When I heard the new song written by Keith Urban, called “Female”, that Stephen Colbert referred to as "the first song ever written by dumping out a bin full of inspirational throw pillows,” my first thought was, P!nk needs to write a chick-power anthem immediately.
And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that she, more than any other single female icon right now in the Entertainment Industry, is the standard we need right now.
As I explained in one reply on Facebook, I can imagine how a meeting between P!nk and Harvey Weinstein would have gone down. Weinstein coyly moves their meeting to his hotel room and has his assistant maneuver P!nk into the right place while he takes a shower. P!nk, being both book smart AND street smart, sees where this is heading, and makes sure that 1. the concealed weapons in her boots are still intact and 2. all her recording devices (which she made operational before walking into the hotel) are still functioning before entering the bathroom.
Once there, she sits demurely (as demurely as a woman who is such a badass can sit) and listens to Weinstein cajole her to join him in the shower, to ask if she likes what she sees, if she’s willing to put it all on the line for her career. So, with recording devices on, she proceeds to throw open the shower curtain…and laugh her ass off at Harvey Weinstein. Literally, look at his manhood and HOWL with laughter, before retrieving the switchblade from her right boot.
“You called me in here in hopes that I would deign to DO something to your pecker? Well, how about I remove it and put it on my trophy wall? I think that sounds good for starters.” When Weinstein crows that she’ll never work in this town again, she’d say, “I have you on tape, you lying sack of shit. See in you court unless hell gets you first.”
And then the first person she would subpoena would be Weinstein’s assistant, whom she has on tape.
That is how P!nk would have schooled Weinstein. I think Weinstein was afraid to touch her because he, too, likely saw the above scenario coming.
That is not the only way, however, that P!nk embodies the female standard we need right now. Yes, she appears very unafraid—her stage name alludes to her strong personality and her survivor attitude (Mr. Pink is the only one who survives the shootout in Reservoir Dogs). And I am sure that somewhere in her life, the woman born Alecia Beth Moore was afraid. (I will admit that, reading her mini-biography, she seems pretty strong from the outset.)
But women need more than an icon who is not afraid. Madonna was not afraid of very much, and she is not the icon we need right now. P!nk is more than just strength wrapped in a gorgeous package. P!nk is also…us.
She’s had trouble in her relationships. She’s also worked through that trouble instead of just walking away. She is now the Mom to two children.
And she’s been honest about it.
But the best reason I can think for P!nk being the icon we need right now is simple: she’s not into the shame game.
When P!nk decided to start doing the wire work/aerial work, did any of you out there think: well, drat. Now I have to go be that strong to fit in.
I didn’t.
I don’t know anyone who did.
I know a lot of people, myself included, who were and are in complete awe of what she did and is still doing (SCALING A BUILDING WHILE SINGING? Sure, raise the performance bar a little high, why don’t you?).
P!nk isn’t saying what so many women in the performance industries are saying, which has to do with looking the right way and having a thigh gap and being thin to fit in.
When P!nk scaled a building during a performance, the world went “Holy guacamole, she’s STRONG.”
And if she encourages women to be strong—which is a very different thing than being thin—then I’m all for it.
I don’t think P!nk scaled a building to shame anyone. Okay, maybe just a little to shame the autotune-crowd, but that’s a very different idea than shaming the average woman for being a person and not a brand. P!nk isn’t saying to our young girls, “You have to be this to fit in.”
She’s saying, “You can be this.”
P!nk is not ashamed of who she is, warts and all.
And that is exactly the icon we need right now.
P!nk, I know it’s unlikely that you will ever read this. But if this somehow gets to you, then I beg of you: write our anthem. Write it for all women. Write it for our girls. Make it completely singable by the average person and yet so indelible that the anthem will soar for generations to come.
Write about what it means to be a woman.
Write about a world without shame.
And why it’s important to be strong.
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