Ariana Grande is a 5-foot vessel of untamable feminist rage.
In her new Billboardcover story, she goes in about the problems women in the industry face that don't exist for her male counterparts. And 60 years from now, when she's topless in Whole Foods buying vegan food, she demands that you respect her.
Grande's so angry about a series of tweets from a radio station shaming Kim Kardashian and Miley Cyrus and praising Zayn and Justin Bieber for the same that she makes the reporter read them on her phone.
If you’re going to rave about how sexy a male artist looks with his shirt off and a woman decides to get in her panties or show her boobies for a photo shoot, she needs to be treated with the same awe and admiration. I will say it until I’m an old-ass lady with my tits out at Whole Foods. I’ll be in the produce aisle, naked at 95, with a sensible ponytail, one strand of hair left on my head and a Chanel bow. Mark my words. See you there with my 95 dogs.
And since Kim Kardashian recently made the promise "nude selfies 'till I die" during her Webbys acceptance speech, it's good that she has a longterm, committed ally in Grande and her pack of dogs, which currently includes seven pups.
“I’ll never be able to swallow the fact that people feel the need to attach a successful woman to a man when they say her name,” Grande says, not-so-subtly hinting at the chains that seem to eternally attach Selena Gomez to Justin Bieber despite her own accomplishments.
Grande won't name names ("it’ll be so much drama") but is enraged that the singer in question will always be known as someone's ex first, even years after the relationship ended.
Grande clearly spends a lot of time in between reading Gloria Steinem books monitoring how female celebrities are treated, but she doesn't want to get involved in feuds.
“If people are fighting, I stay as far away as possible," Grande explained. "I’ve said this a million times: I hate drama. I love women in the industry. I’m a big fan of all my peers, and I try to keep it a hundred."
I did not expect to play in a Smash Bros. tournament, ever.
Yes, I played Super Smash Bros: Melee on GameCube during its heyday — a lot — and after that, I got in a few matches now and then for nostalgia's sake. While Melee's continued competitive growth 15 years after its launch fascinated me, I didn't think I'd have the skill to face anyone beyond a friendly match at the office. Especially not in a crowded venue. Or a tournament streamed to hundreds online.
Melee events that started at the beginning of this year.
"Our goal is to promote women in Smash by giving them a safe space to play and show that there is a supportive community," said Smash Sisters co-founder Emily "Waves" Sun.
"We want to inspire women to come to more tournaments and challenge themselves by making them more comfortable."
When I met Sun and 12 other women at Super Nebulous 4 — a tournament held in a basement in New York's Lower East Side in late March — I intended merely to report on Smash Sisters. But Sun quickly drafted me into playing, too, since having an odd number of participants meant someone else would have to sit out otherwise.
Despite not playing in over a year, I sat with three other girls in front of a CRT TV and practiced my Samus game (my standard Smash Bros. character). I promised myself that I'd at least have fun.
Why female-only tournaments matter
Video game should seem like an even playing field, skill-wise. There isn't a biological reason to separate male and female players like there is in basketball or track and field. But when the esports world is almost entirely made up of male players, it can be nice to see someone like you in the crowd.
"It was just a small idea to have a side event for women to congregate and have fun and meet each other," Sun said. "I wanted to put this together because I wanted more female friends inSmash."
Genesis 3, a tournament held in the Bay Area Jan. 15-17, attracted over 2,000 competitiveSmash Bros. players and spectators. One attendee told me maybe 50 or so were women.
"I went to my first tournament two years ago. When we got there, it was all boys, and I though 'Wow, this sucks. I don't have anyone to talk to,'" said Emily Forman, better known as Lyric.
The community aspect is important, but equally important to Sun was inspiring women who haven't played before, or maybe don't play as much as they'd like. That's why Smash Sisters doesn't exist as its own event, but inside other tournaments.
"I would love if every single smasher that came out [to Smash Sisters] was also entered into the singles bracket," Sun said. "We’re not interested in creating side bracket and women-only events that are completely isolated. We really want it to fee back into a co-ed competitive bracket."
Players SadDad, Buttplunder and Jempanada receiving instructions outside before the start of Smash Sisters.
IMAGE: PHIL NOLAN/MASHABLE
Even though that didn't happen at Super Nebulous 4, many of the women (and one amazingly talented 9-year-old) received coaching from other players before and during their matches. And there was plenty of positive support (and a big cheering section) when you jumped up to play.
Even if I hadn't played in a long time, I still managed some decent play (and one kill I am still immensely proud of) before having my butt elegantly handed to me by Kaitlin Sweet, a.k.a. SadDad. Losing ignited my urge to maybe try to play a little more — all part of Sun's plan.
"Having other girls see what you can do inspires other girls to come out and play their best," said Forman "You think, 'I can be good at this game, and I'm gonna get there. I wanna be like the other girls I've played against. I want to have that movement and that combo game.'"
But then the internet trolls show up
Many tournaments have anti-harassment policies for physical attendees, but those same tournaments are also streamed live via Twitch or Hitbox. For anyone who hasn't waded in to Twitch chat, which appears to the right of any stream, it can get pretty ugly as soon as a woman even appears on screen.
To combat the normal stupidity that comes to any online chat, streams use moderators. But instead of just using one or two, Sun had seven to eight extra volunteers for this Smash Sisters stream.
"They slowed down Hitbox chat and banned a lot of accounts," Sun said. "Not all reception is going to be negative. Once we are able to normalize that feedback, we won’t really need that aggressive moderation."
But Sun, an eight-year veteran of the competitive Smash scene, wants to stress its positive aspects too. Otherwise she wouldn't be here.
"Honestly, the community is wonderful. Our message isn’t really that if you are a female, you are going to get harassed all the time. We want to show you a safe space to come over and play with us."
While the group doesn't have any future events planned, Sun said they are looking to future tournaments to find a good fit. For any other women who want to get involved, Smash Sisters has a Facebook and Twitter presence as well.
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