The Rise of the Vulnerable Heroine

[Thotiana 872]

Kesha cried in front of a room full of journalists at a London playback for her latest album, Rainbow, in June of 2017. At first, she apologized, conscious she might be making them uncomfortable. But she quickly rebuked herself: "I'm not actually sorry," she told them. "'Cause that's what this record is about — being vulnerable. This is what I am."

Today, women who make themselves vulnerable in public by speaking about the kinds of traumas apt to render them, per Glamour, unattractively "needy and neurotic," can be confident they'll be cheered on — at least by liberal and women's media — something that was not a given even just a decade ago. Just look at the left-of-center media's reaction to Christine Blasey Ford's testimony against Brett Kavanaugh.

Kesha is far from the only celebrity adopting these catchphrases. Lady Gaga built the term into her brand around 2016's Joanne (marketed as her "vulnerable" album), her documentary Gaga: Five Foot Two, and her revealing role in A Star Is Born. Billboard quotes Lady Gaga at a press conference for Five Foot Two, in which she spoke about her PTSD as the result of a teenage rape and chronic pain due to fibromyalgia: "to touch on that idea of vulnerability... there is a degree of self-deprecation and shame that comes along with feeling in pain a lot, and I want people that watch it... to know that I struggle with things like them... and that I don't have to hide it because I'm afraid it is weak."

The media has amplified and cheered on her newly softened persona. A Hollywood Reporter roundtable from this past Oscar season featuring Gaga, Glenn Close, Kathryn Hahn, Regina King, Nicole Kidman and Rachel Weisz was titled: "The Actress Roundtable: 'Vulnerability Can Be A Strength.'" The title quote is Gaga's. "Lady Gaga Is The Most Vulnerable Woman In The World" claimed ELLE in their review of Gaga's "Enigma" Las Vegas residency, praising how, during the show, she displays the "raw edges of her struggles."

They also talk about Beyoncé, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato.

http://www.papermag.com/vulnerable-heroine-kesha-lady-gaga-beyonce-2633185821.html

[CyanDante 6,151]

Queen of Vulnerability! 

[PunkTheFunk 124,578]

The Oscar winner invented vulnerability

[Diamond heart99 5,262]

1 hour ago, PunkTheFunk said:

The Oscar winner invented vulnerability

But she’s been so fake the last few years don’t you know? 

[Eggs 2,790]

Queens of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally! 

[Gov Hooka 8,008]

PeOpLE NeEd TO SeE YoUR VuLNeRaBiLItY

 

[HomoWithFomo 256]

I thought this topic would be about a certain white substance 

[Ronlop 6,882]

I think a major part of Gaga's success was her ability to draw an audience into her escapism. She represented something larger than life which was far more interesting than the reality itself.

And now with the age where nothing is truly real and popularity, work and success are our main goals... I think it is refreshing to put vulnerability on a pedestal. "We're unconsciously communicating lies."- Gaga quote from 2015. 

But a part of me still misses the escapism she used to offer and hope it will return in the future because we all know Gaga knows how to do that well.