Ariana Grande
Singer Ariana Grande has apologised once again for for her infamous doughnut-licking video. Here, she arrives at the 57th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California February 8, 2015. Reuters/Mario Anzuoni Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

Ariana Grande’s feminist rant on Twitter garnered her the support of her fans and family, as well as like-minded artists such as Rita Ora and Taylor Swift. After being speculated as Niall Horan’s new girlfriend, the young artist thought it was high time to speak up after eight years of suffering media’s constant labelling of her as some guy’s girlfriend or hot date instead of focusing on her music. She took the opportunity to also say how women in general can be fine and happy on their own and to highlight how misogynistic the society still is.

On Sunday, Grande let the world know of her rage at the unchanging double standards and misogyny in society through a lengthy Twitter post. After being speculated as Niall Horan’s new girl by Mirror UK when she was spotted leaving the One Direction star’s house at 3AM, Ariana was quoted by the British Tabloid Sun (via Glamour Magazine UK) as to have to said girls can be friends with someone “with a d— and not hop on it.” Feeling this is enough to adequately express her thoughts on the matter, she took to Twitter and said all that she had to say about the difficulties women have to encounter because of society’s double standards.

First, she cited common misinterpretations and stereotypes women have to suffer from, such as being called a “bitch” when a woman is “empowered.” She also differentiated from “having something to say” from having a “bad attitude.” Then she went on to address why she does not want to be labeled as “Big Sean’s ex.” She said women should not be labeled as “men’s past, present, or future property/possession.” She said women should realise that they belong to no one but to themselves.

She said she also came to a recent realisation that she has more to talk about than boys on her interviews. She added that she realised how much fun she is having on own — making music, having fun and entertaining her fans.

On her message, she said that she had a lot of female activists on her family tree and they would certainly be proud of her for speaking about an issue that she personally grappled with for so long — women being labeled and men being lauded when they engage in similarly “sexual” activities. She hopes that one day she can live in a world where no such double standards exist and everyone, can live based on their value as an individual, and not according to who they are seeing and sleeping with.

Her Twitter message got the support of Rita Ora and Taylor Swift, as well as her brother and mother. All of them expressed that they could not be more proud of speaking out on the topic.

Taylor Swift herself, has been a staunch and vocal feminist. In an interview with Maxim last month, Swift said “Misogyny is ingrained in people from the time they are born. So to me, feminism is probably the most important movement that you could embrace, because it’s just basically another word for equality.”

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