Grimes Lashes Out On Tumblr & Snubs Steve Buschemi
Recently GRIMES turned down STEVE BUSCHEMI's invitation to his Easter brunch with VAMPIRE WEEKEND in a very funny short advert for American Express.
GRIMES (real name: Claire Boucher), ‘urban faery’ and Canadian experimental electronic artist, is the powerhouse behind 'Visions' (one of last year’s most acclaimed albums).
In addition to her music, she maintains a popular blog on Tumblr. There, she catalogues gifs of cute animals and her love of Game of Thrones (like any good Tumblogger), but there are also posts dedicated to her other interests: pop music, fashion, culture and feminism. These blogs offer an earnest, enduring perspective of what it’s like to be a female artist in the 21st Century.
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Unfortunately, it’s not all fun and games.
“I don’t want to be infantilized because I refuse to be sexualized,” she wrote in a blog posted on April 23, 2013 entitled I don’t want to have to compromise my morals in order to make a living. She continued, “I don’t want to be molested at shows or on the street by people who perceive me as an object that exists for their personal satisfaction.”
Boucher went on to list a variety of behaviours that XTL: Creeps on message boards that openly discuss her in a sexual manner; interpreting a desire for equal and humane treatment as both a woman and a person as a deep-seated hatred for men and not as what it is – a desire “to be respected and included”; treating a female as a lesser and less-capable artist, simply because she is female.
The post attracted 16,571 notes, with fans reblogging the post and commenting with their support and agreement. Fucked Up singer Damien Abraham praised Boucher for the post via Twitter the following day.
Reactions to the post have not all been positive, with many recalling a series of posts made in February (since deleted) in which Boucher declared that her Tumblr “was not a news source” and that she didn’t like it when “what I say on here is taken out of context and posted elsewhere. It’s not a story and it’s not an official statement.”
On a personal note, I’d like to say unequivocally that the kind of treatment discussed in Boucher’s post is neither acceptable, nor exclusive to women who are ‘in the spotlight’: it’s a sad truth that, even in 2013, there are few women from any walk of life who are unable to recall a time when they were made to feel threatened, sexualized, or silenced unwillingly.
I congratulate Boucher for her unapologetic and uncompromising stance and, particularly, for creating another forum that allows people to discuss unwarranted behaviours that are disrespectful and make them feel uncomfortable: change will only occur through discussion and education.
Thirty minutes later, Boucher wrote a few additional points in a secondary post, letting her fans know that it was “totally fine to say hi” if they saw her on the street, among other clarifications, and announcing that she was currently working on a follow-up album to Visions.
Recently GRIMES also turned down STEVE BUSCHEMI's invitation to his Easter brunch with VAMPIRE WEEKEND in a very funny short advert for American Express's 'UNSTAGED' campaign, watch it above.
Words by Cheryl Billman
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