14 DAY TRIAL // Ariana Grande is sick and tired of people speculating on her split from Big Sean of almost 3 months ago, and of reports hooking her up with whatever man she happens to be photographed with. She’s making her thoughts on that clear in an essay she penned and posted to her Twitter yesterday.
You can see it in full below, *but please be advised that some discretion is recommended as it contains language that might offend.* It’s Ariana’s attempt at shutting down speculation on her love life for good.
“I do not belong to anyone but myself”
Ariana and Big Sean broke up in April, after more or less 8 months of dating. The split announcement was nicely worded, mentioning scheduling conflicts and that the 2 remained friends in spite of their relationship not working out.
Within days, rumors popped up online saying that Ariana had called off everything, upset that Big Sean would always treat her like his property and even bragging on music about the things he used to do to her behind closed doors.
To her credit, she never addressed them, but in recent interviews, she did ask to not be asked questions about her love life anymore.
That wasn’t because she had something to hide, she says now, but because she had so much more to talk about than the man in her life, if there was one. She turns this into an argument on industry’s double standards.
“What I meant when I said what I said about not being Sean's ex is that I am tired of living in a world where women are mostly referred to as a man's past, present, or future PROPERTY / POSSESSION. I... do not. belong. to anyone. but myself. and neither do you,” Ariana writes.
She goes on to explain that women shouldn’t be called names because they date as many men as they want, just like men shouldn’t be praised for being “players” and doing the same. Moreover, she adds, the industry should treat artists as artists, regardless of whether they’re male or female.
“Misogyny is still ever present”
In the same essay, Ariana identifies as a feminist, quoting Gloria Steinem and vouching she would do whatever she could to make sure that her voice was heard.
She wants to be taken seriously as an artist and to have the media focus on her professional accomplishments only. She laments having to read rumors about her love life after she was photographed with One Direction’s Niall Horan, when she just happens to be having the best time of her life as a singer / songwriter.
Her fans are her priority and for them she works non-stop to keep them up to speed and to offer them quality music. Maybe the media should focus on that, she writes.
Ariana ends her message with an honest request to her fans, the media and the sisterhood to stop with the rumors and the pointless chatter that brings professional women down. It’s time to treat men and women as equals.
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— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) June 7, 2015