The Ideology of an Ariana Grande Concert – The Atlantic

Among the many sickening aspects of the bombing that killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, Monday night is the sense of a pattern. Ever since the November 2015 Paris attacks that claimed lives at a rock concert and soccer match, violent Islamic extremists have continued making mass entertainment events one of their primary targets. There was the Pulse massacre in Orlando and the street-festival truck attack in Nice, but also killings at nightclubs in Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, and Tel Aviv.

Theres no doubt a logistical rationale to assaulting these soft targetsthey may be vulnerable, and bloodshed at them can inspire a particular kind of fear among civilians. But it stands to reason theres an ideological motive too: A culture is embodied in its gatherings and in its entertainments. The particular implications of targeting musical events, which are almost inevitably bound up with arts larger humanitarian project, have been widely noted.

The Horror of an Attack Targeting Young Women

Attacking Grandes concert has a few other implications, regardless of the extent to which those implications were clear to the attacker, about whom little is yet known other than that ISIS has claimed responsibility. Theres really no exaggeration in saying Grande stands for freedomfemale freedom, and also the general freedoms of expression the liberal West aspires to embody.

Grandes fan base skews female and young, and my colleague Sophie Gilbert writes that the bombing reminds girls and young women that there will always be people who hate them simply because they were born female. Compounding that is how the concert itself celebrated female liberation. Grande sings frankly about enjoying independence and sex, and has a reputation for tussling with commenters who call her whore or define her by her relationships with famous men. Her most recent album is titled Dangerous Woman. A tweet from December 2016: expressing sexuality in art is not an invitation for disrespect !!! just like wearing a short skirt is not asking for assault.

More broadly, Grandes narrative in general is one of self-determination and savvy capitalist striving. A former child actor, she grew up in the public eye while showing a remarkable amount of poise, using her remarkable vocal talents and breezy charm to maintain a unique persona while also ladling in ever-greater expressions of maturity. The pop music she makes is, for people who love pop, some of the best of recent years because of the way that it transcends anonymity on its way to fun. Religion-wise, shes chosen her own path: Grande was raised Catholic but says she left the church after realizing it would not accept her brother Frankie, who is gay. In 2014, she began practicing Kabbalah, a mystical Jewish tradition. Politically, she has been outspoken as well, supporting Hillary Clinton for president and attending the Womens March.

Such a career, especially for a woman, is obviously predicated on the values and openness that ISIS opposes. Yet following this attack, some American voices have made an issue of Grandes persona as well. The talk-radio host and 2008 Libertarian vice presidential nominee Wayne Allyn Root sent out his condolences with the addition BUT she is typical Hollywood lib. Still hate America? Mike Cernovich, the prominent alt-right pundit, tweeted and then deleted an image quoting Grande saying I hate America, I hate Americans.

These are references to the one moment in Grandes rise that approached the level of political scandal: When she was caught on camera in a donut shop licking one of the treats and then jokingly saying I hate America, I hate Americans to a friend. Her public apology later insisted that she actually loved the U.S., but didnt love its childhood-obesity crisis or how we as Americans eat and consume things without giving any thought to the consequences.

It was a silly momentone that showed not actual hatred of America but rather a young womans comfort within the country as she privately took advantage of freedom of speech. The grim irony is now were reminded that people who actually do hate America and the West see the likes of Grande, and those who look up to her, as exactly their enemy.

Originally posted here:

The Ideology of an Ariana Grande Concert - The Atlantic