When the 2017 Grammy nominations were announced last Tuesday, the wave of opinions over the chosen artists hit every social media platform within minutes. I was pleased with the nominations overall, especially to see the recognition of female artists in the top categories. But where I celebrated the nomination choices for female artists, others sought to do the opposite.
Immediately articles from papers like The New York Times surfaced called the awards show to be a “Battle of the Super Divas” and “Adele v. Beyoncé.” Another story came out about Rihanna apparently feuding with Beyoncé after liking an Instagram post that claimed the singer was snubbed Song and Record of the Year by "Lemonade." Rihanna claimed she didn't read the post before liking it, and quickly released a statement to debunk the rumors:
“I wish y'all would drop this topic and see things from the bigger picture. We don’t need to be putting black women against each other! We deserve to be celebrated, and the Grammy Academy agrees!”
What happened with Rihanna, in combination with the overall response to the Grammy nominations deeply bothered me and the more I thought about the nominations, the more I began to realize that I didn’t want to predict who would walk away with the trophy come February 12. In fact, I don’t think anyone should.
It doesn’t matter which woman walks away with the Grammy.
To clarify, these nominations are alongside some successful male artists who have just as much of a chance at winning. While anyone is able to win, I want to focus on the women, specifically because of the recent headlines.
I get the importance behind what a win could mean for each of these ladies. Beyoncé has surpassed the level of cultural icon that I don’t think any other artist at this moment can meet, and rightfully so. Her music pushes the boundaries of female diva and her performance presence commands our full attention. She’s not just a talented singer, but she’s perhaps the definition of talent. Adding the fact that "Lemonade" tackled issues of race and infidelity also means that a win for these songs means ultimate recognition for her message, which is well-earned and would show a step forward towards openly recognizing those issues.
And if Adele walks away with the Grammy(s), that’s just more evidence that Adele stands among legends like Bob Dylan and Barbra Streisand. She sings with a sort of soul and intimacy not seen in the current artists today, which is what gives her the ability to make thousands sitting in a sold-out arena feel as though they’re listening to her live in her living room. The win would show that, despite her four year absence and any absence in the near future, Adele’s power ballads will always be the words we’re searching to say but can never find, hence why 25 sold more than 10 million copies in the last year. The same goes for Rihanna, who defies rules of pop music with her fearless and sophisticated album "ANTI." Her songs celebrate both who she and her rebellious image to match appeals to so many of her listeners. A win for her means a redefinition of where women's limits lie in creating their artist identity within the industry.
But this is why Rihanna’s response resonates with me. Each of these women deserves their nominations in their own right. Although Rihanna was handling the issue between her and Beyoncé, I think her statement recognizes more women than just those two. Our bigger issue deals beyond Grammy nods: We have to stop pitting women against one another. Period.
In so many cases, we’ve seen male artists in similar situations, but we aren’t quick to pit these men against one another for who is the greatest of all time. When we feed into that kind of mentality – a battle for ultimate diva status – we are encouraging a competitive nature among women that we so desperately need to abolish. For so long, we have been trying to correct this stereotype women have in that we have to be better than one another. That when we’re different than one another in appearance, behavior and/or ideas, we must tear each other down to feel superior. That’s what fuels these stereotypes of women as “catty” and “dramatic,” or why we see young girls suffering with issues in weight or appearance. We want to create a culture that shows women supporting one another, but we easily fall into an expectation: as soon as two or more women are compared based on their unique talent, we have to pit them against one another, choose a side, and discount reasons for the others’ success.
It may be a competition, but at the end of the day, the artists are at the Grammys to celebrate one another. All of these women deserve to be celebrated. To be nominated in their categories means that these women, along with many other female nominees, have such enormous power in their career industry and their messages are important. That’s so important for our younger generation of girls to witness. Whoever gives the acceptance speech later in February does in turn deserve it, but let’s not discount the nominations these women deserve or be so quick to decide who is the best. They’re celebrated for their diverse talent and when we move towards celebrating these women rather than focusing on their competition, we in turn continue to push back against the need for a competitive nature among women in all career or personal aspects. At the end of the day, our successes and passions are worth more than any golden trophy.
