Ariana Grande won’t label her orientation and doesn’t ‘feel the need to now’

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Ariana Grande released a new song and video on Monday with Victoria Monét called Monopoly. While we’ve only seen Ari dating (and recycling) guys, the lyrics suggest she might be into women too. They include “I swerve both ways, dichotomy” and “I like women and men, Work so f’n much, need a twinny, twin, twin.” Victoria is a cowriter of the song and she’s openly bisexual, so this part might not even be written by Ariana, but it still got fans speculating about Ariana’s orientation.

In response questions about that, Ariana clarified that she’s not going to label her orientation.

I think if Ariana fell in love with a woman she would be open about it. I mean she got engaged to Pete Davidson, she’s not hiding anything and that is a dude you hide. It’s everyone’s prerogative to come out, whatever their orientation. But I’m sure she’ll be accused of being vague or gay-baiting because she gets accused of all sorts of things. I’m not a huge Ari stan I’m just saying!

As for the video, it’s cute and grows on you. It has a very low-key feel and it’s not like Ariana is pandering at all. It’s the kind of video you want to watch a few times and that’s how the song is too. I like all the little emojis and words they throw out, especially the part at 1:40 where Ari is throwing the words “haters,” “negativity,” and “trump.” Here’s the video for Monopoly. It is NSFW due to the F word:

monopolyheader

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This is still the best Monopoly song of all time though. I’m not joking I love that song. Photos via Instagram and screenshots from YouTube

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48 Responses to “Ariana Grande won’t label her orientation and doesn’t ‘feel the need to now’”

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  1. Valiantly Varnished says:

    Well a lot of the things Ariana gets accused or called out for are accurate. Like her cultural appropriation and her playing at being ethnically ambiguous.

    • Celebitchy says:

      Fair point and I could have phrased that differently.

    • geekychick says:

      I just…. I have a feeling everything is PR with her. She just seems so fake to me, like a true embodiment of what they wanted to do with Spice Girls-to build a perfect product .
      It just seems when there’s a trend, you can be sure she’ll latch on to it somehow, no matter how, and she’ll always dance right on the edge of controversy/tone-deafness/shadiness.
      Like with Mac Miller: if you say anything, people will shout at you that everyone has a right to grieve in their own way. But if I were his mother or his best friend, I’d be furious that the biggest conversation about my tragically deceased friend is about how his ex is coping, what she’s saying and so on and on.
      I feel like her life is narrative for her career. And how is that different from TS? I’m baffled by this.

  2. perplexed says:

    She doesn’t have to label her orientation, but wouldn’t the world see her as straight (whether she likes it or not?). I mean, we all know who’s dated and had relations with. This is kind of a philosophical question, not a critique. You do you, I suppose, and in all actuality it’s none of my business, but when we know you’ve had PDA with exclusively men, my first assumption would be that you’re straight. Can she actually control the perception that she’s straight any more than Wentworth Miller can control the perception that he’s gay?

    • cherry says:

      Yeah, I know, I don’t get why Ariana would have to “label her orientation” when we can all clearly see she’s straight?

    • otaku fairy says:

      You’re kind of right, but it would be the opposite if she were a guy. The gay label is slipped so easily and effortlessly onto male celebrities, whether they like it or not. They don’t have to put in any work or even identify as gay or bisexual. Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper, the Jonas brothers, Leo Dicaprio, Kanye West, and other male celebrities can fuck, date, reproduce with, or marry as many women as they want. But as long as people even think they’ve ever been with even one guy, their relationships with women are seen as beards and they’re assumed to be gay. For women, bisexuality or even just the right to talk about situationships with women has to be ‘earned’ through conformity to a ridiculous set of rules- otherwise they’re dismissed as lying man-pleasing wh*res.
      The other issue is that people forget that fwb/casual sex can happen between people of the same sex too, even if they’ve mostly dated or married someone of the opposite sex.

  3. Christina says:

    I don’t understand why her music is so popular. It sounds like 90’s R&B b sides.

    • styla says:

      lol! Fair.

      But that’s where it’s at. I’m in my 30’s and 90’s R&B was what I grew up with so it appeals to me. She kind of appeals to most people 40 and under which is a massive market. She’s killing it.

      • geekychick says:

        I’m in my 30ies and music of my young says, Vogue, Aalyah, Ashanti…to me, she doesn’t even come close.
        It just sounds like an intelligible moaning in high notes to me.

      • Grant says:

        She definitely blows Ashanti out of the water in my opinion. Aaliyah too if we’re being honest. Those girls don’t come anywhere near what Ariana can do vocally.

    • Grant says:

      I don’t know, she releases great pop music. I could listen to “thank u next” the album straight through from start to finish without skipping a song. Plus, she has a great voice.

      • Mash says:

        @grant dont do it…. aaliyah is GOLD
        2 diff style….tho im liking ariana’s songs….she sounds like mariah carey’s b-side karoake nights…FACTS

  4. Case says:

    She never needs to label herself if she doesn’t want to. I wish we lived in a world where everyone wasn’t just assumed straight and people didn’t need to “come out” at all.

    • perplexed says:

      I don’t think everyone is assumed to be straight. People do speculate about some actors (i.e see Tom Cruise, despite his having been married three times). My default assumption is that she’s straight because there’s no real reason to think otherwise.

      • Erinn says:

        I think that’s what Case means. I think because it’s the default that a lot of people assume – that that’s why people feel like they have to come out. People will automatically make a snap judgement – especially if for a long long time things were kept hush hush if you weren’t straight because of the horrible treatment people received (and still receive) . I know I have a habit of doing it as well, but I think it’s largely because I am, that I just see it as being what I’m used to.

        I think things are going to change in that way. I think the more and more visibility there is, the less younger generations are going to make that kind of assumption.

      • perplexed says:

        But on the flip side my default assumption about someone like Boy George when I was a kid is that he’s gay….even though I can’t actually remember when or if he came out.

        Before Wentworth Miller came out of the closet, I wondered if he might be gay because we never saw him out with a woman.

        I think people just make assumptions on what they see or what they perceive based on the “evidence” presented to them.

        In Ariana’s case, she fits every target for social conformity (i.e pretty, thin, feminine) I wonder if people even care in her particular case what her orientation is. She could come out as bisexual tomorrow like Amber Heard did, and I think people would shrug. I suppose that’s why her pronouncement of not labeling herself strikes me as….er, okay, whatever you say.

    • otaku fairy says:

      Agreed. It would be nice if we lived in a world where people of all sexual orientations and genders could speak freely about their love lives and sex lives- whether they’re talking about marriage, committed relationships, or casual sex- without being jumped on, accused of shit. and silenced. My bisexuality includes both the romantic side and the sexual side, but it’s not comfortable to see others dismissed or bullied just because their situation might be a little different from that, to see bisexual guys automatically dismissed as lying closeted gays, or to see girls dismissed and reduced to lying thirsty wh*re stereotypes for talking about the fluidity of their sexuality. I’m also not here for the respectability politics or the justifications for these types of behaviors from so-called ‘allies’.

  5. Littlefishmom says:

    Who cares. So over this child.

  6. Bebe says:

    I mean, playing coy about your sexual orientation while arguably using related speculation to promote your brand and image is…kind of strange. I’m a bisexual woman, if that makes a difference.

  7. Jb says:

    Sure ok…Ariana likes being talked about especially when new singles are dropping soooo, sure ok.

  8. eleri says:

    bahhhahahahhahahahahha! literally the least ambiguous woman in pop culture.

  9. SJR says:

    She really needs a lot of attention doesn’t she? Why does she think anyone cares?

    • Jane says:

      I believe she does this because she lives for the attention. To this day I just do not understand her appeal, though. I cannot understand a word she sings, and her clothing style is just ridiculous. Instead of being ubiquitous, she should lay low for awhile.

      • geekychick says:

        Thank You! I’m not alone in not getting what is her deal.

      • rose says:

        Kind of agree, she always looks pretty bad , like she makes herself look unattractive on purpose with the awfull hair and clothes . I’m sure she’s a pretty woman under that stupid hair but I can’t see it .

      • Hikaru says:

        What annoys me the most is whenever she is on a show imitating another celebrity’s singing – she does sing well. She’s literally doing this baby mumble on purpose.

  10. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    What comes to mind listening to this is all the packaged dolls within a certain aisle (Bratz, Monster, Barbie, et al) jumped out of their packaging to perform overnight to an empty store. Perhaps all the GIJoes and superheroes ran over to caterwaul. Toy Story–The Vacuous Years.

  11. Michael says:

    Just more thirst from her. Yawn

  12. Originaltessa says:

    A pop star using her sexuality for attention? How shocking! I’m scandalized. What year is this?

    • otaku fairy says:

      Celebrities of all sexual orientations do this. I’m cool with it. #sexpositive

    • Naddie says:

      I wouldn’t have a problem with this if they all didn’t do it in the exact same way. It’s already hard enough to distinguish them from their “music”.

  13. glor says:

    I wonder what people would be saying about Mick Jagger, were he still in his dazzling and ambiguous 20s.
    I can certainly imagine his response….’Never explain!’ He loved letting speculation (on many subjects) just run wild in the public imagination. ,
    Ariana Grande!! 🙄Hahaaaaa

    • perplexed says:

      I think decades ago this was considered provocative.But now people are so used to it, I don’t think it elicits a reaction. I also think this only elicits a reaction when people are already speculating; about you to begin with (i.e. Kristen Stewart) but I can’t recall if anybody has ever speculated about Ariana Grande.

  14. annie says:

    She’s queerbaiting. Britney did it. Christina did it. It was edgy in the early 2000s but now it’s just pathetic attention-grab. Probably bec she’s headlining Manchester Pride.

    Her songs are catchy, she is a talented singer, but this babylady is so infuriating.

    • me says:

      LMAO @ babylady. That is a hilarious term and really does fit her style doesn’t it?

    • otaku fairy says:

      When it’s real people and not fictional characters, queerbaiting would be a person who has no romantic or sexual interest in, attraction to, or history with members of the same sex pretending that they do in order to get something. That something is usually the approval of an LGBTQ audience, approval of a straight audience that’s turned on by homoerotica, or just publicity for being controversial. Queerbaiting isn’t when someone just goes ahead in revealing sexual attraction to or hook-ups with members of the same sex without having first used a specific label, or when famous people use both sides of their sexuality for attention (just like straight celebrities and gay celebrities use their romances and sex lives for attention at times).

  15. Grant says:

    People might appreciate this. I was listening to NPR this morning and they were talking about how Ariana has voter registration kiosks at each of her tour stops in the US. I thought that was kind of neat.

  16. LGG says:

    Video is ripped off from the meme artist (??)

    Check number 18

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/michellerennex/lets-try

  17. Ali says:

    “I mean she got engaged to Pete Davidson, she’s not hiding anything and that is a dude you hide. “

    This made me laugh!

  18. Hikaru says:

    I am tired of women hinting bisexuality when their supposed attraction to women goes no deeper than making “girls are cute” comments while running after men irl, having committed relationships with men exclusively, only having men as potential life partners and only making families with men.

    How is that any different to being a straight woman who may or may not have had a drunken make out session with another girl once in her life? Gay people stay not impressed.

    • otaku fairy... says:

      As a bisexual woman, I’m tired of lesbians, gays, and straights who feel entitled to police and silence women who are sexually attracted to both sexes. It’s no one’s job to impress you. Nobody is obligated to start a family, marry, or date for an arbitrary amount of time to ‘prove’ their sexuality to you. First of all, as you’re in nobody’s head, you have no way of knowing if someone else’s thoughts stop at girls are cute or if it goes to actually enjoying sex with any women, or more. Even if it does stop at having sex with a member of the same sex, these people have just as much right to discuss their sexuality and love life (or not) as you do. No woman of any sexual orientation owes it to anyone to shut up about her participation in hook up culture like a Good Girl or to claim a label before talking about her experiences. You wouldn’t say that someone who’s only having sex with the opposite sex or whose relationships with the opposite sex haven’t lasted that long can’t be straight. And let’s not pretend your only issue is with women who don’t claim a label- even when they do claim a label, you just dismiss them with the lying drunk wh*re trope anyway.

      Being a lesbian also doesn’t entitle you to invoke misogynistic stereotypes whenever sexually fluid women don’t present, date, or marry the way you want them to.

      • Janie says:

        @otaku
        Other bisexual woman here: THIS^^^^^^^ I 100% agree.

        Bisexual women make families with men more often because there are way more straight men than gay women in the world- it’s a numbers game. Also, stigma against bisexuality in the lesbian community contributes to the lack of bisexual-lesbian relationships.

        I’ve only ever dated other bisexual people… I wonder why?

        @hikaru
        thank u, next

      • otaku fairy... says:

        @Janie: Amen. People need to be taught their place. This is both a homophobia issue and a misogyny issue that’s going on. We’re looking at a combination of the entitlement that comes with older men and women being used to being positioned as THE moral Authorities on young sexuality (young female sexuality in particular) and silencing or gaslighting younger women when corrected, monosexuals viewing everything through the lense of their own sexualities, people being unwilling to put their obvious vendettas against certain women in the public eye aside for 2 seconds but trying to make those vendettas look progressive, slut-shaming, people conflating femininity with heterosexuality, and people trying to hide their own bigotry and stereotyping behind concern about cultural appropriation or other things a female public figure has done wrong. The ‘must be at least This Woke to be romantically or sexually interested in more than just opposite sex’ card is an argument you almost NEVER see used against gay men with cultural appropriation or other problematic things as part of their track records. The only similar exception I’ve seen is when some used that teen youtuber’s comment about Africa as an excuse to slip in their TERF rhetoric.
        It all just shows that so-called allies still need reminders about when they’re overstepping boundaries and spewing dehumanizing rightwing bigotry. Nobody is perfect, but there’s got to be some accountability and people just should not expect to say whatever they want on the internet without the ‘sub-humans’ they’re stepping on having something to say about it, full stop.