Much discussion of has centered on the for the album’s first single, , which premiered on the internet in late January and quickly went into rotation on MTV and MuchMusic. It’s a parody of recognizable female celebutantes — Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton, the Olsen Twins and Lindsay Lohan — all played by Pink clad in girly drag. These are women some might venture are her peers; Lohan and Simpson, at least, are competitors within the pop market.
Pink’s four-album career has been built on portraying herself as an outsider (despite having sold 22 million copies worldwide between her first three albums), and with she is pushing her girl-power message as much as she is marketing herself; though one does not doubt that her intent is anything short of genuine. The chorus of is built around the line “Maybe if I act like that / That guy will call me back.” In the video, Pink sings it, near naked, from a plastic surgeon’s operating table.
In another scene she rallies for “a girl president” in between vignettes where she mocks, alternately (and with mixed results): Hilton’s sex tape, Simpson’s porno-inspired video moves (Pink comically sucks on a dirty sponge she is using to wash a car), bulimics, women who act dumb to attract men and women who dance in rap videos. The point Pink is trying to make, as she Oprah Winfrey earlier this month, is that women who are imitating celebrities rather than being themselves are wasting their lives. “My definition of stupid is wasting your opportunity to be yourself,” she said.
Another Olsen? No, just Pink, dressed up for a scene from Stupid Girls. Unfortunately, the message of is as much confused as it is instructive.
Instead of attacking the culture and media that pimp unrealistic beauty standards, Pink targets girls whose self esteem is so low that they are throwing up their lunches to attain Hilton’s same gamine profile. In the video, the vision of strength Pink offers up as the antidote is a typically masculine one; Pink gritting her teeth and scoring a touchdown as she plays tackle football with the guys, Pink, free of make up, acting stern in a powersuit and glasses. The message is clear, and echoes the ideas that culture broadcasts every day — that femininity equals weakness; to be a strong woman, you must act like a man.
is only the same old same old. Though her trope may be well-polished teen pop fodder, with the album’s lyrics she makes clear that she is a breed apart; it is hard to imagine Gwen Stefani or Christina Aguilera tackling an open letter to George W.
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