Yesterday, Ariana Grande tweeted an angry feminist proclamation that had us applauding at our computer screens when we read it.
It came after she was quoted in The Sun saying: ‘A girl can be friends with someone with a dick and not hop on it’ in response to rumours she was dating Niall Horan. The 21-year-old singer had previously been spotted leaving the One Direction member’s house at 3am. Ariana tweeted a screenshot of several paragraphs of text, in which she spoke about being fed up of ‘living in world where women are mostly referred to as a man’s past, present or future PROPERTY/POSSESSION.’ She also discussed the double standards for men and women around sex, stating: ‘If a woman has a lot of sex (or any sex for that matter)… she’s a “slut”. If a man has sex… HE’S. A. STUD. A BOSSSSSS. a KING.’
The words clearly struck a chord with Taylor Swift, who responded telling Ariana she was proud of her and picked out a Gloria Steinem quote about ‘sisterhood’ that the latter had used.
Rita Ora also tweeted encouragement, stating that a paragraph about double standards rang particularly true for her. The singer is the subject of misogynistic lyrics in A$AP Rocky’s new single Better Things.
Ariana’s mum Joan, her brother Frankie and her manager, Scooter Braun, also expressed their pride and support for the singer’s strident statement, in which she (correctly) argued that ‘being “empowered”… is not the same as being a “bitch”…’.
Hopefully the message will hit home for the pop star’s young fans, many of whom will be subject to the kind of sexism she describes.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.