Music
When Pop Music Lets Women of Color Express Their Rage
Artists like Olivia Rodrigo validated my suppressed anger—and gave me space to be petty—by helping to create a world that validates feminine fury.
Remembering the Bad Boys of My Youth Through Machine Gun Kelly
Like any good fantasy, my desire for all MGK represents is a guilty pleasure, not sustainable or practical.
What Tina Turner Taught Me
In a theater, I am freed by the voices that shake the rafters, the dancing, the lights, and the colors. Musicals are my form of catharsis.
Choosing Survival Over Love in ‘Hadestown’
Eurydice’s decision to choose comfort could be read as a betrayal. But it is a survival response, an instinct to protect the self.
Finding Strength in Softness Through Hayley Williams
Hayley’s rage-filled vocals used to provide an emotional outlet that gave voice to loss, anger, and confusion I couldn’t put words to yet.
The Evolution of Miley Cyrus Taught Me to Embrace Imperfection
“Plastic Hearts” was the album I needed to hear, articulating what no one else would tell me: My plastic was no longer serving me.
Listening to Kelis Taught Me to Embrace Anger
Her anger had made its way to her music; my anger couldn’t find a home outside my own head.
Carly Rae Jepsen’s Music Helped Me Stop Apologizing for Being “Too Much”
There is something freeing about being in a ballroom full of people singing about how we all deserve to feel a love that reverberates through the walls of our body.
After Losing My Father, One Direction Helped Me Find Joy During Grief
That first time I heard it, the music was so catchy and the words were so ridiculous that I threw my head back and laughed. I opened the curtains that had been closed for a month.