Tales of Feminism: Lorde “Sick” of How Women are Being Portrayed

We’d be surprised if you still haven’t heard of or even read about Lorde. She’s basically mentioned in every online music magazine (and look who’s joining the bandwagon?). It could be because her track “Royals” is on the charts. It could also be that she just released her debut Pure Heroine last week. Maybe, it’s because she beat Miley Cyrus‘ “Wrecking Ball”, claiming the top spot on the Billboard charts. Or that she debuted in the US at ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon‘. Whatever it was, the New Zealand native is the current talk of the town.

So what makes Lorde so special aside from these things above? Sure, anyone who takes down Miley from her sweet Number #1 spot is worth checking out. After all, with the amount of buzz the girl is generating these days, it comes as a relief that the world has other things to mind aside from the controversial star’s twerking and incessant exposure of tongue. Even Sinead O’Connor expressed her concern by writing an open letter, stating that the Bangerz singer “will obscure [her] talent by allowing [herself] to be pimped, whether it’s the music business or [herself] doing the pimping.”

Undeniably, there’s a current trend of naked girls, racy music videos, pop stars and the world being okay with it. For Lorde – Ella Yelich-O’Connor in real life – a self-proclaimed feminist, that’s not the only thing bothering her. In an interview with a local NZ magazine, Metro, she mentioned country pop singer Taylor Swift as “so flawless, and so unattainable” then adding, “I don’t think it’s breeding anything good in young girls.” She further brushed on the subject in another interview, calling out Tay Tay’s bestie Selena Gomez and her song “Come & Get It”, saying that she’s “sick of women being portrayed this way.”

This of course, caused sparks. Taylor and Selena’s legion of fans lashed out on the singer on Twitter and started to compare her with “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” – which may have helped out the “Royals” singer’s (un)popularity. However, this isn’t the first time that someone dared to comment about how women are being wrongly depicted these days. Adding herself to the list is CHVRCHES‘ Lauren Mayberry, who spoke her mind about online misoginy earlier this week, after she posted an offensive come-on from a ‘fan’ on their Facebook page. The singer insisted in her op-ed that “objectification, whatever its form, is not something anyone should have to “just deal with”.”

For a 16-year-old, Lorde positioned herself as one of the women in the industry who has a passionate way of speaking her beliefs. And in a world where teen pop stars either sing about their first loves, heartbreaks or rebel against their youth by premeditating their sexuality, Lorde is the girl at the back of the school bus, slumped in her seat with her headphones blasting in her ears: she’s the outcast, not the typical bubblegum pop teen queen.

We suppose that’s what makes the idea of her refreshing – not that her sound is anything groundbreaking. You could literally close your eyes and think, “Is this Lana del Rey?” And as much as that supposedly “infuriates” the young singer, the similarity can not be denied. Still, to be able to write songs at her age (she had a major-label deal since she was 12), and to create a clear distinction on how she wished to present herself, one could not deny that the girl has the makings of a star. The world is currently buzzing about Pure Heroine as it garners high praises.

Now whether she crashes and burns or shines ever more brightly in front of our eyes – we have the following days to find out.

Post originally published on Music Weekly Asia.