Pink Snarling Because She Can
Last night, in Atlanta, we went to see Pink in concert. I had just said the week before that I would love to see Pink. I think she’s cool, real, and unfiltered with great catchy melodies. I hadn’t really thought anything much beyond that, except that I connected with her music.
And we were at our dear friend’s birthday party and they had tickets to Pink that they couldn’t use. They had ski tickets in Deer Valley and needed to sell them. So, Kate and I lucked out and scored last minute hot concert tics.
We dined with friends in Decatur, had a couple drinks, took the MARTA train to the show, and settled in to our seats.
Pink put on a small video of her flipping off the camera, dropping the “f bomb” and then cuddling with her toddler. She pranced out on stage in skimpy clothing, her partially shaved head, confidently-thrust shoulders, and ripped physique. And then I thought to myself, “She is so damn cool.”
Probably because I write and over-analyze, in the next thought, I needed to articulate what I admired of Pink. But what I wrote didn’t seem like someone cool, someone you would want to friend: “Insubordinate, rude, role defying, passionate, bad-ass curse-word embracing, Energizer bunny, articulate and real. Pink rocks.”
But in real life, if you met someone that fit those adjectives, why would you find them to rock? A friend immediately wrote in response to my description: “expected by a-holes.”
He was right, right? Now I’m on the hamster wheel to figure this one out.
And why is Phipps sold out then if she wasn’t likable because she still manages to be likable and her talent is vast.
And then my next thought is that my daughter, who gets all A’s and is so smart and is such a “pleaser of people”, needs to take a page from the Book of Pink. Then my next thought, was “Am I nuts?”
Well…no. I’m not, thank you for asking.
But her teachers might say otherwise. Why would they want some insubordinate, questioning, rude challenger? They wouldn’t.
And then, back at the show, I’m in a Zen place–jamming to this raw, primal music with a beat, that makes you move and that keeps you vastly entertained. I’m trying like hell to live in the moment. But now I’m trying to work through WHAT it is that my 9 year old can take from this talented rebel of a woman.
It’s not easy to suss out.
What make me admire Pink is her totally unapologetic: “I don’t giving a rat’s ass if you like my attitude, hair, or lyrics.”
That freedom is very appealing and I imagine makes loads of women envious. Women are raised to care what people think. We are raised to be “ladies.” We are raised to exhibit good manners. We are raised to keep our legs crossed and to use our salad fork. We are raised to make sure others are happy and satisfied. To set our own feelings aside. To please others. To avoid making waves.
And Pink, seemingly (as I obviously have no idea of the real woman) seems to thumb her nose at these very womanly conventions. And it has worked for her. She has sold out giant stadiums all over the country and the women (and men) around us at the show were from all walks of life.
The woman to our left looked like someone’s grandmother, more suited perhaps to a quilting bee. She knew all the words and was rocking her floral shirt out.
Pink’s vibe is so different from Madonna, who did the skimpy, sexual bit. Madonna also was in control of her own destiny and definitely didn’t seem to care about the general populace’s opinion. The difference is that Madonna was actually trying to seduce someone, maybe the entire audience. Which by itself is a level of approval seeking.
Pink is different– you have the feeling she trying to say, “You’d like to touch this. But you don’t dare, Bitches, as I will cut you….” There is even a song about “Not being here for your entertainment.”
And it is her devil-may-care/I-will-find-my-own-bliss/I-am my-own-woman/I-am-powerful-beyond-caring-vibe that I wish upon my child.
How do you instill that mad confidence? Or do you dare?
I am told that Walker will reach her teenage years and will find her own voice of rebellion. In a way, I hope so. Not because I want conflict and strife, problems at home or school. But I want my daughter, my girl, to arrive on the stage of the world with a big, strong voice that can be loud or rude or impertinent when the situation calls for it.
By the same token, I embrace peace and enjoy people that play nice with others. But I think that woman go there naturally and oftentimes too easily. Sometimes we have to be tough and unbending and resisting to get where we need to go in a world bent towards favoring men.
Pink embraces her inner warrior. She’s athletic. She’s powerful. She creates her own destiny. She can wear skimpy clothing and still come across as strong, in command, on top, in control, and powerful. She struts the stage; she flies through the air, even as she does the requisite dance steps and choreographed bits.
But…at the end of the day, at the end of the show, Pink is less the puppet and more the master.
And when my daughter is grown, that is exactly what I want for her as well.
