Is that a ‘get out of jail free card’ or a ‘gay card’ in Ariana Grande’s pocket? Or is she just happy to see us?
Can’t it be a little bit of all three?
The “thank u, next” singer and (to some vigilant Twitter soldiers) controversial Manchester Pride headliner released a new single on Monday, “Monopoly,” with Victoria Monét, and many fans are interpreting the lyrics to mean Grande is having a bit of a coming out moment. That seems to be the fashionable way to do it these days.
“I like women and men/ Work so f*ckin’ much, need a twinny twin twin,” Grande sings on the track. For what it’s worth, Monét, who previously worked with Grande as a co-writer on “NASA,” “7 rings,” and “thank u, next,” sings the same lyrics in “Monopoly” and explicitly came out as bi on social media last year:
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— Victoria Monét (@VictoriaMonet) November 10, 2018
After coming out, this thanksgiving coulda went waaaay left!! But she love meeeee how I am and I ’m so happy ????????????
— Victoria Monét (@VictoriaMonet) November 21, 2018
While “Monopoly” was released on April 1, the song’s lyrics popped up on Genius over the weekend and began to make the rounds on Twitter, stoking speculation that Grande would be “coming out.”
And because April 1 is the day society deems it appropriate for adults to lie to one another in the name of fun, some thought it was all a prank.
Grande addressed that on Monday:
why the whole fuck would this be an april fools joke there’s so much to celebrate and to say thank u for ! seriously ! we mean it. you’re getting a song today. period. love u.
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) April 1, 2019
Grande has been nothing if not open about her past relationships, even namecalling her major boos in her breakup anthem, “thank u, next” — Big Sean, Ricky Alvarez, the late Mac Miller, and Pete Davidson. [Editor’s note: those are all guys.]
The lyrical tease comes on the heels of the February release of her video for “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored,” which ends with Grande kissing a girl.
If the whole thing feels shaky and designed to stoke chatter, that’s because it probably is. But is a mainstream artist playing with society’s obsession with labeling celebrities’ sexuality necessarily a bad thing?
Depends who you’re asking.
Some have accused the pop star of queerbaiting — intentionally manipulating LGBTQ audiences as a means to profit off their hard-earned coins. Not cool.
Then again, Grande has vocally supported queer artists and causes, so what’s the big deal if she wants to sing about liking girls?
Here’s how she responded after a virtual pitchfork-wielding Twitter crowd hung her up to dry for daring to agree to perform at Manchester Pride (adding to the brouhaha was the fact that ticket prices also happened to rise, though the two things have not been connected):
i saw many people discussing this so i wanted to chime in…. hope that’s okay ?? pic.twitter.com/7joiZwI1QS
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) February 27, 2019
But if you’re looking for a label to stamp on her, Grande isn’t going to go that route, at least not now.
Responding to a fan on Twitter, she said:
i haven’t before and still don’t feel the need to now ?????? which is okay
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) April 1, 2019
So take what you want from the new track, “Monopoly,” or take nothing at all. Your call.
Either way, you can watch/listen below:
Find Dan Tracer on Instagram.
sfhairy
She’s not gay, she’s not lesbian, she’s not bi. She’s an ally. Stop with this silliness.
thisisnotreal
Seriously! The gay community seems to always be at its happiest when there is someone that they can claim is oppressing them, or denying their rights, or not agreeing with/supporting them. Someone I follow on YouTube made a video not to long ago and stated that “it’s very much in fashion to be a victim right now” and damn if that ain’t the truth. The community has fought for so many decades for equality and equal treatment in all areas, but it’s gotten to the point that they have gotten so used to fighting anything and everyone that I’m not sure if they would even know what it looked like if they suddenly didn’t need to fight anymore or what they would even do with their new time and freedom. I guess this new concept of them constantly inventing imagined “enemies” to fight answers my question for me.
Donston
Social media has kinda gotten us to this point. Everyone’s so hyper obsessed with famous people’s identities and sexual behaviors and so obsessed with “representation” that anyone who’s willing to even suggest that they’re not entirely, completely heterosexual sends many in a tizzy. And yes, you can “like” girls and boys and even have some attractions to multiple genders and still not really see yourself as “bi”. But there’s no doubt she knew what she was doing. She’s a pop star. They do just about anything to be subversive and look “hip”. I don’t really care about identity or the dimensions of her orientation. I just want people to be themselves and be with/love who they really want to be with and love. Now, when she rejects a bi identity watch people whine about how she’s either “bi erasing” or “queer baiting”.
thisisnotreal
Ironically donny boy I agree with you there. I’ve always told everyone in my family that I’m gay and to anyone else who asks I say I’m gay and yet I’ve had feelings for women in the past and I remember one time a few years ago me and my mom were on vacation and a young twenty something girl walked by and I gave my mom this look cuz she was a very beautiful woman and then ended up having to have this awkward talk with my mother about if I’m still gay or not. Labels don’t need to fit the box perfectly to still go on it, and not everything in life needs to have the magnifying glass brought out onto it. Like how some gay men can be very flirty with their female friends and it doesn’t need to be analyzed or become this big thing because it just is what it is and both sides have a mutual understanding of what it is or isn’t, I miss those days. Katy Perry sang a song about kissing another woman and enjoying it, but I don’t recall anyone bringing out the pitchforks when she didn’t label herself as bisexual. Gone are the days when people could make offhand comments or jokes without it automatically always having to mean something deeper.
Donston
“Queer baiting”, “bi erasing” and the “when I’m dating this gender people think I’m straight, but when I’m dating this gender people think I’m gay” have got to be the most shallow, insecure and sociology driven lgbtq “issues” out there. There will always be people who experiment. There will always be people who feel they don’t fit perfectly into the three “main labels”. And there will always be people who ultimately truly see themselves as straight or gay or but will also admit to not being heterosexual or homosexual. The spectrum is so wide and varied and everyone’s lives and motivations are so different that demanding people identify as what you wish them to or demanding that they cape up for your particular identity is just lame and controlling. It’s especially dumb if it’s just a song. That kind of stuff is partially why so many are afraid of keeping it completely real and casually being themselves. But it’s also the type of stuff that makes people not take the “bi community” seriously even when the grievances are legitimate. And even a lot of gay identifying people are falling into these traps nowadays.
Donston
Furthermore, there’s hardly a female pop star over the last thirty years who hasn’t played up girl-girl action in songs or videos, or admitted to not being entirely hetero, or claimed that they dated a chick. And pretty all those women are known to only have legit and long term relationships with guys and none rep a bi identity. Yet, in today’s environment people are already pressuring to her to “legit” come out and claim bi or are criticizing her for “queer baiting”. Goofing around, having fun, experimenting, being truly honest about yourself beyond labels- these things just aren’t that embraced any longer. Everything is so dead serious and about identity.
WindsorOntario
@thisisnotreal Thats why the gay community now goes after each other. We can’t stand the idea of seeing other gay people happy or sober or living free…we have to get in there and attack each other for being too old, too fat, too poor, too uneducated, working a job that doesn’t pay enough…there’s plenty of this to go around and we do it to each other. And what really sucks is we KNOW we’re doing it to each other, we know what most other gay people went through growing up/coming out yet we do it anyways.
Mick406
I’m more caught up with the headline writer than the story. Using TWO same-meaning ‘qualifiers’ back to back? “maybe / probably”?!!! Talk about redundancy!!!
xanadude
Like Katy Perry after she “Kissed a Girl”? Way to have an adverse affect on the ‘stigma’ of the LGBT community by pointing fingers. Can’t we all just BE?
piriblue
This is getting to the point of “WHO CARES?”
You guys make it seem that gay life is so bad
and misery loves company. Why are we so much
into things that really don’t concern us. If she is
gay so what. At times ‘it is what it is” enjoy
your life. I’m gay. I don’t care who is gay and
who isn’t. I meet someone we have a connection
and we enjoy each other. He can go back to his
girlfriend or wife. That is his business. We spend so much
time trying to point fingers and label people.
Life is good enjoy it with whomever you can.
Donston
I stopped caring about sex and attractions myself. And the idea of “identity” is starting to mean less to me as well. If you want to share those things, fine. But ultimately, if you don’t have genuine and sustained affections, romantic love, relationship goals beyond your opposite cis gender we’re really not that comparable.