Let’s talk about Lorde. Lorde (birth name: Ella Yelich-O’Connor) is 17 years old, she’s turning the music industry inside out, she can’t give an interview without discussing feminism and anti-materialism and she’s now friends with Taylor Swift. She’s a very interesting young woman, basically. She’s also dating a 24-year-old photographer named James Lowe. He’s of Asian descent, and Twitter had a meltdown last week, with One Direction fans tweeting horrible, racist crap to Lorde and to James. Many of you seemed more upset that a 17-year-old was dating a 24-year-old… yeah. It bugs me a little bit, but I’ve read enough Lorde interviews where I kind of feel like she’s a lot older than her years. If there’s a 1 to 10 Creepy Scale, I’d give this relationship a 3 or a 4.
I was actually surprised that Lorde has a boyfriend. She’s made it clear that she doesn’t define herself through the male gaze, professionally or personally, and I just thought… well, she’s 17, maybe she just hasn’t gotten into boys yet. But Lorde’s feminism has more depth than that, as she described to V Magazine in a new interview. Lorde sees herself as a “sex positive” person who does not have a problem with anyone flaunting their sexuality:
Lorde on her rising star: “It’s pretty mental, really. I made this music in New Zealand at 15 years old with my producer, who was 28—just these two random losers, really. Now all these people like it, and they care about what I have to say, which is nice, because I’m the weirdo for sure. For the most part, people have been really supportive. I feel very grateful.”
Understanding the music industry: “I’ve been involved with record companies since I was 12, so I’m no stranger to sitting in the boardroom and telling a bunch of people way older than me exactly how things need to be. I think having almost grown up in that setting, having that being totally normal, has helped me be good at being assertive about the things that are important to me.”
Feminism is not slut-shaming: “People like to paint me in a certain way, but I’m a hugely sex-positive person and I have nothing against anyone getting naked. For me personally I just don’t think it really would complement my music in any way or help me tell a story any better. It’s not like I have a problem with dancing around in undies—I think you can use that stuff in a hugely powerful way. It just hasn’t felt necessary for me.”
She isn’t a music industry product: “The power and control is with the young people now. It seems like for a while the pop industry has been run by a bunch of 40-year-olds. I feel like maybe that’s about to change. There are young people doing such incredible things creatively at the moment. It feels good.
Is this hypocrisy? I don’t think so. Lorde has criticized artists like Selena Gomez in the past for having lyrics like “When you’re ready come and get it” because, in Lorde’s words, “I’m a feminist and the theme of her song is, ‘When you’re ready, come and get it from me.’ I’m sick of women being portrayed this way.” Lorde’s problem is with female passivity, (corporate, emotional, physical) submission. It seems like she’s all for women owning their sexuality and owning their power. Or maybe I just like this girl and I want to defend her…?
Photos courtesy of V Magazine.
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