An open letter to P!nk

Jan 11, 2016 11:31

Dear P!nk/Alecia;
I first discovered you with Missundaztood. And I'd never really heard a female artist do that before.
To begin with, I never doubted a single one of your words. They said, in a poetry that was easily understood at one listening but so much deeper on several, what your life was. Drugs and bad relationships, family problems and heartache, bad decisions and love lost. Yet, under all that, it said "Demand respect. I am a fine-ass woman, and you will treat me as such." It said "You can run over me with the equivalent of an eighteen-wheeler, and I will not give a fuck. You can't beat me. I'll keep going." That, to a severely depressed teenager, was a very unique message. Even the great Pink Floyd had told me that depression and isolation leads to a life of destruction and insanity.
Even when your facebook profile belonged to you and not the publicists, your messages were so genuine. "I'm pregnant with a headache. Anyone know what I can take?" Just like anyone else. When Christina Aguilera was arrested, you allowed yourself a public indulgence; you of the messy childhood and rough messages hadn't allowed yourself to skirt laws. You, the bad girl of the early aughts trio of ladies in the spotlight, remained perfectly human and not a spectacle to be gawked at.
You always owned any spectacle, and that made you special. Lohan kept up the good girl image until it crumbled under reality, Britney's breakdown became national gossip. But you never had an artificial image. You were always P!nk: brash, unapologetic, and with all vulnerabilities exposed. But, funny enough, vulnerabilities are never so vulnerable when there's no attempt to hide them.
So, when you deplore the state of female role models in Stupid Girls, I'd like to thank you for being mine. You always reminded me that I had nothing to hide. You reminded me that beauty is what you make it; the range of the styles you wear is so fantastically versatile, from femme to butch, and never seems pandering to sex and exhibitionism. It always just looks like you being fucking fabulous. I've followed that; I've realized that I can change my look much farther than I ever thought I could. That's tremendously empowering.
You always reminded me that I could rock whatever I wanted to; in the video for Try, who knew you could do that kind of choreography? Funny enough, now, so can I. Never thought I could. But you can always try. So, thank you. You epitomize the ideals of being proud of who you are and doing exactly what you want to. Thank you.
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