Billie Eilish Controversy
In her irony-based article, Mariah discusses recent controversy revolving around Billie Eilish's change in style, and what it means for women everywhere.
In her irony-based article, Mariah discusses recent controversy revolving around Billie Eilish's change in style, and what it means for women everywhere.
Billie Eilish posed for Vogue at the beginning of May 2021 wearing quite the opposite of her usual attire, repacing her signature baggy clothes for lingerie. Eilish received an abundance of comments regarding her shoot, many of which were positive and warm, while others were extremely angry for her promotion of body positivity. This switch in wardrobe from Eilish is surprising because of the absence of her comfortable and safe space of wearing baggy clothes to a new flapper girl of the 21st-century era.
Image: Steven Crowder filming his podcast, Louder with Crowder
Conservative comedian Steven Crowder, who likes it when people do not laugh at his jokes, has made several comments on the young musician’s shoot for Vogue on his podcast Lowder With Crowder. Many of his comments are pretty rational if you give him a chance. Steven Crowder, keeping in mind that he is a 33-year-old man, says that Billie Eilish being proud of her body in her Vogue shoot is linked to Satanism. Of course at first glance, this makes total sense. Women reigning free will over their own bodies is completely hysterical and not at all empowering, just ask any man born before the 1920s. Satanism is linked here because Steven Crowder knows what he is talking about. There is no need for any further explanation than to just hear him ramble on about it with fiery passion burning in his eyes.
Crowder goes on throughout the duration of his podcast to call Eilish words synonymous with women, like “skank,” and “slut.” In an interview for her Vogue shoot, Eilish talks about power, gender, and abuse saying, “I really think the bottom line is men are very weak.” Obviously, Eilish has failed to see that men are not in fact weak, because they have bigger muscles. According to patriarchal oppression, women are far weaker than men because they are usually smaller, less intelligent, and should never speak on the basis of men, and maybe not even at all. Eilish goes on to say, “I don’t know one girl or woman who hasn’t had a weird experience, or a really bad experience [with men].” First of all, perhaps if women were more open to receiving compliments from men, they would not find themselves being weirded out or having bad experiences with men. Secondly, women who do not wish to receive unwanted attention from men should not wear such revealing clothing. Wearing revealing clothing is just asking for men to give you compliments or any attention at all for that matter.
Everyone deserves to feel comfortable in their own skin. When you look good, you feel good. According to Steven Crowder, a person who wears gun holsters with no guns in them, says, “Billie Eilish looks stupid in a corset.” Eilish was wearing the corset in her Vogue shoot because she wanted to feel confident. Based on this logic, she would be comfortable wearing the corset at home alone and still feel confident. Even though Steven Crowder might just be making fun of Billie Eilish because he himself wishes he could wear something fem-fatale and sexy every once in a while, the point still stands. She wants to feel good in her own skin. This would be fine if she was not wearing something as revealing and sexualized. Women wear clothes and makeup to impress men. When women wear makeup, I expect them to be looking for attention from men, unless they are my own mother or sister, of course, because I do not actually respect women very much unless I have to. Furthermore, Eilish says edging away from baggier clothes stems from the fact that she was a child when she wore baggy clothes and did not wish to be sexualized. What a hypocrite. Look at her now, I am doing exactly what she thought would happen. I guess she just wanted to be sexualized all along. Even while Eilish was underage, certain comments on social media had come about, wishing for her to be 18. Women are always going to be sexualized. It is not empowering to simply embrace it.
Image: Billie Eilish on the cover of Vogue.
Will Billie Eilish keep degrading herself, or will she revert back to her traditional baggy clothes? Are her fans wondering what happened to their beloved teen superstar, or are they embracing their new blonde-haired, corset-wearing idol? Billie Eilish is attempting to break down walls that have been standing for years and years. Are they really going to be torn down by this sad songwriter?