Supplemental Post #7 Cailin O'Brien

I am sad to be writing my last post for this class, as it has been one of the most enjoyable and most comfortable classroom I have had the pleasure of being a part of during my time at USC. I am happy to be writing about Janelle Monae however as my last commentary. I had heard a couple of her songs played around by friends and while out at bars but was not truly introduced to her jaw dropping artistry until class this past week. Since that class I have spent (maybe a few too many) hours listening to her new album and watching her videos over and over again. I don’t get attached to stars, but she is an absolute queen in my books. There are so many things I could say at this point, from her “Pynk” video of flourishing female self-empowerment to her video for “Q.U.E.E.N” with Badulla Oblongata (Erkyah Badu) where she declares no need to take backlash from any outsider on who she is and how she chooses to be. The main connection I want to talk about is the ambiguity of her sexuality. I have scrolled through countless articles online with titles not only questioning Monae’s sexuality, but seemingly criticizing her for not being straightforward and “honest with herself” about whatever sexuality she is. Many of her songs and videos point towards the tension between being attracted to members of both sexes. These videos seem to produce imagery of a natural flow of movements between her and both men and women. So if it is obvious to us all that she is interested in both why does it matter what label she proclaims? Does it really matter whether we know Monae is pansexual or bisexual? And if anyone has actually been listening to her music and picked up on her message, these labels are what need to be gone. She is about owning who you are regardless of label. I personally have struggled with my sexuality in the sense that I like both men and women but it’s not split down the middle. I may like women more one day and the next year be more attracted to men, while at the same time probably being attracted to both simultaneously to different significant or unnoticeable degrees. She lets us know it is okay to like a man at one moment and want to be with a woman across the room the next. Sexuality is fluid and there doesn’t need to be rules to define it. Many people seem to portray a clear-cut answer. They’re either “gay gay gay” or they may be just pretending for the fame. Janelle Monae has given rise to an “in-between” more gray area of sexuality that myself, and I’m sure many other “bisexual” individuals, have been waiting to see represented and stood up for in the mainstream.