FUCK YOU, Florence

Feminism has been hijacked. Feminism has been hijacked to dress up certain things which are dubious and sometimes ethically sticky, and magic away any objection to them.

On the whole, I would say that ACTUAL FEMINISTS haven't to the best of my knowledge endorsed things like sex work and pole-dancing as 'feminist.' What happened was that women were told that they weren't necessarily unfeminist if they did such things, or shaved their legs, or whatever. This was conveniently manufactured into the lie that all choices women make are 'feminist.' What utter nonsense. The fact of a woman making a choice for herself is feminist. As any fule kno, the circumstances in which choices are made greatly affect how 'free' they actually are, or not.

Nonetheless, we find ourselves in the tragic paradox where some people now think that empowerment is its opposite. Feminists use this to explain why some women, who are 'collaborators' in systems that hold them back, behave this way.

When I Googled the topic of this post to see if anyone else had written about it, I got this post: Florence And The Machine – ‘Kiss With A Fist’ – Is this the new feminism? . A commentator wrote:

... this issue relates to how the exploitation of women has become much more normalised that some women themselves identify it as empowerment.

The progressive changes brought about by feminism and the left during the 60’s and 70’s have been adapted by some feminists to fit in with the Thatcherite principles of neo-liberalism.

Food for thought. I also cannot help thinking that Florence of Florence And The Machine is mistaking exploitation and empowerment. I humbly ask you to read the post above, about the song 'Kiss With A Fist,' which isn't very long.

'Kiss With A Fist' is a very troubling song which cheerfully lists a sort of escalating 'one-upmanship' of abuse between a couple until the woman burns down the bed:

You hit me once
I hit you back
You gave a kick
I gave a slap
You smashed a plate over my head
Then I set fire to our bed

That's the tamest of the verses, btw. Did I mention that the full name of the song is 'Kiss With A Fist (Is Better Than None)'?!

People routinely target rap music for its misogynistic lyrics, but this is a sunny, upbeat, MAINSTREAM POP SONG by a much-hyped group. I have to say as well, that despite having listened to a fair bit of rap in my time, I've never heard anything this repellant. I'm sure Eminem has done worse, but then again, he's marked 'Parental Advisory'. No-one exactly mistakes him for child-friendly listening, unless they're stupid and/or irresponsible.

This is an indie pop group who are effectively sending out the message that not only is domestic violence normal, but that it is an expression of love. To young girls, who are probably going to be the majority of their audience. GREAT. This isn't the first time I've seen this, either; a group I quite like, called Howling Bells, had a song called 'Broken Bones' on their first album with the uber-creepy lyric: 'Broken bones may hurt/But a broken heart will never mend.'

However, again, this group wasn't hugely mainstream and that lyric isn't really comparable to the ones above, is it? The tone of that song appears to be of a woman who cannot leave her partner and who seems to be waiting for him to finish her off. Horrible, but not obvious. I only clocked that it was about domestic violence after reading a review which implied that... Also, 'Broken Bones' is a sad song; it's not cheerfully indifferent to (accepting of, even) domestic violence the way 'Kiss With A Fist Is.'

Still, 'Kiss With A Fist' isn't even their worst crime. That honour must go to the absolutely fucking appalling 'Girl With One Eye.' This song disturbed me so much when I was listening to it last night that I refused to listen to the rest of the album afterwards and couldn't sleep for a while. The tone of the singer made it worse - she sounds really fucking pleased with herself. Maybe because, judging by the lyrics, she seems to be taking a 'male role' in this song. However, what is there to be pleased about when you're singing this?!!

Florence And The Machine
Girl With One Eye lyrics

She told me not to step on the cracks
I told her not to fuss and relax
Well, her pretty little face stopped me in my tracks
But now she sleeps with one eye open
That's the price she paid

I took a knife and cut out her eye
I took it home and watched it wither and die
Well, she's lucky that I didn't slip her a smile
That's why she sleeps with one eye open
That's the price she paid

I said, hey, girl with one eye
Get your filthy fingers out of my pie
I said, hey, girl with one eye
I'll cut your little heart out cause you made me cry

I slipped my hand under her skirt
I said don't worry, it's not gonna hurt
Oh, my reputation's kinda clouded with dirt
That's why you sleep with one eye open
That's the price you paid

I said, hey, girl with one eye
Get your filthy fingers out of my pie
I said, hey, girl with one eye
I'll cut your little heart out cause you made me cry

You made me cry
You made me cry
You made me cry

I said, hey, girl with one eye
Get your filthy fingers out of my pie
I said, hey, girl with one eye
Get your filthy fingers out my pie

I said, hey, girl with one eye
Get your filthy fingers out of my pie
I said, hey, girl with one eye
I'll cut your little heart out cause you made me cry

Ableism, rape, violence against women... The sheer level of spite and self-centredness in this song is unbelievable. Like I said, I noticed the lyrics primarily because a) I'm used to 'listening in' and b) she sounds so GODDAMN pleased with herself, like she's LOVING being in the oppressor role.

I despair. What does anyone else think? I wish there was some way to get Florence Welch to explain publicly what on Earth made her write this kind of malevolent shit. People have made a big thing of the fact that a lot of the Mercury Music Prize nominees this year are women, but both La Roux and Florence and The Machine are utterly depressing prospects. La Roux's already put her foot in it with victim-blaming, and now this. The only one who is worth anyone's time is Bat For Lashes.