What was initially a cute encounter with a fan turned sour for Ariana Grande, eventually prompting the singer to voice her frustrations about objectification of people to Twitter.
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) December 28, 2016
According to her tweets, she and Mac Miller, her boyfriend, were picking up food when they ran into one of his fans.
“He was loud and excited and by the time M was seated in the driver’s seat, he was literally almost in the car with us,” she wrote. “I thought all of this was cute and exciting until he said ‘Ariana is sexy as hell, man. I see you. I see you hitting that.’”
Grande felt “sick and objectified” from the interaction but has chosen to speak out how this happens often for women and “contributes to women’s sense of fear and inadequacy.”
Stopstreetharassment.org reports that a 2014 study showed that 65% of women had experienced street harassment. Founder Holly Kearl said that this research supports the stories that were shared on #YesAllWomen.
“Most women have been the target of unwanted sexual or sexist commentary by men in public spaces and an alarming number have been followed, touched and assaulted by men,” said Kearl. “This harassment makes most women change their life in some way, like avoiding locations where they had been harassed, no longer going places alone, and even moving neighborhoods or quitting jobs.”
Some fans responded on Twitter, noting that she is “so sexual” in her music videos. Grande responded with a great comeback: “Expressing sexuality in art is not an invitation for disrespect! Just like wearing a short skirt is not asking for assault.”
“Women expressing sexuality is often mistaken for ‘hi come disrespect me,’ and that’s just not the case,” wrote Grande. “Women (and men) can express themselves however they’d like! Even loving sex! This is not an invitation to be disrespected.”
Miller has not commented on the incident.
Author
