Kesha reignites the fires of public discourse
Many women came together to sing Kesha’s ‘Praying’ at the Grammy’s this Sunday, and the performance once again reminded the world — and more specifically, men — that women matter.
Now — full disclosure — I myself am a man, and I cannot begin to imagine the hardships (to put it mildly) that women go through on a regular basis. The recent #MeToo movement struck a cord with me when I first saw it appearing all over social media. It was incredibly eye opening to see the sheer number of women come forward with their stories. How is it that our society can be so progressive in some areas, and so dated and archaic in others? I do not claim to have the answer to this question, but shining a light on the problem seems to be a good first step. It is no longer enough for ‘decent’ men like myself to sit back and say, “Well I don’t abuse women, so I am doing my part.” There is always more to be doing.
Before the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements went viral, Kesha’s reemergence into the music scene with her song ‘Praying’ started the fire of awareness. After what she went through — being raped and abused for years by her producer, and having him deny these accusations in court — it was not unreasonable to assume that Kesha’s music career had come to an end. But she championed above it all and became an inspiration to women everywhere. Her song moved mountains, and it was incredible to witness how she leveraged her celebrity status to send a message and tell her story. This song got people talking. I witnessed it first hand among my peers and all over the internet. In an ideal world, we shouldn’t need someone famous to come forward in order for us to start these conversations. The reality is that public discourse goes hand-in-hand with social media, and the biggest social media influencers today are celebrities.
We no longer live in a world where politicians are the most influential people. Canadians are more concerned about their favourite artists than they are their own Prime Minister (unless of course it has to do with his hair or butt). Our priorities have shifted, which means that celebrities have a greater responsibility than they may realize. They are role models whether they like it or not, and how they handle that status can and will shape public opinion. We’ve seen it happen with Drake — he had a huge role in building up the status of Toronto. And Ellen DeGeneres has been a pillar of the LGBTQ+ community with people like myself look up to her every day.
From my perspective, Kesha has done no small part in increasing the awareness of sexual harassment and abuse toward women. I wish this awareness had come earlier. I wish this awareness did not need to exist. She started the conversation for me, but where do we take it from here? How is the world going to deal with this issue? Are we always going to rely on celebrities to start this kind of discourse? Being aware is only part of the battle, what is important is what we do next. As I stated previously, there is always more to be doing.
