of the feminism branches. She is twenty-two years old American actress and singer. Grande is famous for the role of Cat Valentine in the series “Victorious”. The soundtrack “Music from Victorious” enjoyed immediate popularity in 2011. As a result, Grande was offered to sign a contract with the Republic Records studio. Currently, Ariana Grande has been doing her The Honeymoon Tour. Recently she shared a message concerning feminism via Twitter and drew a lot of attention to herself.
According to the message, a musician has emphasized the fact that she is sick and tired of living in a place where women are regarded as men’s property. Such a statement was caused by frequent interview questions about Grande’s private life. Ariana has pointed out the fact that she belongs to the female activists’ family. Then Grande introduces the eternal problem of men and women’s sex relationship. She writes that if a woman is supposed to have an active sex life and speak about sex aloud, she is called a “slut”. On the contrary, if the same happens to the man he is regarded as a “King” or a “Boss”. Ariana Grande’s indignation is significant. It should have taken a lot of courage to write a long Twitter post concerning feminism. Before this, the public was greatly interested in Ariana’s personal life. It seems that she has become tired of it, and that is why has written the post. The question is whether Ariana Grande should be considered as a real feminist or it is just a way of drawing attention. It is worthwhile listening to the end of the blocked video on Ariana Grande’s “Honeymoon Diaries” to find out the truth. The star dwelled on that during the interview she told the reporter something about everyone’s interest only in her relationships. Ariana Grande seemed to be surprised why she had told this. Maybe that was the reason why she wrote her post later. It just crossed her mind to make a good career move. Besides, Ariana Grande has never been regarded as a feminist before. Even more, she was criticized by Bette Midler for behaving like a whore to promote herself. On the other hand, after the performance, the questions about relationships were the last things Ariana wanted to hear. Being too excited, Ariana could have told her real thoughts and then written everything in her Twitter post.
I do agree with Ariana Grande’s manifesto. She writes about the current problems. Though men proclaim that there are no prejudices against women, they still exist, and many women know this. I cannot support Bette Midler’s accusation of Ariana as far as it represents an old stereotype that “being sexy” means “being a whore”. The reasons for such belief lie in the history when only light women wore sexy clothes and put on red lipstick. Grande represents a new generation, a generation in which woman sexuality is more often accepted properly.
Conclusion
Ariana Grande’s manifesto was caused by her discontent about too much interest in her private life. The start was frustrating and decided to write what her real thoughts are. It was a wise and high-spirited step that introduced Grande as a moderate feminist.